Upgrade!
It's been quite a while since I've updated this blog. Really, that's because I've had little of interest to write.
That changed on 23 January 2007, when FCC issued my new callsign! That's right, kids - I'm now AB3EI, a freshly-approved Amateur Extra operator.
Took me long enough to actually take the bloody test. I got my General waaaay back in 1993. That sufficed for years, working occasional DX and the odd contest. But I recently got a taste of fairly intense operating at N3MX's well-equipped station in the 2006 CQ Worldwide DX contest, operating multi-single with N3MX and K3YD. I decided I had to step up to the plate and get it done.
Yeah, I got it too late to brag about 20 words-per-minute CW qualification, but I really don't care; I've been operating at that speed and faster as a General for years, so bite me.
DLARC's VE team administered the test the first Friday in January. Didn't take me long to complete it - I figure, you know what you know, and if you don't know something, sitting there and staring at the test sheet ain't gonna make you magically remember it. So take your best guess and move on. I don't know exactly how well I did, but it doesn't matter - I passed.
Took me all of fifteen minutes, if that. Lots of study, using ARRL's license manual, and lots of online practice tests (I used eHam.net and QRZ.com) made for a relatively easy time of it. I'm rather proud to say I didn't just memorize the answers. It's a point of pride that my calculator actually got a workout. (Yeah, I know; you had to use a sliderule in knee-deep snow while copying 45wpm CW in your head. Just stow it, will ya?)
I didn't even wait for the info to post on FCC's website. I ran home and flipped the switch, snagged an LX station on 20 meters - deep in the Extra phone sub-band. The next weekend, I operated the DLARC club station in the NAQP CW test for a few hours.
And I used Extra freqs. Sweet.
That changed on 23 January 2007, when FCC issued my new callsign! That's right, kids - I'm now AB3EI, a freshly-approved Amateur Extra operator.
Took me long enough to actually take the bloody test. I got my General waaaay back in 1993. That sufficed for years, working occasional DX and the odd contest. But I recently got a taste of fairly intense operating at N3MX's well-equipped station in the 2006 CQ Worldwide DX contest, operating multi-single with N3MX and K3YD. I decided I had to step up to the plate and get it done.
Yeah, I got it too late to brag about 20 words-per-minute CW qualification, but I really don't care; I've been operating at that speed and faster as a General for years, so bite me.
DLARC's VE team administered the test the first Friday in January. Didn't take me long to complete it - I figure, you know what you know, and if you don't know something, sitting there and staring at the test sheet ain't gonna make you magically remember it. So take your best guess and move on. I don't know exactly how well I did, but it doesn't matter - I passed.
Took me all of fifteen minutes, if that. Lots of study, using ARRL's license manual, and lots of online practice tests (I used eHam.net and QRZ.com) made for a relatively easy time of it. I'm rather proud to say I didn't just memorize the answers. It's a point of pride that my calculator actually got a workout. (Yeah, I know; you had to use a sliderule in knee-deep snow while copying 45wpm CW in your head. Just stow it, will ya?)
I didn't even wait for the info to post on FCC's website. I ran home and flipped the switch, snagged an LX station on 20 meters - deep in the Extra phone sub-band. The next weekend, I operated the DLARC club station in the NAQP CW test for a few hours.
And I used Extra freqs. Sweet.
posted by R P Davis at 13:26
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