Ham radio license exams are not really hard. I know. I passed them all. With flying colors. The first time. One right after the other. After studying for only a few weeks for each one. And I am no ham radio expert, engineer, electrician, etc.. I am an Auditor (accountant). Have been all my professional live.
The key word is that I STUDIED to pass the ham radio license exams. But probably not the way you think. I didn’t go to a long series of ham radio classes. I didn’t go to a ham cram session. I didn’t even know anyone in ham radio. Sad, but true. I also used this same method to pass my Stock Broker license exam (OK – I heard that about Stock Brokers!), my insurance license exam, and my Certified Information Systems Auditor exam. None of them were really tough – AFTER I studied. Each one seemed to be a daunting task before I started though…
For each exam, I did have some practical experience before I took the exam. I had a shortwave radio for years and (yes – I am one of THOSE) I had some CB radio experiences. I had an elmer in my CB radio days, and I had a few friends that had CB’s as well. So I knew the concepts of grounding, electrical noise, SWR , effective radiated power, antenna length and cutting antennas, ground planes, etc.. And yet, I was surprised what I did not know about the ham radio world – CB radios on steroids!
The first thing I did was to get a set of audio CD’s to listen to. They were recorded by Gordon West, and I would recommend any of his materials. At the time, I wasn’t sure I even wanted to try and take the license exam. But I found out that Morse code was no longer required. And I had a nearly two hour (2 way) commute to work. So I got them to listen to and see how hard it would be. Well – a lot of the material made sense from my CB radio days. I knew the concepts, but not the theory or math behind the concepts. The audio explained that.
Then I decided to see if I could find out something about the exams. How many questions, how long they took, etc.. So I went to google and typed in “ham radio license exam” without the quotes. Lo and behold I found practice exams. And better yet – they said that the practice exams used questions from the actual question pool that would be used on the actual exam! Too good to be true? Nope…
I tried several sites with practice exams. What worked for me was www.QRZ.com. They had exams in two formats. One was 30 questions chosen at random from (not sure on this) around 600 questions in the question pool. I thought that was a weak approach. What if you got a certain set of questions in the practice part and then got different questions in the actual exam? I wanted to be REALLY prepared.
Then I found a series of 30 questions – I think there were like 16 of them if memory served. They covered EVERY POSSIBLE question from the question pool. So I took one exam each day. I took it on my lunch hour and didn’t do so well. At night I would brush up on what I failed. Then I would re-take the same questions that night. I always got at least a 90%. I did that each night for 16 nights. Then I took the actual license exam. By that time I had seen EVERY possible question. I aced it!
I took the technician, then the general, then the extra class exams using the same method. I decided not to get a radio until all the exams were done. FOCUS!
Now, the tech license exam I thought was really easy. The general class exam was a bit tougher but about what I thought it would be. And when I started to study for the extra class exam I didn’t think I would ever pass it. But I used the same method and the testers were impressed with my grade and asked me how I prepared. Don’t be ashamed if you don’t pass any of them on the first try. Everyone absorbs material at different rates and in different ways. I probably just found what worked for me.
I hope that this explanation helps someone that wants to pass one or more of the license exams. And thanks to the guys at www.QRZ.com for letting me use their practice tests FOR FREE!
Good luck and 73’s,
Jon Kreski, AB9NN
Owner
www.HamRadioResources.com

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HamRadioResources.com/blog has been down recently for a few days. Sorry about that. I have been upgrading WordPress, which is the software on the Yahoo! Small Business hosting server that runs the blog. I needed to do that so that I could customize the blog look and feel. NOW we have that installed and are working on some other changes that should not require down-time. Sorry if this caused any confusion.

Change is a two edged swords. Those of us that like the way things are can feel frustrated by having to adapt to a new way. Like going from the older versions of Windows to Windows Vista. Or going from the old versions of Word or Excel to the new versions. We are used to the way things are - any changes seemingly make things harder. Things are not automatic any more!

But change has a positive side as well. I know when I went from the 2003 version of Microsoft Excel to the 2007 version I was lost at first. I was frustrated and almost angry. They moved the menu options around and I could not find them as quickly… AT FIRST… but as I used the new product I adapted to it. Now I understand why it is set-up the way it is. And now it is easier to use than the old version. The only frustration is that I have to use both versions in my work…

So I hope that we don’t cause too much confusion as we go through this process. The changes that we will be making will try to make the website and the blog easier to use, quicker in the long run and provide more and better content.

I work full time as an Auditor for an international paper company, so these changes will take time. we hope that these will benefit you in the long run. Feel free to post comments about your experiences. They are important to me!

Jon Kreski, AB9NN
Owner
www.HamRadioResources.com

Recent events remind us that hurricane season starts as the midwest’s tornadoe season winds down. And those that are trained in emergency communications can play a vital role when traditional communications networks go down in heavy wether. One problem, just on the news tonight, is that so many people try to use the phone systems that they get brown outs and blackouts from too many users at one time. A ham radio network with trained communicators can be very effective. And a network can be very formal or very informal.

Some good resources for those that are interested in how to help include:
* Skywarn.org
* ARES
* RACES

These are mainline ham radio related org’s. One of the best ways to find information on resources close to you is to use Google and just enter the names given above. Perhaps add your city or state to the search string with a space or a +. You will find a ton of information on these groups and how to get involved.

For those interested, here is a good resource:

http://www.hamradioresources.com/hurricane

Please stay tuned to the National Weather Service and your local news, weather stations. Take warnings seriously. It always amazes me how macho people can be in the face of danger when they do not understand what they are in for…

OK - enough for this evening.

Stay radio acrive!

Jon Kreski, AB9NN
Owner
www.HamRadioResources.com