I passed the test.

Congratulations!
There was a Ham Shack in the neighborhood when I was a kid.
I remember once he said he was talking to Austrailia (morse code IIRC).
I remember thinking 'Yeah right', hey I was ten or eleven.
But later I wound up at the Seattle ham shop, learned to build low power transmitters,
And built a little specialty electronics business out of it (long story).
Had a third phone back in the college radio days (BFD).
Used to do some 'pirate radio' mods on CB radios.
"Badges, we don't need no stinkin' badges".
But, I am impressed, I think my brain has "hardened up" too much to "cut the charts"!
Tom

Cool! I had a ham license back in the day, 80s. KB4MRL. Haven't thought about it in a long time. They are doing satellite and video now days, aren't they? We were just getting into packet radio and some microwave repeater stuff back then.
 
I worked for WLO Radio in Mobile AL, first as an R&D tech and ultimately a UNIX sys admin and C programmer as well. We were a coast station. Ran CW, radio Telex, and UHF and VHF radio patch services. Had about 200 receiving towers, an LF array and 70 10KW transmitters. Cool place to start a career. lol... 
 
Do they still require the code test? Used to be 5 words a minute I think. We had a guy at WLO that could read about 130 wpm. Freaky dude. lol...

Yes... I heard  the code was dropped from the FCC exams in 2007. My guess as to the reason would be that computers can now send CW with something similar to our musical interfaces, that changes typed letters on the computer into Morse Code (CW) and send it at any speed, as well as receive it coming in and put it on the screen. The old-timers still take pride in their CW skills.  Me... nahhhh.... never liked it.... now, don't need it. Back in the day, I knew the code well, and could send it just fine..... it was hearing it.... the other half of the equation, that I had issues with. I could not, for the life of me, understand that stuff inbound.
 
 
They also reduced the number of licenses to 3 from 5 IIRC....  Now, you simply study the materials and go take the test. Pass it, and you get your license.   The higher level tests are still pretty intense. Reactance with angles, antenna length at given freqs, and lots of other cool things.  If you don't understand the concept and theory behind things, it can be daunting to try to pass. Fortunately, I have an fairly solid background in electronics and theory.  It's also a closed book test. No notes, no programmable calculators, ..... you gotta memorize the formulas you think you might need.  But.... in spite of all that, still much easier to deal with and way less circuit schematics asking what a certain part does in that circuit, very little difficult math/formulas to calculate. It has changed considerably.
 
I actually wanted to get into this when I was studying radio theory & electronics back in the day. I went to Virginia Beach to test for 3rd class & 2nd class radio telephone and passed only the 3rd class at that time. The 2nd class test was a bear..... and the 1st class, I heard was nearly an engineering test. On the 2nd class test one question I recall was something like this....  An array consisting of 4 antennas for a commercial radio transmitter are spaced 500' apart in a square, aligned to the compass points.  They are fed with 5000w total. What is the power and phase angle feeding each antenna to provide a directional signal gain main lobe of 50 degrees width in an Easterly direction?
 
Needless to say.....
 
I actually picked up a brand new Baofeng UV-5ra dual band radio for $35 from Amazon.  That's what I will be using to get started in the 2 meter band.  It also supports freqs in the 70cm band.  I'm having lunch this week with a friend so we can talk, and I can learn some stuff about the HF bands. He told me that's where the fun is.
 
We'll see.
 
 

There are loads of fun modes to try out and plenty of software to play with if you get the right radio.

Do you need a license to use a becan radio too, or just ham? 
 
(Congrats on passing the test Herb!)

Good going, Herb. I don't know if they've made it any easier, but I know it used to require a fair amount of preparation to pass the test.
 
Long ago I had a 1st-class FCC license, the so-called "first phone". I was the guy they sent to your house to check out your gear after your neighbors complained about you talking over their TV or making their garage doors open. Actually, 99% of my calls were to CB-ers, as ham operators tend to know how to stay legal or at least avoid detection if they're bending the rules.
 
Back then, the FCC required somebody with a 1st Class license to be present in a TV or radio station at all times. That meant in order to become a radio disk jockey you had to have the license in order to work the graveyard shift. So every radio personality got one. But few had even rudimentary technical chops, so they all attended a special "class" where the test questions were given to them, along with the answers. A buddy of mine did that, and scored almost as high as I did. Afterward, he asked me "so what's a capacitor, anyway?"
 
 

Bit .... yeah.... I knew several 1st class phone guys..... engineers at radio stations and into ham....as well as the instructor in the electronics class I was taking. Smart guys that knew what they were doing.
 
I did lots of prep, plus my background helped considerably. I already knew what XL and XC were are where they were located on polar charts so that was just a matter of knock off the rust. I was surprised at the LACK of math and calculations on the test. maybe I just got one that was lacking those random questions.  But many of the other questions needed prep and understanding. Just for grins, before I really got started studying for any of the levels, I took the simulated tests as a base/reference so I could track progress...... low to mid 40's on those first ones.....
 
