Ham Radio For Dummies - H. Ward Silver

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      Class and call sign

      As a newly licensed ham, your license class will be reflected in your assigned call sign. When you get your first license, the FCC assigns you the next call sign in the heap for your license class, in much the same way that you’re assigned a license plate at the department of motor vehicles. Just as you can request a specialty license plate, you can request a special vanity call sign — within the call sign rules, of course. The higher your license class, the shorter and more distinctive your chosen call sign can be.

      Preparing for Your License Exam

      IN THIS CHAPTER

      

Breaking down the exam

      

Finding resources to get ready

      

Getting help from a mentor

      You’ve decided to take the plunge and get your ham radio license. Congratulations! Although you can’t just run down to the store, buy your gear, and fire it up, becoming licensed isn’t that hard. A lot of resources are available to prepare you for the ham radio exam. This chapter gives you some pointers on how best to prepare so that you will enjoy studying and do well at test time. (Exams and exam sessions are also referred to as tests or test sessions. I use mostly exam in this chapter.)

      This chapter doesn’t teach the answers to the exam’s specific questions — that’s the job of study guides and manuals. There are quite a few questions in the exam question pools! Use one of the several excellent print and online study resources that review each individual question. This book will help you through the process of studying and passing your exam.

      The exam for each license class is called an element. The written exams for Technician, General, and Amateur Extra licenses (see Chapter 4) are Elements 2, 3, and 4, respectively. (Element 1 was the Morse code exam, which has been dropped.)

      Your studies will focus on the question pool, the complete set of actual questions used on the exam. The questions are available to help you study. The exam that you’ll take is made up of a selection of questions from that pool.

      The exam covers four basic areas:

       Rules & Regulations: Important rules of the road that you have to know to operate legally including some important definitions.

       Operating: Basic procedures and conventions that hams follow on the air to be effective. In essence, you’ll learn “radio manners.”

       Basic Electronics: Elementary concepts about radio waves and electronic components, with some basic math involved. There are some equipment questions, too.

       RF Safety: Questions about how to transmit safely.

      The exam must include a certain number of questions from each area; questions are selected randomly from those areas. The Technician and General exams have 35 questions; the Amateur Extra has 50. If you answer at least three-quarters of the questions correctly, you pass.

      

Because the exam questions are public, you’ll experience a strong temptation to memorize the questions and answers. Don’t! Take the time to understand as much of the material as you can, memorizing only what you must. After you do get your license, you’ll find that studying pays off when you start operating.

      

Exam questions and regulations change once every four years for each class of license. The latest changes in the Technician class questions, for example, took effect July 1, 2018, so the next set of questions will be apply starting on July 1, 2022. Be sure that any study materials you purchase support the latest updates. For the dates of the current question pools, see www.arrl.org/question-pools or www.ncvec.org.

      Licensing classes

      If you learn better with a group of other students, you’ll find classes beneficial. You can find classes in several ways:

       Checking with your radio club: You can take classes sponsored by the club. If you don’t see the class you want, contact the club through its website or social media pages, and ask about classes. To find a club in your area, turn to Chapter 3.

       Looking for upcoming exams to be held in your area: The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) has a search engine devoted to upcoming exam sessions at www.arrl.org/exam:sessions/search, as do the W5YI VEC (www.w5yi.org) and Laurel VEC (www.laurelvec.com). You can check other VEC sessions by going to the national VEC website (www.ncvec.org) and clicking the FCC Certified VECs link.Get in touch with the exam’s contact liaison and ask about licensing classes. Because exams are often given at the conclusion of class sessions, contact liaisons are frequently class instructors themselves.

       Asking at a ham radio or electronics store: If a ham radio store is in your vicinity the staffers there usually know where classes are being held.Businesses that sell electronics supplies or kits to individuals may also know about classes. In a pinch, you can do a web search for ham radio class or radio licensing class (or close variations) and your town or region. Maker and robotics groups often include hams as members. Ask around and see if they can point you in the right direction.

       Community colleges: It is increasingly common for local colleges to offer ham radio classes sponsored by a local club as part of an adult education or hobby instruction program. Even if the classes aren’t being held right away, there will often be information to help you contact the previous instructor for more information about the schedule.

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