Finally started reading Gorden West's Technician Class 2026-2030 - now reading ARRL's Tech manual (Page 2 of 2)
| I bought the spiral bound ARRL books to make them easier to open flat or fold back so only one page was visible. More expensive but worth it to me. I worked repeatedly on the questions via hamstudy.org, but when a topic intrigued me, I would read about it in the ARRL books during off times or when I was "indisposed". |
Don't confuse where I live with where I'm from.
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Originally Posted By backbencher: Amazon threw it on my porch a day early, and the ARRL Technician License Manual 6th Edition looks to be more of a manual w/ questions AFTER the explanation, so fingers crossed. I'll get into it tomorrow. I always assumed West was similar in format. I see I was wrong. I used all three of the ArRL books for my studying. Their sections were brief and not much more than geared to the test. I think you will still end up like I was when certain bits needed more fleshing out,….google search the scantly covered ARRL topic as needed. |
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Honestly... one of the best "introduce me to the fundamentals behind this topic" is ChatGPT or whatever flavor of LLM you prefer. Ask it about electromagnetism in the context of radio. Ask it about antennas and circuit design. Ask it about the development of a vacuum tube. Or about modern SDR radios using FPGAs. You can then ask it to elaborate. Or even simplify. You can follow the rabbit allllllll the way down various holes across whatever information domain you find interesting in the moment. It's not definitive of course. But there is no better tool to help you go from "I don't even know what I don't know" to "OK - I have a bit of a grasp of what I don't know, so let's follow up on that." Type one of the questions in and start there. "This question blah blah blah, is in the Amateur Radio test group, tell me about it." And you'll get not only the history of the question, you may get the actual discussion around the WHY of the question being in the test. This prompt is - as far as I know - not on any of the tests. But I became intrigued after watching a Veritasium video about Poynting vectors. https://chatgpt.com/share/6aa1a59f-bd74-83ea-810b-1440e1511dc8 |
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Got through Chapter 1 in the ARRL Technician manual. This is a much better FORMAT than Mr West's books. I don't know yet if there's better content - one of the pictures is of a scholarship winner - from 2015. So I'm a bit concerned they may have missed some important FCC regulatory updates, but we'll see. Usual bullshit claims that the Amateur Service is the most powerful communications service available to the private citizen, as if mobile phones, the internet, & Starlink didn't exist. This crap has been in their manual since at least 2019, and it becomes less true every year. They mention GPRS & CB radio - no mention of MeshCore or Meshtastic, nor cell phones or satellite internet. This was the exact bullshit propaganda in their manual 7 years ago that turned me off from their manual, and why I finally decided to try Gordon West. It bears repeating that Mr West is quite likely one of the nicest men you'll ever meet. His teaching format is popular, and it's sad that it's popular, but undeniably he's gotten a lot of Hams licensed. Whether he's taught them anything is a different question. |
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Ok, so started in on Chapter 2 at dinner. And... The fucking questions that use terms I have no idea what they mean - are first. Then the correct answer, which also may use terms that I have no idea what they mean. One slight improvement - the questions are grouped 4 to a topic, and then the topic is explained. Then I have to turn back a page to read the questions again so that I can now understand the answers. !sdrawkcab gnikcuf oS I'll put this on ice until next week and go price a newer Google Pixel that can hit Starlink. |
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Originally Posted By backbencher: Ok, so started in on Chapter 2 at dinner. And... The fucking questions that use terms I have no idea what they mean - are first. Then the correct answer, which also may use terms that I have no idea what they mean. One slight improvement - the questions are grouped 4 to a topic, and then the topic is explained. Then I have to turn back a page to read the questions again so that I can now understand the answers. !sdrawkcab gnikcuf oS I'll put this on ice until next week and go price a newer Google Pixel that can hit Starlink. Satellite phones or satellite-capable cell phones (are they really ready for prime time yet? IDK) communications are certainly going to be more consistently reliable than amateur radio. I don't follow the satellite-capable cell phones very closely, but when they become capable of seamless operation with voice, text, and data, that will probably make me want a new cell phone. You won't have the fun of speaking to new people all over the world with a cell phone, but to each his own. |
Don't confuse where I live with where I'm from.
