In this letter to the editor, the author comments on Buc Fitch’s 2006 story “The Demise of the First Phone,” which was recently reshared in our Radio World Engineering Extra SmartBrief newsletter. Comment on this or any article. Email [email protected].
Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear when First Phones populated the hallowed walls of control rooms in directional AM stations everywhere.
The thrill of having your First Phone license hanging in a cheap Woolworths store frame next to the Chief Engineer’s license was unforgettable. Remember the sense of pride that it was your name on that sacred piece of paper? Ah! Those were the best of times.
There I was, seventeen years old, making an astronomical $5 per hour when minimum wage was $1.40. I was in high clover; life couldn’t get any better than this. I was doing what I had only dreamed of. I loved radio, and the opportunity to be part of it was intoxicating.
The responsibility of taking meter readings, changing the directional pattern at sundown, changing defective tubes in the Gates “Yard” audio console, loading the automation system with 14” reels of music tapes and commercial carts in the 55 stacker cart machine was like being in heaven. This was nirvana!
Life moved on, jobs as Chief Engineer at numerous radio stations, then on to Director of Engineering jobs in television, even to owning my own consulting business. That First Phone opened many a door even when it moved into a fancier frame. The First Phone License placed you in an elite club which even to this day is special.
I guess like all things, nothing lasts forever and even the good times come to an end. Although time has passed, my memory has never faded. I still remember the smell of the warming up audio consoles on those cold mornings. The thrill of being a First Phone broadcast engineer never grows old.
— Walt Konetsco, Retired Foreign Service Field Engineer at Voice of America
[Related: “Letter: Remembering the FCC’s First Class Radiotelephone License“]
