HAM Test Challenge - Wave 3, Apr27 - Interested? (1 Viewer)

"I'd like to finally get my HAM Radio License so I can enjoy the outdoors even more..."

  • "Definitely this year. When is the next test date?"

    Votes: 8 80.0%
  • "Probably not this year. I don't have the time."

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • "I'm still on the fence."

    Votes: 2 20.0%

  • Total voters
    10

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After the club overland trip last weekend, there was some talk (*mostly over HAM radio!) about reviving the threads I've run in the past to prep club members interested in taking the Amateur Radio Technician license test.

If you're interested, post below, and I'll work to get you lined up with study materials, online practice tests, and even set you up and meet you there for the Volunteer Tester (VE) Test Day. Here are some prior threads on the topic, if you're on the fence:

The first thread of interest: Future Club HAMster's, unite! HAM Test Challenge Date, APR22.

Wave2 in Summer of 2017: HAM Test Challenge - Wave 2 - Saturday, May 27!

Shown here is ~$150 that gets you into the Amateur Radio HAM frequencies on club runs, LEGALLY! It's not hard, it's not expensive, and you get a lot more out of going out wheeling when you can talk along the way.
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I'll gauge interest by how long the thread lives, so post below if you'd like some help getting pointed in the right direction.

Some study tricks to get you started; (*added by request...)
  • 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.
  • Don't worry about the math! Given the random sampling of questions you'll get, you cn skip ALL the math calculations and if you get the other content questions right, you'll still pass!
Arizona Red Cross and an associated local Amateur Radio group hosts Volunteer Examiners who will administer the test (all 3 levels if you're looking to upgrade your license from Technician to General, or Amateur Extra) for anybody that signs up ahead of time. The test date of Saturday, April 27 (7pm) has been chosen based on schedule availability of club members, and the tests are administered monthly on the 4th Saturday of every month in case you want to test later this year.

Commitment has been made for VE Testing Date on April 27 (4th Saturday of the month, 7pPHX @ Red Cross Headquarters on Camelback), by majority vote! Thanks,
 
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This I really an easy test. Start taking a few practice tests every day and soon you will find yourself trying to get 100% every time. Thanks for posting this up Thomas.
 
I have been wanting to get my license really bad lately. So if you’re offering Thomas I would definetly take you up on it. Thanks a ton for posting this. Greatly appreciate your willingness to help.
 
I have been wanting to get my license really bad lately. So if you’re offering Thomas I would definetly take you up on it. Thanks a ton for posting this. Greatly appreciate your willingness to help.
I'm in the same boat. meant to bring this up at the campfires last weekend. Been very interested, but could use some direction on how to proceed. Got a little lost exactly what to do googling it. Greatly appreciate any help/advice thanks!
 
Count me in too. I really wished I had a HAM at Cruise Moab last year when groups got strung out. Because you know people are talking about you when you can't hear them, lol. Plus I like tests!
 
Great to see interest in a other round, as I think about 10-15 club members have gotten their Technician level licenses by challenging each other toward a specific test date (*setting a date forces you to study!).

Start by reading through the 2 links I posted above, and then let's decide when everybody feels comfortable to test. You only need about 6 weeks to make this happen, so don't make it out to be harder than that - it's easy.
 
Awesome! Thanks Thomas
 
Definitely interested in getting my license, just haven't gotten to study. I did took a practice test out of curiosity to see where I'm at.
 
I just read the two links that Thomas posted and every night I sat down and took a few practice tests. Very easy to do, the tests score your results and you can review the wrong answers and it will provide the correct test answer plus explain why. There are only about 400 questions in the test bank, easy to memorize.

Tom, please add the study hints you posted for us in 2017. This solved one of the tricky parts of the question. The eagle.....

@LongDuck
 
Aahhh,... The eagle, the Indian and the rabbit! Added the test and study tricks to the first post,
 
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Great to meet you tonight. I'm definitely interested.
 
You're in!

The next 2 testing dates are March 23 or April 28 (*edited to correct SUNDAY) and those willing to commit can choose which date to target (4th SUNDAY of the month, evening). Thank you for your interest and see the first post links for study materials and guides,
 
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@LongDuck , do you think it's important to get the book mentioned (The ARRL Ham Radio License Manual: ARRL Inc.: 9781625950130: Amazon.com: Books)? So far I've just been doing the flashcards on hamstudy.org. After i get better with these I was planning on taking practice exams. Just curious if you think this method would work, or if it's important to also read the book. Also, i think @LandCruiserPhil also mentioned at the last meeting that he just 100% watched some youtube series and scored 100%. Do you have a link to that? Let me know, thanks
 
every trail run, more people are licensed for Ham. Its the only way to go !
 
@LongDuck , do you think it's important to get the book mentioned (The ARRL Ham Radio License Manual: ARRL Inc.: 9781625950130: Amazon.com: Books)? So far I've just been doing the flashcards on hamstudy.org. After i get better with these I was planning on taking practice exams. Just curious if you think this method would work, or if it's important to also read the book. Also, i think @LandCruiserPhil also mentioned at the last meeting that he just 100% watched some youtube series and scored 100%. Do you have a link to that? Let me know, thanks
Since you mentioned hamstudy.org I took a quick peek.

I recommend these from their link page at:

Printable question pool from KD7BBC
Printable question pool without distractors from KD7BBC (same as above but no distractors)
KB6NU’s No-Nonsense Study guides (free)
  • Relatively straightforward and completely free. These are a great companion to HamStudy for aspiring and current hams alike who are preparing for a radio test.
David Casler’s Youtube video guides for the license pools
  • Excellent video classes for all three US licenses
****
After downloading the full test question bank and reading it a few times you will recognize the correct answers from the wrong answers. The actual test is exactly like the test bank - they pull a subset of the bank for your test so there aren't any surprises or questions you haven't seen before.

Then sign up at QRZ and start taking practice exams. Once you are comfortable then take the real exam and you won't have any problems.


good lux!
 
What Steve said.....the questions really help you sort the basics. Look at what you get wrong, they will give you the correct answer and explain why. I just too a few practice tests each day. Two in the morning and 3 or 4 in the evening.

So easy, and once you buy a ham radio, you will wonder why you waited so long.
 
I think the best thing is to keep the exam in perspective.

  1. You want to use a Ham radio on the trail.
  2. You need an FCC license to use the Ham radio.
  3. You need to pass the test to get the license.
  4. You need to learn the QUESTIONS & ANSWERS to pass the test.
  5. You DON'T need to learn the electronics and theory behind the questions - plenty of time for that later if you are interested.
  6. Please don't get discouraged - it is worth the effort to get your license!:bounce:
 

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