I've been taking practice Extra class tests and have been getting 90-92% consistently.
Am I correct that all I have to do is take the 50 question Extra test and that's it? I am a General right now. Is there anything else or any other test elements that have to be completed at the same time that I'm not aware of?
I'm not sure if you understand what is involved in getting your Extra Class License.
The online tests are usually easier then the ones that the VE's give at the examination and some of what is on the online tests isn't even on the test that you will take when you go to get your license.
Even if you pass the test - you will swear that a couple of the questions that were on the test you took was not on the tests that was online - hence you will concern yourself more with what was on the computerized test and will sometimes forget what you need to know for the paper exam - since you didn't see that particular question on any of the online tests...
The Element 4 pool of questions is - approximately 736 different questions.
There is also two sides to the coin.
The one side is - it is great to know what the answers are and physically memorize the answers.
The other side is that it is even better to understand the questions and know what the answers are and the whys and what if's.
On the one hand, if a person was a RF engineer, a electronics genius, a professor or a repair technician with 40 years of experience - then yes the questions are going to seem rather elementary.
But if you are an average every day person and you don't know how to do anything beyond adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing whole numbers, fractions and decimals - then some of what is on the test is going to be beyond your comprehension.
There are a lot of smart people in this world whom I admire.
Unfortunately - most of them do not have the desire to participate in amateur radio the way that I do.
The plus side is - you can ask them a question and they can give you a educated answer.
The minus side is - that although they think they are smart, if the mouth is open and the mind is shut, it is damn hard to explain things to them and make them realize their mistakes.
Two stupid things I hear on the radio all the time.
One is that they have a old junk radio and are mobile and they are talking to me - I am stationary in my home and my transmit antenna is high up in the air and installed properly.
When ever there is a problem - it's always my radio that is at fault.
Even with the two meters - even though I can practically see the light blinking on top of the tower from my location and I am putting out 60 watts - through brand new coax and a brand new antenna and a brand new radio.
The other one is - when someone who swears that they have X amount of years of experience in the field - yet they are trying to use a J Pole antenna and RG 58 or Mini 8 wire between their rig and the antenna - because they had it laying around and they don't realize that as the frequency goes up the loss also goes up per a foot and that they are throwing away half their signal in the wire.
They justify their actions by telling me that they are poor, on a fixed income, they thought that the rules of reception pertains to everyone except them - etc...
I spend my days trying to explain to these idiots that RF is a funny bird and very fragile and that you have to protect what little signal you have and you want to do everything possible to ensure that you sound as good as you can.
All this stuff comes in under the handle of Good Operating and Engineering practices.
Unfortunately - most people thinks this is just a question on a test and not something that pertains to them.
I love reading the Part 97 rules and regulations because if half the idiots on the radio would also read it - most of the conflicts that revolves around these issues wouldn't even be issues.
There is a lot of people in this world who's only goal in life is to rattle my speakers.
I believe that the Chicken Band is the proper place for those people.
Learn the answers and the reason why it is a question on the test, that way if you need to mentor someone - like a blind person or a handicapped person or even just someone who wants to upgrade but doesn't understand all the questions - you can answer those questions for them without having to look the answers up.
It's also a good idea from time to time to go back through the manual for the Technician and the General and familiarize yourself with the questions and the answers for those pools also.
A persons memory usually only retains about 80% of what they learned on average - hence a lot of people forgets what they learned to pass the test - once they pass it.
They then think that they don't need to know that stuff anymore and so they push it to the back of their minds and forget it.
A lot of what they are trying to teach a person is to make them a more rounded individual and to make them a better radio operator.
