This reminiscing is fun.

I got my Novice WN8NHW on July 9, 1964.  I borrowed a friend's DX-35 xmitter 
and worked mainly forty with xtals for 7161 and 7169; I think I had another 
Crystal for 15 meters, but I didn't get on that band much.  I think it 
pretty much closed up at night during the school year, as I think 1964 was 
the bottom of a cycle.

Later that year, my parents purchased a rebuilt NC-300 which replaced an old 
Heathkit GR-91 which I think might have been a regenerative receiver.  The 
300 ran circles around it.

I didn't pass my Conditional until the summer of 1966 so I received my new 
call, WA8VAA in September and got a Viking Invader transmitter to use with 
the 300 receiver.

By then, the upper HF bands were pretty active, I worked quite a bit on 20, 
15 and 10 just using a trap dipole.

I think the most exciting moment for me was working California on 40 CW a 
few months after I got my Novice ticket.  I remember staying up pretty late 
until the band was long enough for me to work them.  My antenna was only 20 
feet up so it didn't hear very well under most circumstances.

Steve, K8SP