In the immortal word of Instapundit, "Heh."Originally Posted by TQP
Pacific Northwest Amateur Radio convention next weekend, she was going along to get away, I bought her membership anyway, 'cuz it's cheap and another shot at door prizes. Now we can go shopping together for something I'm interested in!
Recovering Gun Store Commando. My Blog: The Clue Meter
“It doesn’t matter what the problem is, the solution is always for us to give the government more money and power, while we eat less meat.”
Glenn Reynolds
I told her about this, she said "I don't mind being your XYL, as long as I'm not the Ball And Chain."
So we get down here and she says "I need to buy the General Exam Study Guide..." And has already made reservations for next year.In the immortal word of Instapundit, "Heh."
Pacific Northwest Amateur Radio convention next weekend, she was going along to get away, I bought her membership anyway, 'cuz it's cheap and another shot at door prizes. Now we can go shopping together for something I'm interested in!
Recovering Gun Store Commando. My Blog: The Clue Meter
“It doesn’t matter what the problem is, the solution is always for us to give the government more money and power, while we eat less meat.”
Glenn Reynolds
The ladies at the Young Ladies' Radio League booth informed us that XYLs are, by definition, un-licensed; since Mrs. Drang has her license, she is a YL.
I had no idea.
Recovering Gun Store Commando. My Blog: The Clue Meter
“It doesn’t matter what the problem is, the solution is always for us to give the government more money and power, while we eat less meat.”
Glenn Reynolds
Last weekend I upgraded to general. I'm torn on whether or not to study for extra. On one hand I've been in study mode for a month, on the other I could be learning something that will be of immediate use.
"Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA
Beware of my temper, and the dog that I've found...
I looked at going to Extra after getting my General. What I decided was that it was a greater leap going from General to Extra than it was to go from Tech to General. Additionally, it didn't give me much in terms of additional access.
I've been a General class Ham for a decade and can't say I feel compelled to upgrade even now.
Chris
Whether you test for Extra or not, one can never find fault with acquiring knowledge.
After I took my Tech exam, they asked if I wanted to try the General. I said WTF, why not? I passed that too. It wasn’t that difficult. Then they gave me the Extra exam. Solid F. I got about 50%.
Last edited by Clusterfrack; 06-10-2019 at 09:49 AM.
“There is no growth in the comfort zone.”--Jocko Willink
"You can never have too many knives." --Joe Ambercrombie
Absolutely.
I'd say that was a pretty good score. The examiners said only about 10% pass General when testing for Tech. I have no background in radio or electronics, and I suck at math. I passed Technician and General by memorizing the questions and answers to the point where I could have answered Jeopardy style. From my glimpses at Extra, that is not going to work.
There is a lot I want/need to understand at my current level, and I have time in the summer to study. If I make it by August, great. If not, I'll improve my knowledge base.
"Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA
Beware of my temper, and the dog that I've found...
Yeah, I gave it a good try, and actually scored higher than another dude who had studied and taken it once already. My math degree and STEM PhD helped. I was able to figure out the right answers to dB and wavelength questions without studying. But all the antenna stuff is forking voodoo magic. The Extra exam is no joke. I hope it goes well for you, and you get that nice 4 letter call sign!
Last edited by Clusterfrack; 06-10-2019 at 03:11 PM.
“There is no growth in the comfort zone.”--Jocko Willink
"You can never have too many knives." --Joe Ambercrombie
Made Amateur Extra last December, and the biggest advantage it it is being able to VE any level of license exam. The extra (npi) operating privileges are just not that extensive.
But I'm glad I did it.
Recovering Gun Store Commando. My Blog: The Clue Meter
“It doesn’t matter what the problem is, the solution is always for us to give the government more money and power, while we eat less meat.”
Glenn Reynolds
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