I did it!

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MDMassey

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Jul 30, 2014
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Spanaway, WA
Hey guys and gals! I was finally able to get time off work to get my Technician exam done. And I passed with 100%. They offered me a free take on the General exam so I figured why not. I have take a couple of practice General exams and would pass them about 60% of the time. Well this was one of those times! I made the test missing 8. I was once again offered to take the Extra but I passed on that one. I have studied only a little for extra and the couple of practice tests I have failed miserably.

Every one in my testing group passed their tests but I was the only one to pass the upgrade (we all tried). I can't wait to get my call sign and finally be able to do more than just listen to my radios.

Dom
 

AA6IO

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Cerritos, CA (LA County)
Dom
Congratulations. Reminds of me of how thrilled I was to pass the General Class license.
That was 51 years ago in 1963 at age 14. Now 65 and still enjoy radio in its many aspects.
Have fun. Perhaps will hear you on the air someday.

AA6IO Steve (Extra class since 1980s)
 

r_eugene1

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Jun 20, 2011
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Location
Southwest Ohio
Congratulations Dom,

Welcome to the hobby of Amateur Radio, hope you enjoy it as much as I do. In my opinion there is nothing better to do on those cold wintry days.
 

MDMassey

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Joined
Jul 30, 2014
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Location
Spanaway, WA
Thanks guys! The worst part of this is now waiting for my call sign. The guys said they usually show up by mid week, so hopefully soon I will be able to do more that use my FRS radios.

Dom
 

ko6jw_2

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May 18, 2008
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Santa Ynez, CA
Congratulations. In the old days we had to wait 8 to 12 weeks for the license to come in the mail. You can check your license on line now and once your call is assigned you can get on the air.
 

AA4JR

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Aug 1, 2014
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Congrats!!!! I just got back into the hobby after 12 years away from it...I kept the license up though. Started as a tech back in 1993 and upgraded to General in 2001. I just went down today and passed the Extra exam!
 

Kimberson

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May 8, 2013
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39
Location
STL, MO
awesome! I've been waiting to take mine, have studied, but am still deciding on which transceiver to buy.
 

MDMassey

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Joined
Jul 30, 2014
Messages
22
Location
Spanaway, WA
The database was updated today!! KG7NQY is now my call sign!

I ended up getting a couple of Baofeng units. They were cheap, and for the money not a bad deal. I have one I keep at home, one I keep in my truck and one I carry around. They are UV-5R, BF-F8 and a BF-F8+ with inverted screen.

I have not been able to make a contact yet, I tried on my local repeater and all that came back was static. I think someone was trying to reply but all I heard on 2 different radios was fuzz. I have heard people talk on the repeater while listening in so I know my listen settings are right and I also get a response when I ping the repeater so I am going to guess my transmit is set right too. I also know that the guys at the club that own the repeater have been having some trouble with it in the last few weeks.

As for getting a HF transciever, I prolly will but just not right now. I am working on 2 things right now. First getting out of debt (almost there, about 3K left) and building a Tiny House. Ok three things... I need to get a new roof for my current house.

Dom
 

reconrider8

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Dec 26, 2007
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Location
Eastern, NC
gratz man ive been looking into it but i dont understand the whole electronic part of it with all the different calculations and parts and such but i understand the way radio waves travel and such
 

MDMassey

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Jul 30, 2014
Messages
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Location
Spanaway, WA
I got the math drilled into me when I was in the Navy. I dont remember how to calculate the phase angle of an resonate circuit but I could easily pick that stuff up with only a little study. As for the simple math parts like Ohms Law and calculating Power in a circuit. IT is simple algebra in both cases and it is ALWAYS multiplication. Knowing that impoves your chances on the test by 50% as there are usually 2 addition and 2 multiplication answers. Then if you remember only 2 of the formulas you need to memorize. P=IE and E=IR, add the given figures into their places and do the math.

P= Power
E= Voltage
I= Current
R= Resistance

Dom
 
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