What changed
A history of US licensing — edited Sep 5, 2026 by Unknown editor
Compared with the version from Aug 31, 2026. Note: Imported from content/wiki
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operators and pushed private stations to wavelengths of 200 meters and shorter — then considered
useless. Amateurs promptly discovered those wavelengths propagate worldwide.
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Operator requirements tightened quickly. By **1917** the code speed required of an amateur had risen
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to **10 wpm**, and there were roughly **6,000 licensed amateurs** in the United States when Congress
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ordered them off the air that April.
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## 1927–1934: the regulators we know
The **Radio Act of 1927** created the Federal Radio Commission; the **Communications Act of 1934**
replaced it with the **Federal Communications Commission**, which regulates the amateur service
today under [Part 97](/wiki/rules/part-97-basics).
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Under the new Commission the licenses were reorganized into **Class A, B and C** — A carrying the
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exclusive phone privileges, B the full written and code exam, C the same exam taken by mail where
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traveling to an FCC office was impractical. By **1936** there were about **46,000** licensed
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amateurs. Those three classes are the direct ancestors of the 1951 ladder below: A became Advanced,
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B became General, C became Conditional.
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## 1951: the classes take their familiar shape
The FCC's postwar restructuring produced the class ladder most operators would recognize for the rest
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American amateur radio history: supporters credit it with raising technical standards, opponents
blame it for years of resentment and for shrinking the General-class portions of the bands.
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## Volunteer examiners
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## 1984: ten-year licenses, and volunteer examiners
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For decades the FCC administered exams itself. Legislation in the early 1980s let the Commission
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delegate testing to the amateur community, and the **Volunteer Examiner** system — accredited
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Two changes arrived together in the mid-1980s. The license term went from **five years to ten**,
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where it remains. And the FCC began handing examining over to the amateur community rather than
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running sessions itself — a phase-out with a period of overlap, not a single switch.
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Legislation early in the decade allowed the delegation, and the **Volunteer Examiner** system — accredited
Volunteer Examiner Coordinators, three-VE sessions, and question pools published in advance — has run
US amateur testing ever since. It is why you can test at a club meeting on a Saturday morning instead
of traveling to a federal office. See [volunteer examiners](/wiki/licensing/volunteer-examiners) and
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Grandfathered **Novice** and **Advanced** licensees still exist and may renew, which is why you will
occasionally hear a class the FCC has not issued since 2000.
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## Sources and further reading
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- [FCC Amateur Radio Service](https://www.fcc.gov/amateur-radio-service) — the current rules and the
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orders behind each restructuring.
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- [AC6V's amateur radio history](https://ac6v.com/history.php) — Rod Dinkins, AC6V (SK): a
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year-by-year chronology, including the license counts and class changes cited here.
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- [Ham Radio History (W2PA)](https://w2pa.net/HRH/) — the same events as reported in *QST* at the
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time.
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See [license classes](/wiki/licensing/license-classes) for what each one can do today, and
[a short history of amateur radio](/wiki/getting-started/history-of-amateur-radio) for the wider story.