Ham radio licensing. Let's make this EASY.

I've heard numerous complaints about how hard the ham radio test is to get licensed. Fact is a couple of days ago I worked a 14 YO kid that was a licensed Extra and had held a General ticket since he was 10.

I DON'T say that to shame anyone, but simply to point out that for practically everyone to get licensed. There are two ways to get licensed. You can learn the materiel which takes forever and a day or you can learn the test which doesn't take very much time and effort.

I consider the license simply as a license to learn...as well as a learning tool in itself. 

Learning all the materiel to pass the test, much of which is useless in the real world takes some serious doing. In the process the brain gets cloudy and the person gets a feeling of being totally overwhelmed.

Can't say as I blame them. If I went that route I would have been overwhelmed. The amount of meaningless knowledge required to pass the test IS overwhelming if you are actually trying to learn the materiel.

So stop, take a breath and think a minute. Ask yourself what you are trying to do. Are you trying to add all sorts of minutia to your head and further your knowledge? If so, please carry on. 

On the other hand, if you are simply trying to get a license then focus on that with laser intensity and learn the test...and ONLY the test. Break down what you are doing into smaller parcels. ONE thing at a time. Small steps. Focus on one single thing, passing the test.

QRZ.com and eHam.net have the entire test bank of questions on line and set up practice tests for you to take. I understand the ARRL does, too. I ran with eHam but the others are just as good. You get the answers and your score after you answer 30 questions. It's not official and you can take, retake and re-retake them as much as you want. Every test they give you is different and you simply sit down and take them.

They will show you your wrong answer AND the correct answer. Try and remember the correct answer for the next time you take a practice test.

Most likely you ARE going to do poorly. I know I did. Admittedly I had some military radio hands on experience so my first practice test I did rather well. I think I probably got about a 40%. I had expected this. In fact I was pleasantly surprised. I had expected a -8 or something.

Rinse, repeat. It's like cramming for a college exam. Keep doing this until you start getting consistent 90s in the technician tests and then start taking the General tests. You will be amazed at how well you do on the General test. Much of the General test is a rehash of the Technician test. Just take and retake the General test until you are getting high 80s and 90s. 

By now some of you are reading this wide-eyed and screeching 'But I have to learn all of this stuff!' (Wrong. You just have to know the  answers to the test questions.) "I can't just go in and take a test without knowing the materiel!" (Yes you can. All you just want to pass the damned test. That's all just pass the damned test. It really is that simple. Pass the damned test! That's all.)

The rest will take care of itself.

Now hopefully you are now in study mode and are motivated to go on the the Extra tests. I didn't do this and wish I had. Later I realized that I wanted to be able to use the Extra portions of the bands so a couple months later I studied again and made Extra. I wish I had done it the first time.

Anyway, when you are getting 80s and 90s you scout around for the next opportunity to take the test. You can find that on the ARRLwebsite. In my case the nearest one was a mile away but was in two months. I opted to drive about an hour and a half the following Saturday to test while it was still fresh in my mind.

One important thing here. If you can pass the test you will learn a lot. If you know the answers to the test you will have learned a LOT in the process. When something comes up more often than not, you will say, "Hey! I learned that in the test!"

The test itself is a pretty good teaching aid in itself.

Part 2. Going on the air.

A couple of days after you pass the test your call will appear on the FCC database. You can now go on the air.

It's simple. For the first couple of days you do three things. 1. Listen.

2. Listen. 3. Listen. Listen carefully to learn the new language you are about to speak. This ain't CB. You're in the big leagues now. There are no 'good buddies' in the ham world. Familiarize your self with the commonly used Q codes.

When you decide to actually go on the air I recommend you find quiet airspace and listen for a minute or so and the first words out of your mouth should be "Is the frequency in use?" if there is no answer you say, "Nothing heard." Wait a few seconds. You may then call "CQ, CQ, CQ", followed by your callsign. Rinse, repeat and someone will likely get back to you.

I believe the ARRL is still doing this. A few days after your call shows up on the FCC data base you will receive a THICK envelope. Much (but not all) of this is just plain junk mail. You'll get advertisements for all sorts of crap you can't afford, coupons for things you may or may not be interested in and all sorts of stuff.

There will also be a number of useful things also. I got the band chart I received and had it laminated and still use it today to insure I'm not using phone in the data/CW portion of the band.

 

To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY