Short Takes! Comments on Short Takes from "Trials and Errors"

Rick, I enjoyed your comments, thanks. My impression of the free ANKI software is very positive, and there are thousands of card decks available for any hobby or language or school subject you'd be looking for! Dave

 

I've been a VE for 25 years or so and of course have some opinions on how to best study for your licenses.

I always ask anyone asking me about what they need to do to pass their test if they want to learn what it's all about or just get a license as fast and easy as they can. If they tell me they want to learn I encourage them to get the large QA manual from ARRL, study all that's in it and take the test. If they just want the ticket I recommend Gordon West's Q and A manual, highlight the right answers and ignore the wrong ones, kind of like Ria's book I guess. I explain that Gordo gives the right answer and a brief explanation of why it's right in a concise easy to understand way.

I always make it a point of telling them not to go to any on line practice tests to LEARN the material. It's a great way to test yourself after you've studied the books to gain confidence in taking the tests. The tests only show roughly 10 percent of the questions on the 1st test, all subsequent tests have repeats of some of these questions so they would have to take several hundred tests to see all of the questions and answers. I have had many candidates tell me I didn't see all of those questions when I studied. I wonder why. Ham Test On Line and a few others do present all of the material.

I certainly agree that a well instructed class would be the preferable way to learn. When we were young, there weren't even Q & A manuals, you had to study and there were many hams that were willing to be Elmers.
73 de Chuck, AA0RI

 

Precisely the point ive been stating.
Todays tech ( internet) allows access to information previously not available.
Some of it good and correct and some incorrect and dangerous.
Its a matter of sorting it out and verifying it with an elmers help.

 

Hi Chuck,

I think you're right about the online tests from some websites. You just don't REALLY know you're getting the full exposure, so you can't count on them as a part of your "learning process." But that's where ANKI is different. ANKI uses the FULL SET of hundreds of questions, and won't quit with you until you've mastered all of them. The ones you have trouble with point to things you need to learn more about (get studying) and those questions you missed come back repeatedly at different places in the lineup. ANKI won't give you a "go, you're ready!" signal until you've passed all the questions in the deck (not just the few the FCC puts in front of you.) It's a definite must to add to any training regimen. Dave, W7DGJ

 

My Elmer G0MJY taught me
By "Do as you go"
He dragged us students out to his shed, "When you understand one thing I'll move on to the next!"
I don't know a lot, But i do understand the things Dave drummed into me!

 

On a tangential note....
There are a lot of things in the world that have testing involved. Compter certificates, to diver's licenses (PADA) to CDL's. Some require a practical exam, some do not. All require some study.

I think in the case of the Amateur Radio Service, what you want out of the hobby drives how much time folks are willing to put into the study part. Many are happy to do just enough to have a license for using HTs to talk with family members. "Radio" isn't the driving force, the ability to talk with family sans commercial means is their driver. Think - radio as a tool.

Others seek to talk with others far outside of their local area - for leaning a new language, for example. Others are fascinated by the technology. "Radio" is the reason they get a license - to play with the technology. In other words, there are nearly as meany reason for folks going for their license as there are people in the hobby.

***
Memorize the test vs study enough to pass a Commerical Phone - everyone has a different way they learn. Rather than focus on that, why not have fun with the hobby and if the chance comes up to pass along some technical knowledge, well - then do that as well.

Ham radio is a pretty big tent, enjoy what it offers and learn to ignore the rest. No matter how hard / how much you gripe, I doubt things will change. I'm happy to drive in my lane and unless some other Op causes QRM etc, I'm more than willing to ignore folks in the way they enjoy the hobby.

Life, as they say, is too short to worry about someone else's shortcomings/problems.

 

The "modern" way to design a license exam, I gather, is to determine what sorts of things a new operator will probably be doing under the authority of the license and ask questions designed to determine whether the examinee possesses the knowledge and skill to do those things in a safe, legal, and courteous manner.

I ASSUME the NCVEC does this? The current regulations seem written with this approach in mind.

 

Makes it kind of hard to justify the Extra Class though. That exam is designed to create incentive to learn radio electronics technology at a level beyond what most Extra Class hams will ever use.

 

There was a great deal involved in studying for that Amateur Extra Class license, and you're right . . . far beyond what I would be using in my day-to-day work in amateur radio. But I think it is worth it to "stretch" and study to get the top license. The freedom of being able to go anywhere and do anything (in our licensed bands) is worth it. Dave

 

Oh, sure, me too, but by definition the General exam covers all the ground you really need.

 

I'd agree with that statement. I found studying for and then taking both the Technician and General tests to be rather straight forward and easy. After reading a book/study guide for each level, and then taking the free practice exams available here on QRZ until I was scoring 90% or better (which really didn't take that long), I was good to go. I didn't "ace" either test, but my mistakes were few.

Quite the contrary studying for the A.E. I've made two stabs at it now...I've got two different books (one specifically recommended by you in an earlier column), plus an audio book version of one...and yet I get to a certain point in trying to absorb it all and my brain implodes! My practice exam scores are only in the high 70 percentile...not good enough to confidently go for the real thing.

I'll be making my third run at the A.E again this winter, mostly because all of my study guides are good up until mid-next year, when the exam will get updated/changed. I'm hoping that the dulldrums of winter will help keep my focus on the study material, and I will be incorporating that ANKI flash card app into the regime as well. Fingers crossed that third time's a charm.

 

As the author of one of the books in the article, my mission was not to get people licensed quickly. It was to help them gain knowledge and understand what they’re getting into.

It’s like learning language. You can memorize a dictionary and phrase book yet not truly learn a language. Or you can immerse yourself in conversation and everyday application of the language and understand how to make conversation and also some of the culture of the places where the language is spoken. The latter is what I intended to do.

I put a lot of real world experiences I’ve had, in simpler, to the point language which is what I do best.

 

Brando, hang in there. The ANKI deck will make a huge difference for you. Take the test after two weeks of playing with ANKI every morning after breakfast and before you go to bed at night. Two weeks and you'll nail it. Dave

 

Thanks Ria. It's great that you came up with this Technician Class book, and I'm sorry you ran into the buzz saw with the ARRL while doing so. I hope a General Class book is being developed. Dave, W7DGJ

 

Good on you for studying to learn more.

I've written a couple of technical manuals for QRP radios. It is impossible to describe a circuit without assuming the reader has some basic level of electronics knowledge.
The notion of crystal filers and heterodyning signals to feed these, for example, are a bedrock level of knowledge for working on radios.

For the "I just want to talk with family" crowd, this really doesn't matter - they make no pretense of wanting to work on their radios. Most will just buy a spare and call it good. Fine by me.

But to work with the technology requires some more advanced level of understanding - and the desire to learn more. I don't understand all the Gaff (I won't say hate) I see here about Extra class licenses. There is no 'up or out' structure in the ARS, hasn't been since the limted time Novice class license went away.
.
I had a discussion with a nice (and older 50+) woman who studied and got her extra. First time around - this, because she wanted to know more. I pointed her to the US Navy ET courses found online for more self-study.

As far as the Extra ticket, you gain very little unless you work CW full time. (Shrug)
I'm not going to harsh on someone who is happy with a tech ticket, if that all they want.

I went to college specifically to learn radio-electronics in order to have a working career.
If this is just a hobby for you -- put in the time you want to support the hobby.
Then try to have some fun.