[BC] Re: How we got our first break in radio

[Jim Seaman]

>> Another oddity is it seems that Generals issued during the initial 
> time span were good for broadcast as well as maritime and aviation. 
> Now they're only required for maritime or aviation> 
> Ron D

The 1st and 2nd Phone were phased out in 1984/85 bringing the US more or less into conformity with international regulations that only recognized one class of radiotelephone license. The 3rd Phone, and its broadcast endorsement, had been eliminated several years before that and converted to the new "Marine Permit" which was not good for broadcast. This prompted many operators to apply for the new mail-in Restricted Permit to continue to be legal. In '84, all the FCC did was to eliminate the Element-4 test and retitle the Second Phone. In effect the FCC downgraded all First Phone holders to Second Class as the formal title of the Second Phone had always been known as a "General Radiotelephone Certificate". This can be seen as a one of a series of steps in broadcast deregulation that began a decade or two earlier with the authorization of remote control and consequent elimination of attended transmitter sites.  

 

There was a one-year transition period during which 1st and 2nd phone holders could renew and transition to a diploma style General Radiotelephone Operator License which was good for the holder's lifetime. After 1985, all new GROLs issued were of the wallet type format, much like a ham license, and contained a restrictive endorsement "not valid for operation of broadcast stations" or some such. Today all FCC operator licenses are issued on the same form which includes both wallet and 5x9 certificate sizes that can be cut out and laminated or framed. 

 

The new lifetime GROL was unrestricted in that it was still good for broadcast station operation, but the FCC actually went one step further and said that a commercial radio operator license, of ANY CLASS, was good for operating a broadcast station unless it was endorsed otherwise.  It was at that point that I posted my Second Class Radiotelegraph Operator's License next to my diploma style GROL.  With the invalidation of new GROLs for broadcast operation after 1985, the FCC in effect made the mail-in Restricted Permit the only ticket necessary for new operators or engineers to operate a broadcast station, but Diploma style GROLs (and other commercial tickets) were still valid for operating a station right up until the time the FCC eliminated the operator license requirements and privatized operator certification by handing it over to the SBE and other groups. That move was a continuation of the deregulation process which then authorized unattended operation of broadcast transmitters and dial-up remotes. 

 

Today the only reason the FCC issues operator licenses is because international law requires them to with respect to maritime and coast stations, and aviation services.   

 

Jim Seaman

Chief Engineer

WTEM-WWRC-WTNT-WXTR-WWXT-WWXX

Washington, DC