{"id":129,"date":"2017-11-04T11:46:55","date_gmt":"2017-11-04T18:46:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ad6dm.net\/log\/?p=129"},"modified":"2017-12-10T11:21:13","modified_gmt":"2017-12-10T19:21:13","slug":"got-my-general","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ad6dm.net\/log\/2017\/11\/got-my-general\/","title":{"rendered":"Got my General!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Passed the General License exam this morning in Granite Bay, California.<\/p>\n

\"General<\/a>
Not that you can’t find my address, but I remove it out of habit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I’d been studying for about a month. But last night I thought to cram for it since there was an available exam going on in the morning about 50 miles north of me. I went through the whole General Exam question pool. I was unsure of so many answers, and not even halfway through all questions, that I thought, “I’m never going to pass this thing.” There’s a bit of math and frequency allocation memorization needed, as well as understanding schematic diagrams and figuring out ohms, picofarads, and millihenries.<\/p>\n

But I did power through the studying, referring often back to the reference material. For those interested in studying for any class license, I totally recommend the ARRL series of License Manuals<\/a>. It’s probably the best way to prep for the exam.<\/p>\n

Anyhow, waking too early for a Saturday, I got to the exam location by 8:30am and was greeted by WA6FGI Gary, an Amateur Extra VEC examiner. I showed them an official copy of my FCC Technician license and my ID, and got signed in with forms to fill out. I was then given the multiple-choice answer sheet and a test.<\/p>\n

There were about 6-8 other people there also taking an exam, some totally new to ham radio, attempting to get their Tech. I heard one guy unfortunately not pass for General, and another person not pass, though I’m not sure for what class. Many others got congratulations and a hand-shake from the VEC examiners for getting their license (or upgrade).<\/p>\n

I got through the exam really quickly, only pausing for 2-3 questions that I was not certain of. When I was done,\u00a0three Extra class hams looked over my answer sheet and transferred it between each other for triple review. After a few minutes, one of them called me over and congratulated me on passing the General.<\/p>\n

Another asked, “Would you like to try for the Extra license?”<\/p>\n

I thought about the prospect of that. Buoyed by the recent victory, I told them, “I studied absolutely nothing regarding the Extra license, but sure! I’ll give it a shot!” They seemed pleased that I would try. I overheard several others who had finished and successfully passed their Technician exams decline the chance to try for the next level.<\/p>\n

It was a longer test, 50 questions instead of 35 for the General, and significantly harder. I guessed a LOT on this one. After a good long while, I submitted the answer sheet, and several more minutes later, they told me I did not pass for the Extra level.<\/p>\n

