On Mon, Nov 24, 2008 at 6:35 PM, Bob Macklin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I put off getting my Extra because of the Space and computer/internet junk > on the test samples. > > But after being needled by some friends I read through the test exams twice > and found I could answer about 80% of the questions. I took the test last > February and passed with an 80% score. The examiner asked if I wanted to try > again? I said NO! I was satisfied with the 80% score.
Absolutely, Bob. I don't use the ELI the ICEman formula in everyday conversation either, but it was required knowledge when I got my Advanced ticket back in the 80s, so I learned it and passed the test at a time when the Advanced license was considered more difficult than the Extra by most. The added privileges were WELL worth the effort. Anyone with a license is legally free to operate anywhere within the confines of their license grade. Choosing to limit yourself by license class in today's no code/mulitple guess license structure seems all too often to go hand in hand with the mentality of limiting ones self to a specific frequency or sliver of frequencies for AM operation, oddly enough. As much as some people have bitched about AM being treated as a second class/back of the bus mode, many AMers seem all too willing to fit that mold rather than operating on any open frequency, like SSB for example. Even in the General class portions of the band. I've never heard anyone on the air operating in the Advanced or Extra portions on the bands 'chastising' Generals for not upgrading. It's a free country after all. Embrace those self-imposed limitations! (o: Rather, we enjoy getting away from many of the problem children who prefer to jam modes they don't like, operate big AM signals 4-5 kcs apart in a very limited portion of the General spectrum and so on, in favor of a more relaxed, quieter environment where we can move around as conditions suit and enjoy a decent roundtable without 25 stations competing with a handful of QSO hogs. As often as not, we even work break-in instead of roundtable. I'm only an Advanced, so maybe I'm one of the chastised ones and don't realize it. I do hear Don K4KYV, Herb K2VH and others down below 3700 sometimes when I can't stir up any activity between 3700-3750. But rather than feeling jealousy or somehow ostracized, it gives me a boot in the ass to upgrade and join the fun. To me, the advantages of upgrading to Extra have zero to do with any perceived snob appeal, but instead the freedom of working anywhere in the US amateur spectrum without having to wonder if I'm still within my license privileges. 80m down to 3700 is much quieter with a lot more space open for QSOs than 75m. And below 3700 is even better. I'd be foolish not to take full advantage of it. I remember all too well a time not so long ago when things were much different. ~ Todd, KA1KAQ ______________________________________________________________ Our Main Website: http://www.amfone.net AMRadio mailing list Searchable Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/amradio@mailman.qth.net/ List Rules (must read!): http://w5ami.net/amradiofaq.html List Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/amradio Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html Post: mailto:AMRadio@mailman.qth.net To unsubscribe, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word unsubscribe in the message body.
