Back in 1976, my boss saw how many "sideband" CB operators we were working for and started ham license classes in the front of the store. He had been an electronics instructor in the Marine Corps and felt perfectly at home with this. We had room for a dozen chairs back then, and a procession of "outlaw" sideband operators got their ham license as a result.
Fast-forward ten or fifteen years, after I had bought out my boss and moved the business across town. Walking down the flea market aisles at hamfests I would spot some of these guys. Some of them were now the "old timer" in a ham club. Started to notice some of them would turn the other way as soon as they saw me, as if they hoped I hadn't seen them. Just figured they were afraid I would walk up and ask "Do you still have the SBE Console 2 with the Siltronix slider?" or some such thing., When they went ham, they went whole hog, so to speak. Did seem a bit silly. The 11-meter "scarlet letter" was still a thing with the hams of the 1980s
Just learned to chuckle about it and keep walking Never did try to pop the bubble for any of those guys.
By now the 11-meter stigma has mostly faded from the ham community. I still would like to know when the last ham who was never on 11 meters becomes a silent key. Can't be many of them left.
And the guys from the 1977 ham-license classes? About half of them were retired at the time. Not many of them still with us today, if any.
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