HAM Test Challenge - Wave 2 - Saturday, May 27! (2 Viewers)

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New thread to prepare for 'Wave 2' of club members who are interested in getting HAM Amateur Radio licensed through The AZ Amateur Radio Club VE Testing held on the 4th Saturday of each month.

The next VE Testing Date is Saturday, May 27 @7p.

AZ Amateur Radio Club (VE Testing): www.w7io.org
Location: 4747 N 22nd Street @7p on 4th Saturday of each month

Online Study Guide & Flash Cards (study & practice testing): www.hamstudy.org

1) We're now 3 weeks out from the Test Date of May 27! That's still plenty of time for someone who may be on the fence and wants to get their Technician License but isn't sure about their ability to pass the 35 question test. Trust me, that's plenty of time.

B) The first 'Wave' of 5 of us all passed the Technician Element and now have our HAM licenses! See the original thread for more information: Future Club HAMster's, unite! HAM Test Challenge Date, APR22.

III) Pro Study Tip: as proposed by @Otter (*and others), you can pass with minimal effort if you study the test questions - not the material. Later on, you'll have plenty of time to learn everything you need to know about HAM Radio and the Amateur Radio Arts. The test questions (385 by last count) are the panel you need to know the answers to for the 35 randomly selected questions you'll be asked on the actual test day. Here are some common themes;
  • There are 80 inches in 2 meters
  • MICE - Magnetic is Inductance / Capacitance is Electric
  • Radio Frequency has 2 components - Electro-Magnetic
  • 50 Ohm is the standard for most HAM cabling
  • CW is International Morse Code and is always low within the band, along with data
  • 300/Mhz = meters (band)
  • CFHI - Capacitance = Farad / Henry = Inductance (units of measure)
  • The Eagle, The Indian, and The Rabbit - This came from the Hamstudy.org site and makes the formulas for Voltage, Current, and Resistance, as follows;
    • V = I * R
    • I = V / R
    • R = V / I
  • The trick here is to imagine Voltage (V) as the 'Eagle', Current (I) as the 'Indian', and Resistance (R) as the 'Rabbit'. Anytime that Voltage is in the equation, it will be above the other variable, i.e., the 'Eagle' will always be OVER the Indian or the Rabbit (*and therefore divided by that variable). Conversely, anytime the Indian or the Rabbit are together, they're side-by-side (*and multiplied together). This makes working the formula word problems a LOT easier.
So, good luck in your study this week, post those Practice Test Results or ask for help with certain questions that may be confusing, and please contact me here or on IM if you plan to test on Saturday, May 27.

I will need to coordinate the list of Test Subjects and get them to Gary at the W7IO Volunteer Examiner group one week before the Test Date.
 
Two guys (non-CSC members, but one of them just bought a brand new locked Taco!) signed up for this upcoming VE Test session.

Let me know if you're planning to attend, and PM your real name and e-mail address to be added to the roster. Thanks,
 
One week left to prep. If anyone is interested in this round, please let me know via PM. Monthly VE testing dates are posted at W7Io_Org for those looking for a bit more time.

Special thanks to @azPaul for coming out to the monthly club meeting tonight to run a Q&A for new HAMs and general questions. Very informative!
 
Quick follow-up; we had 2 non-club members successfully complete the Amateur Radio Technician test and get licensed in this wave! One of the guys recently bought a 4x4 Tacoma and I've been trying to get him to join CSC and start coming out on runs - so he's a 'maybe'.

With that, I'll say if anyone else is interested in getting HAM licensed, please feel free to PM me, and I'll work with you to run you through the process with our preferred VE Test group.

On a sidenote, I'll be bringing my Ham-in-a-Box to the club meeting tonight to try and contact the Del Webb repeater for their 9pm Net Control meeting; last month, I was unable to reach them on my 1/4 wave antenna and I want to see if the 5/8 will do the job.
 
HAMster heads-up; the ARRL 2017 Annual Field Day is this weekend (Sat, Jun24-Sun, Jun25) starting at 11aPHX and ending on Sunday at 2pPHX.

If you're still playing with your HAM rig and want to do some testing, this is a great opportunity as there will be traffic on nearly all bands and frequencies throughout the stated times for you to check your receiver; alternately, you can also test your transmit power by announcing yourself. Note that with the high traffic on the bands expected (contesting, etc.), it may be fast and furious if you're trying to break in, but don't let that stop you.

I plan to be on to make a few contacts, but not much beyond that. Still working on my revised (Gen-2) Go-Box and plan to have it up and running for the weekend. My 1/4 wave antenna just cannot seem to connect at 25watts (60watts overpowers it), while the 5/8 wave gets good signal reports even on distant repeaters.
 

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