(Note that this is a historical article; there are no more VE sessions/ham tests at the Franklin Institute. If you’re in the Philadelphia area, please see this page for more information on VE testing: https://www.phil-mont.org/exams/)
Yesterday was “old timers” night at the Philmont Mobile Radio club meeting. Hams who have been licensed 25+ years were asked to talk about their experiences with the hobby from when they got started to present.
One thing that I always noticed is that partly due to the Philmont tie-in of the Franklin Institute Amateur Radio station to Philmont, took their test AT the Franklin Institute. Of those many if not most attributed the station display to be the motivating factor in getting their license.
I asked what the experience was like, and got the following answer:
You took the test in the cafeteria. They had 30-50 people all taking their test. The CW (morse code) portion was played out over a speaker, then if you passed that, you moved on to the written exam, which was much like the General test you take today. — Steve K3FZT
If you took your test, or were motivated to get licensed due to the Franklin Institute station, please comment below!