Ham Licence: Best Place to Study?

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KE8EYM

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I used hamstudy.org to pass my tests and passed with no problems, but like others have said you really don't learn much that way. I like to the know the how and why of things so I was constantly looking things up (they do provide a great explanation for each question simple by clicking on the info tab). It is a start, but there is always more to learn.
 

AE7BF

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Chiloquin, OR
One of the big mistakes people make is tying the learning of ham radio to passing the test(s). First off you need to do both, now the order you do them is up to you. In most areas you'll find classes and such, those are great for the hands on learning you'll need to use your license.

The majority of people will need the memorization method though to pass the tests. Here is my method, disclaimer: this works for me and is the steps I've been successful with, or plan to do. May not be for everyone.

First Pass the test:
Use HamStudy.org create an account.
Starting with the technician section go to the flash cards, then start with section T1.
Go through the flash cards until you've seen 100% of the cards in the section and have an aptitude of 95% or better. Then move to the next section. Rinse and repeat... This makes the memorization manageable in small chunks.

After you've been through all the sections as described above then start taking the practice tests. Do practice tests daily, once or twice for about a week. You should probably be going through the tests missing no more than a couple of questions. This whole process for most will take only a couple of weeks spending a little time per day on it. That usually works out because in many areas tests are only held monthly or quarterly

Take your test.

Now that you've passed your test, take the class. I know this makes no sense to many but believe me you will get more out of it that way. Having passed the tests and understanding some of the details in the questions will translate into better understanding of the hands on class instruction.

Remember just because you've passed the test doesn't mean you should be transmitting right away. Also I've learned that even hams that have been doing this 50+ years are still learning.


Brandon
N6WBF
 

Hydrogen18

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New York
I found using the app "Ham Test Prep" on my phone extremely helpful. After using that app for a while, I was able to get a perfect score on my technician's exam.
 
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Cram for the test, not the content, much of which is largely arbitrary, arcane and will almost certainly never come up in your experience. If there's any future doubt, you should certainly reconfirm stuff at the time you need it in any case, because rules and practice will change during the span of your licensure anyway.

This was the advice I got, and having just passed Technician and General last week, I absolutely agree with it. I have a long professional background in practical electronics and broadcasting, so much of the useful stuff I already knew. A number of answers I tend to disagree with and I didn't really need to know about music to the Space Station or the invocation of the War Powers Act, etc. Still, I learned some stuff that was interesting and occasionally useful, particularly about antennas. So, use common sense -- if it sounds like something you'll need or seems interesting, study it. If it's just fluff that will never come up in your lifetime, remember a keyword or mnemonic in the right answer and move on.

Check your library for the latest study guides. I was able to get the current ARRL and Gordon West books (through interlibrary loan, as it turned out, because all the local stuff was outdated) for both Technician and General, and didn't have to drop ~$120 on them, which I wouldn't have in any case. Free is better.

I have mixed opinions about which brand was superior, so go for what you can get. The ARRL book seems to me to be unnecessarily intimidating and initially scared me off for going for General. The West book cured that as it's based on the premise that any reasonably bright person can pass the test, which is absolutely right. The sole advantage of the ARRL book is that it has the entire question pool conveniently placed at the end, which is a great tool for just scrolling through with your thumb over the right answers. That's the best way to learn, once you understand the basics.

One big caution: I think the online moot tests are really defective because they post the questions pseudorandomly, which means that you can take them fifty or a hundred times and NEVER see some of the material, while other questions are seemingly in every single test. I can't understand why there aren't however many of fixed tests there need to be to include all the possible questions and then you can take them in sequence. This problem will definitely come back to bite you on the butt.

I took the online tests from all the various sites at least a hundred or two times for both Technician and General and could reliably score 96%-100% on both, but when I took the Technician test, the first two questions were ones I had absolutely never, ever seen on these tests and did not recall from either book. I figured them out, but it was still just like that moment in the classic nightmare! Kinda shook me up there for a second.

I would not consider going to a class for this stuff. I'd sooner die. You may of course feel differently.

Frankly, this whole exercise -- the real test -- was simply to see if my old brain was still working. Successfully memorizing a pool of around 920 questions is pretty indicative of a still-functioning mentality, so I'm chuffed. I suspect this motive is behind many of the new candidates; at my test session, there were around a dozen and only two looked to be substantially under seventy. I was shocked. I thought all hams were old codgers, but started when they were in Boy Scouts.
 

AK9R

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One big caution: I think the online moot tests are really defective because they post the questions pseudorandomly, which means that you can take them fifty or a hundred times and NEVER see some of the material, while other questions are seemingly in every single test. I can't understand why there aren't however many of fixed tests there need to be to include all the possible questions and then you can take them in sequence.
The good online test sites do no pick questions as you describe.

Taking the Technician question pool as an example, the pool is divided into 10 sub-elements and each sub-element has anywhere from two to six topics. The actual exam that you take will have six questions from sub-element 1, three questions from sub-element 2, etc. The good online test sites know this and build the tests accordingly. The question pool may have 48 questions for sub-element 6, but the site will randomly pick just four questions from that sub-element because it knows that's how your actual test will be built.

You can see how the test is broken down here: http://www.nc4fb.org/wordpress/technician-license-20142018/

I know that HamTestOnline builds their sample tests using the proper distribution of questions from each sub-element. I also know that some hams shy away from HamTestOnline because it isn't free. You get what you pay for.
 
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