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Originally Posted By backbencher: When was that? Originally Posted By backbencher: Originally Posted By radioshooter: Dick Bash started the "know the answers" for people to memorize and PASS. Before that, people had to learn stuff. When was that? Long ago, people sat for interview-style testing in front of FCC employees akin to defending a thesis for an academic degree, after traveling to a major city with an FCC office. To reach Extra would require 4 such interview tests along with 3 Morse tests. The current volunteer administered testing is a significantly lower burden. |
This is...a clue - Pat_Rogers
I'm not adequately aluminumized for this thread. - gonzo_beyondo
CO, MI, OR - Please lobby your legislators to end discrimination against non-resident CCW permit holders
I'm not adequately aluminumized for this thread. - gonzo_beyondo
CO, MI, OR - Please lobby your legislators to end discrimination against non-resident CCW permit holders
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Tech: Took an 8 week, once a week class with a local club. Basically went thru the ARRL book in class, with demonstrations. Was very helpful, and gave a lot more practical knowledge than just reading books. Passed 35/35. General: Read the ARRL book, then started taking practice exams until I was scoring in the high 90's all the time. Passed 35/35. Extra: Listened to Gordo's CD's all the way thru while driving, twice. Took practice exams until I was scoring in the 90's. Passed 48/50. The "gatekeeper" saying is becoming the "boomer" of excuses. My tech > general upgrade was quick, got lazy going to Extra, but needed it to help out with VE sessions. |
Award: 24/365 Most likely to be an appendix.
"Dealing with Congress is like trying to have an adult conversation about the credit card with your alcoholic bi-polar Ukranian import wife."
"Dealing with Congress is like trying to have an adult conversation about the credit card with your alcoholic bi-polar Ukranian import wife."
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Originally Posted By Emoto: Satellite phones or satellite-capable cell phones (are they really ready for prime time yet? IDK) communications are certainly going to be more consistently reliable than amateur radio. I don't follow the satellite-capable cell phones very closely, but when they become capable of seamless operation with voice, text, and data, that will probably make me want a new cell phone. You won't have the fun of speaking to new people all over the world with a cell phone, but to each his own. ETA: And you're still paying for permission to use them, and relying on someone else's infrastructure. |
Award: 24/365 Most likely to be an appendix.
"Dealing with Congress is like trying to have an adult conversation about the credit card with your alcoholic bi-polar Ukranian import wife."
"Dealing with Congress is like trying to have an adult conversation about the credit card with your alcoholic bi-polar Ukranian import wife."
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Originally Posted By Emoto: Satellite phones or satellite-capable cell phones (are they really ready for prime time yet? IDK) communications are certainly going to be more consistently reliable than amateur radio. I don't follow the satellite-capable cell phones very closely, but when they become capable of seamless operation with voice, text, and data, that will probably make me want a new cell phone. You won't have the fun of speaking to new people all over the world with a cell phone, but to each his own. Originally Posted By Emoto: Originally Posted By backbencher: Ok, so started in on Chapter 2 at dinner. And... The fucking questions that use terms I have no idea what they mean - are first. Then the correct answer, which also may use terms that I have no idea what they mean. One slight improvement - the questions are grouped 4 to a topic, and then the topic is explained. Then I have to turn back a page to read the questions again so that I can now understand the answers. !sdrawkcab gnikcuf oS I'll put this on ice until next week and go price a newer Google Pixel that can hit Starlink. Satellite phones or satellite-capable cell phones (are they really ready for prime time yet? IDK) communications are certainly going to be more consistently reliable than amateur radio. I don't follow the satellite-capable cell phones very closely, but when they become capable of seamless operation with voice, text, and data, that will probably make me want a new cell phone. You won't have the fun of speaking to new people all over the world with a cell phone, but to each his own. I mean, I get rando texts from Telegram girls every week, but they never will show me their tits. And I'm in a Signal chat w/ some of my local ARFCOM buddies, current & past members, doesn't matter where they are in the world, they can chat w/ all of us if they have internet. |
Don't let the join date fool you... here since '97
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Originally Posted By backbencher: I mean, I get rando texts from Telegram girls every week, but they never will show me their tits. And I'm in a Signal chat w/ some of my local ARFCOM buddies, current & past members, doesn't matter where they are in the world, they can chat w/ all of us if they have internet. |
www.HansohnBrothers.com
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Originally Posted By HansohnBrothers: Honestly, if you have an interest in amateur radio, you can learn enough through memorizing the test questions. The real learning comes after you get your ticket. The marketing put out by ARRL is annoying for sure though. This is the truth. I saw the test for what it was, and started the real learning after getting it out of the way. BTW your eft scan works great! |
World ain't what it seems, is it Gunny?
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Originally Posted By lorazepam: This is the truth. I saw the test for what it was, and started the real learning after getting it out of the way. BTW your eft scan works great! Originally Posted By lorazepam: Originally Posted By HansohnBrothers: Honestly, if you have an interest in amateur radio, you can learn enough through memorizing the test questions. The real learning comes after you get your ticket. The marketing put out by ARRL is annoying for sure though. This is the truth. I saw the test for what it was, and started the real learning after getting it out of the way. BTW your eft scan works great! After a year of use of HF then a lot of the dumb memorization like knowing the band plan was actually in my head mostly from usage and experience. Heck even in my portable op bag my little logbook has a band plan tucked inside the cover. When I first took the test the band plans were just stuff to pass the test. After a year they were just mostly in my head. |