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vesicularThis past weekend I took my Amateur Radio license test. I've been studying off and on for a while now, and decided to stop studying and get the test over with. There are 4 different tests for 3 different classes of license. I of course was going for the first test and first license.
It's not an overly complex test. It's 35 questions, all multiple choice, pulled from a large pool of possible questions that you can see online (and study from). I bought a book to read through to study for, but the biggest problem I faced was many of the questions on the test were from the couple chapters I skimmed over. Uh oh. I was sorta worried.
Still I didn't have much to worry about. To fail you had to get 10 or more questions wrong, and I only had 6 wrong. So I passed! After this the guy doing the exams asked me if I wanted to take the next level test. I said I hadn't studied for it and probably should wait. His response was that it was free and gives me practice and who knows, perhaps I'd pass it.
So I tried it. And bombed horribly. But I knew I would after the first question, it was much harder. Still no matter, I was about to get my Amateur license! They had to send the results of the test into the FCC and after a couple days (they said Thurs) I would get my call sign and would be able to transmit.
So I checked the FCC database today, just for the hell of it, not thinking they'd have approved my license already, but sure enough there it was. I'm officially a Ham. Call sign KCØZCR.
I have a Technician's License, which basically gives me access to various small bands of frequencies in the 6m-13cm (50Mhz-2.45Ghz) range. Basically the VHF/UHF spectrum (which you may be familiar with, all TV channels as well as FM radio fall in this range). Of course I don't get all of it, just small subsets that are reserved for Ham Radio. If I were to upgrade my license, by passing the other tests, I could operate on more bands on both higher and lower frequencies (for example, the next class license, which is the test I bombed, gives access to HF, where most of Shortwave Radio resides).
Anyway, it's all pretty cool. I should get my official license in the mail from the FCC soon. It was nice to set a small goal like this and achieve it. Now all I need is a radio so I can start transmitting. :/
It's not an overly complex test. It's 35 questions, all multiple choice, pulled from a large pool of possible questions that you can see online (and study from). I bought a book to read through to study for, but the biggest problem I faced was many of the questions on the test were from the couple chapters I skimmed over. Uh oh. I was sorta worried.
Still I didn't have much to worry about. To fail you had to get 10 or more questions wrong, and I only had 6 wrong. So I passed! After this the guy doing the exams asked me if I wanted to take the next level test. I said I hadn't studied for it and probably should wait. His response was that it was free and gives me practice and who knows, perhaps I'd pass it.
So I tried it. And bombed horribly. But I knew I would after the first question, it was much harder. Still no matter, I was about to get my Amateur license! They had to send the results of the test into the FCC and after a couple days (they said Thurs) I would get my call sign and would be able to transmit.
So I checked the FCC database today, just for the hell of it, not thinking they'd have approved my license already, but sure enough there it was. I'm officially a Ham. Call sign KCØZCR.
I have a Technician's License, which basically gives me access to various small bands of frequencies in the 6m-13cm (50Mhz-2.45Ghz) range. Basically the VHF/UHF spectrum (which you may be familiar with, all TV channels as well as FM radio fall in this range). Of course I don't get all of it, just small subsets that are reserved for Ham Radio. If I were to upgrade my license, by passing the other tests, I could operate on more bands on both higher and lower frequencies (for example, the next class license, which is the test I bombed, gives access to HF, where most of Shortwave Radio resides).
Anyway, it's all pretty cool. I should get my official license in the mail from the FCC soon. It was nice to set a small goal like this and achieve it. Now all I need is a radio so I can start transmitting. :/
no subject
Date: 2006-12-12 05:12 pm (UTC)Are you sure about the HF bands with the Tech license? Based on the ARRL site the Tech license can only go down to 6M. I'd need my General to get the HF frequencies.