Well, at least I got a taste of what the next exam will be like. Time to hit the next manual and learn!<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, I’m now an Authorized General class amateur radio operator. KF6UJS\/AG<\/strong>. I am so thrilled! HF here I come!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Passed the General License exam this morning in Granite Bay, California. I’d been studying for about a month. But last night I thought to cram for it since there was an available exam going on in the morning about 50 miles north of me. I went through the whole General Exam question pool. I was unsure of so many answers, and not even halfway through all questions, that I thought, “I’m never going to pass this thing.” There’s a bit of math and frequency allocation memorization needed, as well as understanding schematic diagrams and figuring out ohms, picofarads, and millihenries. But I did power through the studying, referring often back… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12],"tags":[18,20,17,34,19,22],"class_list":["post-129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-radio-club","tag-club","tag-elmer","tag-exams","tag-fcc","tag-learning","tag-vec"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9naFX-25","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":264,"url":"https:\/\/ad6dm.net\/log\/2017\/12\/passed-the-amateur-extra-exam\/","url_meta":{"origin":129,"position":0},"title":"Passed the Amateur Extra exam","author":"kf6ujs","date":"December 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"It took a while of studying, and a HamCram at the end, but I got my Extra class ticket this afternoon with W6SF Stockton Delta Amateur Radio Club. I missed one out of the 50-question exam. This is the last level of amateur radio licensing. Now I have no excuses...\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Radio Club"","block_context":{"text":"Radio Club","link":"https:\/\/ad6dm.net\/log\/category\/radio-club\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ad6dm.net\/log\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/KF6UJS_Extra-1-1024x795.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ad6dm.net\/log\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/KF6UJS_Extra-1-1024x795.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ad6dm.net\/log\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/KF6UJS_Extra-1-1024x795.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ad6dm.net\/log\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/KF6UJS_Extra-1-1024x795.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":982,"url":"https:\/\/ad6dm.net\/log\/2020\/07\/some-number-stations-sunday-morning\/","url_meta":{"origin":129,"position":1},"title":"Some Number Stations Sunday Morning","author":"AD6DM","date":"July 26, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I thought I'd search for number stations on the bands. According to Priyom.com, Number stations are shortwave transmissions from foreign intelligence agencies to spies in the field of foreign countries. They carry encrypted messages in form of groups of numbers or letters, using either automated voice, Morse code,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "CW"","block_context":{"text":"CW","link":"https:\/\/ad6dm.net\/log\/category\/cw\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1014,"url":"https:\/\/ad6dm.net\/log\/2020\/08\/podcast-is-live\/","url_meta":{"origin":129,"position":2},"title":"Podcast is Live","author":"AD6DM","date":"August 14, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I had a weird journey toward making a podcast. I never really thought about doing one, after all, what would I talk about? I had a hard enough time making videos I was genuinely interested in. But I did have a problem: My PC Speakers were picking up errant noise\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Podcast"","block_context":{"text":"Podcast","link":"https:\/\/ad6dm.net\/log\/category\/podcast\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"R\u00d8DECaster Pro","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ad6dm.net\/log\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_7795-300x225.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":684,"url":"https:\/\/ad6dm.net\/log\/2018\/12\/projects-2018\/","url_meta":{"origin":129,"position":3},"title":"Projects 2018","author":"AD6DM","date":"December 31, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This past year was an eventful ham radio one. As I begin to look ahead to goals and daydreams of 2019, it's always good to not expect the past to be the norm, but to take a moment and appreciate all the stuff that's happened good and bad. Thinking back,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Elmer"","block_context":{"text":"Elmer","link":"https:\/\/ad6dm.net\/log\/category\/elmer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ad6dm.net\/log\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Southwest_050216.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ad6dm.net\/log\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Southwest_050216.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ad6dm.net\/log\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Southwest_050216.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":610,"url":"https:\/\/ad6dm.net\/log\/2018\/11\/the-gamification-ham-radio\/","url_meta":{"origin":129,"position":4},"title":"The Gamification of Ham Radio","author":"AD6DM","date":"November 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I think contest organizations and the ARRL understand one aspect of fostering activity in the hobby. The logbook awards, contests, and sprints have their roots in achievement, competition, and accomplishment. Stanford gaming theorist Jane McGonigal recently spoke at a Security Conference I attended where she remarked on the incredible amount\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Contesting"","block_context":{"text":"Contesting","link":"https:\/\/ad6dm.net\/log\/category\/contesting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Kids playing videogames","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ad6dm.net\/log\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Miro-Kids-video-games.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ad6dm.net\/log\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Miro-Kids-video-games.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ad6dm.net\/log\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Miro-Kids-video-games.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":814,"url":"https:\/\/ad6dm.net\/log\/2019\/05\/fabricating-gear\/","url_meta":{"origin":129,"position":5},"title":"Fabricating Gear","author":"AD6DM","date":"May 31, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"As many on Twitter have seen (and are probably already tired of seeing), I got myself a budget 3D Printer. Several of my coworkers would come to work with their \"latest print\" and it would range from utilitarian to really cool movie prop reproductions. In my mind, this hobby was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Build"","block_context":{"text":"Build","link":"https:\/\/ad6dm.net\/log\/category\/build\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"3D Modeling software for first design.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ad6dm.net\/log\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/IMG_3240-1024x576.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ad6dm.net\/log\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/IMG_3240-1024x576.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ad6dm.net\/log\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/IMG_3240-1024x576.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ad6dm.net\/log\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/IMG_3240-1024x576.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ad6dm.net\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ad6dm.net\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ad6dm.net\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ad6dm.net\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ad6dm.net\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/ad6dm.net\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":178,"href":"https:\/\/ad6dm.net\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129\/revisions\/178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ad6dm.net\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ad6dm.net\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ad6dm.net\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}