Amateur Radio Technician test

I really need to get off of my ### and study for the extra exam...

 

I was attending the test session just to socialize with some of the folks I rarely saw. One of suggested I take the extra test even though I thought I was no where close to ready. Turned out to be the exact mix of question s I needed. You may have the same kind of luck. On the 5wpm I didn't get enough correct answers but exceeded 26 correct letters in a row so got lucky there also.

 

There is no Morse code requirement anymore.

When there was the 5wpm was for a novice class license. General and Advanced licenses required at least 13wpm, and a Extra class licensed required 20wpm.

Novice and Advanced license classes no longer exist and none of the remaining licenses have a Morse code test.

 

Well, I thought I still existed; I saw my reflection in the mirror this morning! LOL! THIS "advanced" licensee (les'see...Pinch! OUCH!) is still around.

Seriously, I agree with the "old" regime of testing. IMHO, in today's amateur radio, we have a generation of licensees who learned how to memorize questions, but didn't really learn ABOUT amateur radio. It becomes evident when they start working with HF. HF is NOT "plug 'n play", not nearly so much as VHF where one can slap on a 1/4 wave 2 Meter, get power from the cig lighter, and VOILA! Ya's is on the air. Understanding and working with HF is a different ball of wax since the antennas are bigger, more complex, and require an understanding of how to "match" them and get 'em to work right. You just can't slap on a Tarheel, plug in and expect it to work. That takes experience, some elmering by ham friends, reading, etc. When I used to build HF/Screwdriver-style antennas, I don't know how many new hams bought HF stuff, eager to get on the air, but they simply didn't know how. Indeed, they would often blame the manufacturer and accuse of them of a "bad product that 'didn't work' ". There was nothing wrong with the product: it was the inexperienced ham: he didn't know how to use it. But you can't SAY that. After the testing changed, I had new "generals"--even overnight "Extras" tell me the screwdriver antenna they bought from me "won't work". They ignored the detailed install instructions, threw AWAY the included impedance matching device ("Uh...impedance????? Whut's THAT?"), made countless installation mistakes, THEN expected ME to fix it for them at no extra charge. The ink was hardly dry on their new ticket, but they wuz this h'yar ham, ya see. A memorization whizz, but not a "real" ham.........yet!
Oh, they'd get there eventually. None of which is an indictment of the new ham, but a criticism of the testing methods that came to be, and the "I want it NOW mentality without working for it" generation!

I want people to become hams. I want 'em to have fun. But I don't really agree with the memorization that doesn't TEACH anything at all. Rather than learn something in the process, which makes the achievement more rewarding, they just want to get to talking. There's SO much more to amateur radio than simply yakkin' on a mike! LOL!

 

You are of course correct. I should have said they are no longer issuing new Novice or Advanced licenses, not that none exist anymore like you were all taken out by the CIA.

 

I thought you might have fun with that! LOL! We's is still around. And the only way I will ever become an Extra is if they MAKE me, or merge the two classes together. I don't WANT "extra"; mostly because it was the last class of licensees who TOOK (at least) the Morse test for General and above.

GF

 

I'm with you Gadfly. I took my Advanced before the FCC in the Kansas City. Every test I took was before the FCC except the Novice.

leon
kc0iv

 

I can take a $30 radio from Ebay or Amazon, charge up the batteries then turn it on to talk to a lot of people OR I can spend $400 on a cb, then buy an antenna and then have it "tuned" so I can try to talk to one person going down the road a mile in front of me.

 

Good luck. Have met a lot of nice folks thru the hobby.