MM ... I'm guessing 2 meter is kinda like CB to one degree or another since it appears to be the easiest to get gear and get going with.   I was into CB back when it was fun and as it was growing in popularity. Once the FCC dropped the license it went to hell in a handbasket as the saying goes...... loudmouths, vulgar language, unruly behavior...... so I stopped using it. I guess it's natural that this would find it's way into ham.... so far though, listening to the local repeater, it's all good and very lightly used.

jackn2mpu
I go away for a couple of years and Herb gets his license - good show. What did you go for - Tech, General or Extra?
 
de N2MPU Jack

 
Well, I started with the simple intention of doing the Tech license so I could talk on my new 2 meter radio. However, with me, nothings ever that cut and dry, simple or easy.  As I started to look into it, I realized I could test for the next license "up" if I passed the lower one.   Since I was going to take one.... why not get the next one up?  General.   So I found an online course and started to study. In a few days to a week, I was moving through the material in the  2 levels and getting good scores on the practice tests so.... with 2 weeks to go until the test..... I started to think, well..... if I'm already there and pass the General, I can take a shot at the Extra....and if I do, I want to have a reasonable chance of passing it...so I started to study for the extra...and I found a phone app with all 3 levels in it. So I crammed and studied and took the practice tests and pulled out my old electronics math books and studied some more.
 
I sat for the test and passed them all.  T=94%  G=97%  X=94%  So I was a happy camper at around 11am Saturday.

Guitarhacker

jackn2mpu
I go away for a couple of years and Herb gets his license - good show. What did you go for - Tech, General or Extra?
 
de N2MPU Jack

 
Well, I started with the simple intention of doing the Tech license so I could talk on my new 2 meter radio. However, with me, nothings ever that cut and dry, simple or easy.  As I started to look into it, I realized I could test for the next license "up" if I passed the lower one.   Since I was going to take one.... why not get the next one up?  General.   So I found an online course and started to study. In a few days to a week, I was moving through the material in the  2 levels and getting good scores on the practice tests so.... with 2 weeks to go until the test..... I started to think, well..... if I'm already there and pass the General, I can take a shot at the Extra....and if I do, I want to have a reasonable chance of passing it...so I started to study for the extra...and I found a phone app with all 3 levels in it. So I crammed and studied and took the practice tests and pulled out my old electronics math books and studied some more.
 
I sat for the test and passed them all.  T=94%  G=97%  X=94%  So I was a happy camper at around 11am Saturday.

Well done my friend, well done. And welcome to the community. Any thoughts about joining the ARRL?
Cool you found a VE team that scored each test and let you take the others at the same session. I could sit for beyond Tech but living in the city getting on HF bands isn't all that doable as I have limited space for the big antennas necessary. The technical part is easy for me (my day job for 25+ years was as an EE) it's just the FCC laws I have to bone up on.
 
Karyn:
The licenses beyond the basic Tech get access to HF bands (below 30 MHz) on both phone and CW. Techs have limited access to phone on 10 meters and also have access to CW below 30 MHz. General Class gets most of that and Extra gets extra little slivers of band space.
 
It's funny - I took the test when the FCC dropped CW for Techs because even though I am a musician I had this mental block against it. Since then I've become very much interested in CW and like I mentioned I have quite the collection of keys. Straight keys, Iambic paddles, Vibroplex bugs. Everything from a very small straight key that's less than 2 inches long to one that's over a foot long.

Karyn
Like most people that try to learn CW I also have that mental block on receiving.  There is a trick to learning it,  but it's mostly (as with everything) down to practise

Once I got into it I found I can copy faster code (30+ wpm) than slow 5 wpm code. WPM= words per minute for those that don't know. And even though I'm a right handed I send with my left hand just like Rafael Nadal is a natural righty but plays tennis leftie. Had to have my bugs made special left-handed (don't laugh - they exist) though.

Karyn
The Morse test was dropped about 10 years ago 

Oh... Guess I've been away from it for a while. 

Karen, yeah... the different license levels have more access to the bands. Techs are limited to certain areas of several bands..... Generals get wider access and for Extra, everything is open.   I don't think power plays into it, just the parts of the band you can legally work.
 
 
As far as CW, I hated it then, and have no desire to learn it now. I have heard that for some of the more practiced folks in the art of Morse Code, it becomes more like a language than a code with dots and dashes. Just like we look at a series of letters and don't see the letters, we see a complete word, and moreover, a complete sentence. I've heard the folks who are really adept with code, describe it in that same manner.
 
I remember going to Norfolk or Virginia Beach to set for my 3rd class radio-telephone back in the 70's.

Wow! That is cool. I may give it a try. The code tripped me up way back when. I settled for being an SWL. I had 50 countries verified back in the 60s, I lost most of the QSLs but I still have some. A lot of the countries do not exist anymore. Does BPL cause you any problems? I know there was a big worry about it when they were debating the implementation.
Congratulations Herb!
 
Julien

rwreynolds
At some point the FCC made some changes to the licensing and you had to make some sort of application in order to keep your current license. No testing or anything, just something telling them your call sign so you could keep it after the change. I wasn't paying attention and lost mine. I do remember that it was KB4MRL however. 2X3 I think they called it because as you moved through the classes your call sign would get smaller.
 
Yeah, technician was as far as I went. I was more interested in computers back then. I took my test in New Orleans. I want to say that was in maybe '86 or '87 actually. I only took it because it was a big deal among the other techs at WLO. At that time I was more interested in computer/test equipment interfacing. Using GPIB to get our IBM PC AT talking to a Tektronix 5000 series storage scope fascinated me for some reason. lol...

You still have to file an application with the FCC at license renewal time except that now it's done online. You can still do it the paper way but they prefer online. Simple and you only have to do it every 10 years. As to callsigns - you get to keep your original one if you want or you can file for a vanity callsign. You also used to have to change your callsign if you moved to a different area; NJ is area 2 and Vermont is area 1, for example.