I once was a novice years ago (WN9MTA) running a home brew 807 on 40 meters. Now I am finally at the place where I want to get my Ham licence. I'd be studying for my Tech at first and then General later. Are there any good ways to study on line these days? I ran across a computer self learning system that adjusts the questions according to your weak areas but I can't find it again. Any suggestions.
Thanks!
I think that website you're referring to is
https://www.hamradiolicenseexam.com/ (no endorsement implied).
People learn differently. I was genuinely convinced that I was "math stupid" in high school because the algebra teacher was only capable of teaching one way. Rather than try to change that in any way, she told me I was stupid (this was back before we gave people trophies just for showing up). Anyway, it took me YEARS until I finally even attempted to go back to school - and when I did, I ended up with a professor who was as much a spaz as I was. He taught differently and I got A's. My point is, what everyone else does might not be for you.
So, you've got the ARRL books, the Gordon West books, even the raw questions and answers that you could write on flash cards. And, yes, those are "memorizing" the answers. If you want to understand and have a discussion, a class at a local ham club might be for you - but I'm guessing you have quite a bit of experience from years ago. The rules have changed and the environment has changed, so you'd need to catch up on that. But electronics are still electronics, and the fundamentals have not changed.
I think John and Martha King (famous aviation instructors) even had a VHS tape on ham radio, but I don't think it was ever updated.
And, there's that website. If it's what I think you're talking about, it can give you a mini-lesson whenever it introduces a new topic. My kids took that and thought it was pretty neat. They did learn from that, and it helped them in school because they actually learned the material before it was introduced in class.
The thing is, that website's algorithm is meant to skim over things you've got, occasionally coming back to them so you don't forget, but concentrate on the things you haven't got. It's good to have a score-keeper and you won't have that with a book. The other argument is that if you take a class at, say, a community college, a lot of the classes they teach have a $200 text book and a website access that's all videos and clip art. You're going to see that kind of studying out there in the real world.
Personally, I don't knock any of it. Use whatever works best for you.
Best of luck - and congratulations on coming back!!!
