Perturbation

///////////////////////////////////////////
Upgrade

Posted: 28 Dec 2015 04:00 PM PST
http://ke9v.net/2015/12/28/upgrade/


If you dont currently hold an Amateur Extra class license, upgrading should
be one of your top resolutions for the New Year.

About half of the 700,000 amateur radio licensees in the United States hold
the Technician license. Its the de-facto entry point for radio hams, but it
should never be considered a final destination. Upgrading your license is
one of the easiest things you can do and its the Open Sesame to all amateur
radio privileges.

That so many in the fraternity have no ambition to upgrade, despite the
ease with which it can be attained, is an embarrassing pox on the service.
Lets not mince words here, if youve been stuck at anything below Extra
class for more than two years, you might not have the right stuff to be one
of us.

Amateur radio operators in your area volunteer hundreds of hours of their
time each year to make it incredibly simple for YOU to find a convenient
location for testing. Weve gone to great lengths to simplify the exams and
testing processes.

Its a multiple choice test with published questions and answers available
for review before you take the exam. There are a dozen or more excellent
sources of license prep material at your fingertips, and you can take
practice exams online over and over until the answers have been permanently
stamped into your gray matter.

Newer hams frequently grouse that more seasoned operators dont cuddle or
love them enough. Bah! Its time to set that aside and move up already. If
youve been licensed for more than two years and dont have an Extra class
ticket, I cant even look at you let alone talk to you.
Filed under: Ham Radio Tagged: licensing

On 12/29/2015 4:50 PM, KE9V via rec.radio.amateur.moderated Admin wrote:

Perturbation

///////////////////////////////////////////
Upgrade

Posted: 28 Dec 2015 04:00 PM PST
http://ke9v.net/2015/12/28/upgrade/


If you dont currently hold an Amateur Extra class license, upgrading
should be one of your top resolutions for the New Year.

About half of the 700,000 amateur radio licensees in the United States
hold the Technician license. Its the de-facto entry point for radio
hams, but it should never be considered a final destination. Upgrading
your license is one of the easiest things you can do and its the Open
Sesame to all amateur radio privileges.

That so many in the fraternity have no ambition to upgrade, despite the
ease with which it can be attained, is an embarrassing pox on the
service. Lets not mince words here, if youve been stuck at anything
below Extra class for more than two years, you might not have the right
stuff to be one of us.

Amateur radio operators in your area volunteer hundreds of hours of
their time each year to make it incredibly simple for YOU to find a
convenient location for testing. Weve gone to great lengths to simplify
the exams and testing processes.

Its a multiple choice test with published questions and answers
available for review before you take the exam. There are a dozen or more
excellent sources of license prep material at your fingertips, and you
can take practice exams online over and over until the answers have been
permanently stamped into your gray matter.

Newer hams frequently grouse that more seasoned operators dont cuddle or
love them enough. Bah! Its time to set that aside and move up already.
If youve been licensed for more than two years and dont have an Extra
class ticket, I cant even look at you let alone talk to you.
Filed under: Ham Radio Tagged: licensing

First, where I'm coming from: First licensed 1957, did not keep it up as
life got busy, got back on in 2009 with Extra a couple of months later.
And I am a retired math professor, so I have a lot of experience giving
exams to (unwilling!) people, and I have also been both a VE and a
teacher of classes for technician and general license exams for several
years.

Here's the reason for that background: I think the points are well
taken, up to the level of the General exam. I know from experience that
there are a lot of people out there who not only have trouble with but
are simply scared terribly by questions involving math. I have worked
with many of them to overcome that fear, but doing so is not trivial.
And the Extra exam for anything more than just memorizing and
regurgitating does involve math that scares people.

I don't endorse memorizing/regurgitating as a way to pass any exam. We
see postings about how hams these days don't know what they should: How
did they get their licenses? Probably by regurgitating what they had
memorized rather than trying to understand. There are reasons hams have
to take exams, e.g. the fact that we are the only licensed radio ops in
the US who are allowed to build/modify/repair our own transmitting
equipment. (For example when I was chief engineer at an AM broadcast
station decades ago, when a 1st Class Radiotelephone license was
required, I could log the readings on the power amp but not change
anything.)

The General license, in the US, has so many of the privileges of the
Extra, that I would think it quite reasonable to stop there. Maybe after
using it for a while, if one really gets into what is happening and by
doing so becomes more comfortable with the material, upgrade to Extra
becomes less frightening. I have had to "hand hold" quite a few bright
people who wanted to go for Extra but were simply scared.

I certainly don't want to sound condescending toward those who are not
ready to go straight on for Extra, just the opposite: I think that is a
fine place to stop if you are scared of math. Maybe some time later you
will overcome that fear and go on, but it is important to realize that
fear is not a sign that you are in any way incompetent.

Bob W.