Posted: 3/20/2010 1:21:05 PM EDT
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I passed the EXTRA this morning!
Like another who just recently posted, HamTestOnline really helped put me over top. Will probably get the VE designation and work on code now. |
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Quoted:
I passed the EXTRA this morning! Like another who just recently posted, HamTestOnline really helped put me over top. Will probably get the VE designation and work on code now. Good for you! I for one am an old farts that had to pass cw to get my Extra... and I hated it that the cw was eliminated from the test requirements to EARN an Extra class license! That was a hate-fest when it was first proposed. There were old farts like me who felt the Extra lost a bit of meaning with a no code requirement. I felt like anyone who had the time to study the questions could "learn" the test and not really understand the theory contained in the Extra test questions. By making it no code... (forgive me) it was dumbing down the theory and cw knowledge originally intended for the earning of the extra class. I was never against the "pool of questions" and their answers to study... but it used to be in a book that also explained the theory. Now someone can just get the question pool to study... and not understand the theory. AND... for the record I have a background in radio repair and teaching theory in the Army back in the 70s. SO... it pleases me greatly to read that you want to go forward and learn the code in addition to your passing the exam! Congrats on both!!! I hope more reach beyond the written tests like you intend to do. There just aren't the old "Elmers" like there used to be and the endeavor that some call a 'hobby" is losing technical growth, as it no longer grows by those who actually build equipment and experiment with self built equipment. That exact argument was used during the Clinton years. There was a drive to take the amateur bands away and sell them for commercial use. We could have lost it all back then! No hate... just an old fart rambling! |
 Congrats! And good on you for wanting to learn "the code". I had to do 13 WPM to get General back in '92 and could never go any faster. I was stuck at about 15 WPM so Extra was out for me until they did away with the code requirement.
I still keep up on the code, but not in a big way. Morse Code is the Amateur's secret language. 
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| There is a free program called G4FON Morse Code trainer which uses the Koch method and it has gotten me from no-code to receiving 11 wpm in about 6 weeks of studying 10-20 minutes a day. I started making contacts a few weeks ago and thereafter began receiving qso cards in the mail with "mode: CW" written on it. Very rewarding and makes you feel like a real Ham. |
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Congrats.
Extra is on my list of things to do. First is to get a bit of experience on the air as a General. Somewhere in there learning code is also on the list. Its another operating mode that I think I should be proficient on. BTU. Congrats again. Extra isn't earned easily. |