upgraded ham!

inerlogic

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Passed General just now!
Missed Extra by 6 questions having never studied for the Extra.... time to study clearly....

Two friends were with me, another newly minted General and a Tech.

And some rando guy also got his Tech.
4 for 4 and 2 new hams!

N1NJI/AG clear and listening

Sent from my SM-G920P using Forum Runner
 
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You must be thrilled.

Study up to take the extra test, and pass next time around.

Congratulations and enjoy your new upgraded privileges.

AC1BK
 
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I was the other upgrade.
KC1GKS / AG
missed extra by 9 but im only 2 chapters into it.
Outstanding! [rockon]

In years past we've tried some informal NES nets on HF with unencouraging results. But there's so many General and Extra hams here we should try some again this winter. 80 meter or 40 meter NVIS.

Either way, when you upgraded Techs set up your HF stations, be sure to have 40meter and preferably 80meter capability. The sun is going into the sleepy part of its 11 year solar cycle. Given the sun was practically asleep during the last peak(HF was pretty poor), this should be a really quiet low and the longer bands are going to be the most useful ones.
 
Passed General just now!
Missed Extra by 6 questions having never studied for the Extra.... time to study clearly....

Two friends were with me, another newly minted General and a Tech.

And some rando guy also got his Tech.
4 for 4 and 2 new hams!

N1NJI/AG clear and listening

Sent from my SM-G920P using Forum Runner
Congratulations. I advise immediately studying for the Extra if you have the bandwidth. It is far easier to continue while you're used to the routine than to pick it up cold later on, especially since the Extra question pool is so large.

Also, without providing precise ages, _around_ what age are you and the other licensees who posted?
 
Also, without providing precise ages, _around_ what age are you and the other licensees who posted?

I used the "no nonsense" guide which gave the questions and answers in paragraph format.... so it was a quick read, but there was little to no explanation, so a few Qs i googled to see what math they use to get the answers....

I might get Gordon's book for the extra because I'm sure it is filled with explanations, anecdotes, and all sorts of "nonsense"

It's $30 vs the no-nonsense extra's $18 (IIRC....) i also have to look to see what extra gives me that i didn't just gain, half the band plans i see out there online are the old band plans...

As for the age thing, i got my tech-light at 15 (the summer it became available) and 25 years later i got my general.... Ink is a bit younger than me, the other guy with us was.... maybe 10 years older than me? And the random guy was younger than the three of us it seemed...

So, in Amateur terms, we're all infants ;)

Sent from my SM-G920P using Forum Runner
 
The Gloucester club (CAARA) does Tech-in-a-Day class twice a year. They tell me there are a lot of people in their 30's and younger in the classes, so it seems the average age of hams may be coming down. CAARA has had kids as young as 11 take the class and pass the test.
 
I used the "no nonsense" guide which gave the questions and answers in paragraph format.... so it was a quick read, but there was little to no explanation, so a few Qs i googled to see what math they use to get the answers....

I might get Gordon's book for the extra because I'm sure it is filled with explanations, anecdotes, and all sorts of "nonsense"

It's $30 vs the no-nonsense extra's $18 (IIRC....) i also have to look to see what extra gives me that i didn't just gain, half the band plans i see out there online are the old band plans...

As for the age thing, i got my tech-light at 15 (the summer it became available) and 25 years later i got my general.... Ink is a bit younger than me, the other guy with us was.... maybe 10 years older than me? And the random guy was younger than the three of us it seemed...

So, in Amateur terms, we're all infants ;)

Sent from my SM-G920P using Forum Runner
im 39, mike is 47
 
I used the QRZ Question pool and the internet for reference information on the questions I did not have a good understanding of. I also have a great study guide in Power Point form that helped me a lot.
Unfortunately it is on the previous question pool.
 
