Passed the Technician Exam

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georgew0819

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Aug 19, 2006
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144
Location
Salisbury, NC
Took the test today and passed, only missed 2 questions. The VEC's giving the exam said there will be exams in my area again in March. Hopefully by then I'll be ready to take the General Exam and upgrade my license. Now I just have to wait for my call sign to appear in the FCC ULS, hopefully it will be as quick as others on this site. 4 days from the test date would be great, but if it does take 2 weeks that's ok too. It will give me more time to figure out what my first radio should be (leaning towards dual band 2m-70cm).
 

N9ZN

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Dec 13, 2009
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Tampa, Florida
Congrats!!!

Why not go ahead and go for the Extra Class Ticket. Then you will have no restrictions other than the Fcc rules. These test exams are so easy to pass these days anyone can do it given you get to see all the correct answers before taking the exam.

73 de N9ZN, Monty in Tampa, Florida
ARRL and W5YI F.C.C. Exam Coordinator
 

N9ZN

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Dec 13, 2009
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Location
Tampa, Florida
I forgot to mention this...

Please check with an amature in your area and ask if your area has 70cm repeaters active. Most areas do but there are a few which do not. The better question would be which VHF/UHF bands would be best for you in the area where you reside?

This may keep you from spending on a radio with bands not in local use unless you intend to change the local trend. For sure 70cm and 2meters is the way to go if you want to contact the International Space Station, which is loads of fun with a nifty hand held dual band beam antenna.

N9ZN
 

KR4BD

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Jul 6, 2001
Messages
562
Location
Lexington, KY
Congrats on the new license! I am a Volunteer Examiner in Central Ky. Yesterday, we had two gentlemen show up for tests. One already had a Tech license. He easily passed his General. The other guy had no license and passed BOTH the Tech and General.

Just a word of advice to the many Techs out there.... Don't stop at the Tech level !!! The General exam is not much harder than the Tech test. The benefits of the General License are tremendous.
 

kandrey89

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Dec 11, 2009
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Location
San Ramon, CA USA
Congratulations, I was thinking of taking an exam a year ago and getting into the whole HAM business, well, your business, my hobby ;) But I got too many hobbies and too little cash to spread cavear on my bread :)

So other than scanning I don't see why I'd want to get into actual HAMing, scanning seems more practical at the moment and cheaper, and less options, for example which band to choose, which radio. All you got to choose for scanning is a scanner that can handle your area and maybe some other features, and theres only a few of them :p
 

texasemt13

CenTex DBA
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Jun 6, 2007
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2,372
Location
Hunter, TX
It will give me more time to figure out what my first radio should be (leaning towards dual band 2m-70cm).

May I suggest the Yaesu FT-7800R or the FT-7900R? The 7900 was my first rig. I use it in my vehicle and with a power supply, can now bring it in my house. For about $200 (less the cost of the power supply and antenna) you can have a great dual-bander. Congrats on your ticket- I'm studying for General as we speak...
 

scanchs

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Joined
Dec 6, 2008
Messages
297
Location
SC Lowcountry
Congratulations!

Since you're leaning towards a dual band 2m-70cm anyway, may I suggest you consider a D-Star capable rig. It will give you more options on those bands...

73

ScanCHS
 

mikepdx

Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
854
Location
Corbett, OR USA
Welcome to the world of Amateur Radio.

I'd suggest a nice HF rig.
You'll soon be wanting to upgrade to General.

In the meantime. you will have CW privileges on 80, 40 and 15 meters
plus CW, RTTY, data and SSB privileges on certain segments of 10 meters.

Enjoy!
 

N9ZN

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Dec 13, 2009
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Location
Tampa, Florida
This is very common these days. As an Examiner coordinator I have the ability to logon and load the results directly to the database which is processed by the FCC. We still send the actual paper after the fact but by the time the FCC receives the paper you should have the license info from the online system.

This is why licenses are granted so quickly these days. FYI not all exam results are sent in electronically so it is allways a good idea to ask your examiner coordinator how he will submit the results to the FCC. This should give you an idea when to expect the license info on the FCC database.
 
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