TexasCHLforum.com

Charles L. Cotton wrote: Congratulations on the new ticket. What's your call sign? You're very close to the General so don't put that off.

Chas.

Thanks! Waiting on the FCC to issue a call sign and add me to the database. Just took the test on Tuesday, they told me to expect about 1.5 to 2 weeks.

I didn't know I could take the general immediately after passing Tech until ~3 days before the test. Unfortunately, I had a full schedule and only was able to squeeze in less than an hour of study. I should have some time over the next few weeks and will make an effort to study and retake the General, before I forget everything from Tech.


Forgot to mention for folks interested in getting their license...
The Technician test pool of questions will be updated in June, making the quiz part of the current study material somewhat outdated until the practice quizzes can be revised to reflect the new pool questions (the online quizzes are comprised of the ACTUAL pool of questions from FCC. There's a pool of about 350 or so questions for the Tech exam, from which the exam will pull only 35 questions ~evenly divided among topics.)

There are two very different schools of thought on studying for the exams. 1. Study the material and learn it and 2. Memorize the test questions and answers. If you plan to go with option 1 (my recommendation), then you can use the currently available study materials and you should be fine. If you plan to go with option 2, you might get in a bit of trouble studying the current pool questions if you wind up taking the test after the test questions are revised. The General License test doesn't rev until next year, but you have to pass the Technician test before you can take the General.

Just took/passed the Technician test this week. Didn't study for the General, but took a shot at it anyways (no extra cost) and scored 23. Unfortunately you need a 26 to pass . I'll probably study a bit over the next few weeks and retake the General next month, while the Tech material is still fresh.

Ordered an Alinco DJ-V57T HT today, should take delivery next week some time.

I've never been particularly interested in amateur radio before, but I just completed our local CERT course and it became clear during class that having HAM capability would be a big advantage to communicating with the team, so, I took the plunge.

If you are interested in self study, there are many ways to go about it. I got handed a free copy of the "Technician License Course" book authored by Stu Turner. It includes access to online study and test material at HamRadioSchool.com. The book is about 200 pages, written for a non-techie. I spent maybe 5-6 hours total reading the book and taking the online quizzes. I do have a background in science and some electronics experience as well, so, the underlying radio and circuits concepts part was pretty easy. I think a non-science/tech person could easily pass the test with only a little more time spent studying. You only need 26/35 to pass, so, even if you're not great with the tech stuff, it's only a portion of the test. If you are at all comfortable with science (basic physics) and basic circuits, there's no reason you have to take a more elaborate teacher-instructed course for the entry level Technician license, unless you just prefer to do it that way. IMO, YMMV.

Just waiting for my call sign and equipment now.