Great memories! Elements 1 and 2 were easy, rote memorization if I recall. Element 9 was very hard for some people, because it involved reading analog meters on transmitters. I was relaxed and did well on 9 because I was already a ham. (OK - Anyone want to share horror stories of the old FCC Morse Code exams?!)
The real ace in the hole was having your First Phone. Some of the biggest AM signals in the US had directional arrays, requiring a 1st just to take readings, and because they didn't want to staff engineering after office hours, you had a big advantage if you had a 1st when applying for 7-midnight or overnights.
Element 9 also "weeded out" some great broadcasters in the days when AMs were doing away with studio board-ops working across the glass from on-air folk.
The real ace in the hole was having your First Phone. Some of the biggest AM signals in the US had directional arrays, requiring a 1st just to take readings, and because they didn't want to staff engineering after office hours, you had a big advantage if you had a 1st when applying for 7-midnight or overnights.
Element 9 also "weeded out" some great broadcasters in the days when AMs were doing away with studio board-ops working across the glass from on-air folk.