40 years is often celebrated as a significant anniversary of any endeavor or event. To do something for 40 years such as working for the same company or actively participating in an organization is likewise noteworthy. Today I mark 40 years since receiving my first amateur radio license as detailed in:
A personal milestone and a look back
The FCC has changed the document format considerably over the intervening years (which I suppose the agency had done in prior decades). This format was a form sandwiched between two other sheets with perforated edges that worn torn off to separate the sheets. The front sheet had carbon areas on the backside and a line printer was likely used to print the licenses off as a continuous run and then separated. Some of the print was intended to be obscured on the outside while other parts such as the name and mailing addressed were exposed. This strike-through onto the license sheet resulted in the fuzzy print as seen on the scan:
Original Novice license of KA0RNY from 1983
If I had not already known I lived in the tenth call district, the zero would
have been difficult to discern if it had been followed or preceded by an O.
Fortunately, today’s documents are generally much more legible though the FCC
still doesn’t slash the zero.