Outstanding! [rockon]

In years past we've tried some informal NES nets on HF with unencouraging results.

i was thinking about this, this morning... it's all about marketing.
need a catchy name, like, Z.E.R.O.Net (Zombie Emergency Radio Operations Net)

They have Skywarn and R.A.C.E.S. why not Z.E.R.O.Net?

and then tonight i checked in to a local repeater's weather net... left the radio on while bringing my twins up to bed... and my daughter started yelling to me from downstairs "Daddy! your radio is talking!!"

I guess some guys from ARFCOM have a net on 2m/IRLP/Echolink.... so i jumped in there for about 3 hours.... they're talking about guns, radios and alcohol, i was like "MY PEOPLE!!"

HF is definitely something i'm looking into, i need to sort antennas and get some radios.... i dug a 10M out of my dad's basement (his bedroom actually) but i think the finals may be gone in it.... had a buddy with a network analyzer help me tune a mag-mount Walmart dummy-load for 10m (the antenna is WAY narrow banded, but covers 28.3 to 28.9 or so perfectly) but guys 2 miles away on the local 10m net can't hear me....
"your signal is strong, but your audio is weak"
which makes ZERO sense to me on USB, but *shrug* they can't hear me, they can't hear me....

gonna see if i can get this radio on a shop monitor and figure out what's up...

in other news, anyone local have a shop monitor? ;)
 
You guys have it easy. I had to learn CODE to get licensed 53 years ago. Jack.W1FKG.

I took an 8 week CW class that my club did (they do one every year). I learned all about CW (from some real accomplished CW hams). I wish I had more time to practice it. I have a long, long way to go in terms of my speed (sending + receiving).

IMHO, its something that all hams (even recent ones), should learn how to do, even tho its no longer required on the tests.
 
I tried to learn CW a couple years ago. There was a nice system that taught the characters at speed, with larger gaps between characters so you got used to the sound of letters but still had a chance to process. I sucked at it. I think I spent a week on the first two letters before I got discouraged and gave up.

I got my general in '14 but have not gotten on the air. I just need to bust my cherry I think and it'll be easier. In fact Ive only been on 2m once or twice since getting licensed 5 years ago. I don't like making phone calls, I don't know why I thought amateur radio would be any easier. /self loathing pityfest
 
You guys have it easy. I had to learn CODE to get licensed 53 years ago. Jack.W1FKG.
Code is what kept me from getting licensed for >50 yrs!

Agreed. The guys running the study group I joined were explaining that they had to go into Boston (Custom House) and sit in the FCC office.
Yup, one day in the mid-late 1960s I up and decided to go for my FCC Radiotelephone 3rd class license without any studying whatsoever. I took the T from NU to Downtown and went up int he Custom House to sit for the exam.
 
I hurried to get my license so I had to pass code!
Just something I wanted to do for me.
I enjoyed the challenge. Once I learned I just
started getting faster and faster. I got to a level
that I could receive 17wpm and transmit 22wpm.
Of course life got in the way and my station has
been down for years. Maybe a NES net would
get me off my ass and hang 300ft of copper in
my backyard? I have a closet full of radios
just begging to get on the air. This summer for sure!
I like the idea of a HF net but some people will
be to close together for contacts? Maybe 2M
or 70cm might be a better choice?

AE1Y
 
What do you think that "CW" actually means? To me it's "continuous wave". You have to modulate it. Code is not "CW". Jack.

Jack, your not being a CW fudd with me are you?
If code is not cw than what is it? How would one use code
if they did not use constant wave? I’m thinking semantics
is getting in the way here. I guess one could use some other
Form of modulation for the wave but I’m thinking Morse code
has been the standard for hundreds of years.

Ed
 
Jack, your not being a CW fudd with me are you?
If code is not cw than what is it? How would one use code
if they did not use constant wave? I’m thinking semantics
is getting in the way here. I guess one could use some other
Form of modulation for the wave but I’m thinking Morse code
has been the standard for hundreds of years.

Ed
Ed, I' I'm probably using the wrong wording. What I mean is that you have to make and break the carrier to get the dits and dahs? Jack.
 
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