Roy...

 RW{at}> When were VECs authorized to issue a HAM license? i.e. in the days of
 RW{at}> testing at a FCC field office, you still had to wait 30 days for the
 RW{at}> FCC home office to issue a license.

  You are correct. While the VE Teams in the field issue a CSCE when an
examinee passes the exam, it's up to the VEC to key in the data, then
forward it to the FCC for final processing.

  Now, if there is an issue, such as an "unpaid government debt" (Debt
Collection Act of 1996) or a "character issue", I believe the FCC can
act as if a CSCE never existed. I do know that in the case of a vanity
callsign, if the applicant doesn't pay the fee when it's requested, the
vanity callsign request is likely to be dismissed. When I applied for
WX1DER, it was like "show me the money"...they sure didn't wait to ask
for that. 

  As for "waiting on the license", when I was first licensed in 1991,
even though I took and passed the Novice and Technician written on
Field Day Weekend, it was almost 7 weeks later before I got the paper
copy. Back then, you had to have it "in hand" before you could operate.
Now, as soon as it's in the FCC ULS, one can get on the air. The fastest
time I saw was with an examinee who passed his Technician, General, and
Amateur Extra in one session. The test results were mailed from Arkansas
on Monday, and his callsign was in the database on Wednesday!!

Daryl, WX1DER

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