Free Amateur Radio upgrade class - Tech to General

[PistolBob]

The Indiana Elmer Network will be offering a free Tech to General upgrade class shortly after the first of the year. There is no charge, and free testing will be offered at the end of the course. If you are interested you need to send them a form so they can get an idea as to how many they will have in the class.

Classes run the first and second Thursdays of Jan, Feb, Mar...with testing on the third Thursday of March.

Interest Form

Classes will be held at:

Aviation Institute of Maintenance
7251 W McCarty St
Indianapolis, IN 46241

Contact Wayne Michael AC9HP via email at ac9hp@arrl.net

If you are under 18 you must have a parent or guardian attend with you.

Study material can be found here: (Do a right click then Save As)

Free Study Materials for the Technician to General Upgrade Class

 

[Spear Dane]

 

[cbhausen]

Thanks, PistolBob, I just signed up. Looks like the link to the study materials is broken, though...

 

[PistolBob]

Lemme see if I can reach anyone at IEN and ask them to look in to it

 

[PistolBob]

They just sent me a new link for the study stuff...try it now.

 

[csaws]

Links in the education folder broken

 

[bb37]

New link for the training materials straight from the guy who's organizing the class and verified by yours truly:

http://www.indianaelmernetwork.us/study/General_2015.zip

The organizer is trying to twist my arm into helping teach the class. I guess he thinks my 26 years in amateur radio must mean I know something. I'm considering it.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Dammit. Knew I should have studied/tested sooner for my Tech. Still working my way through it but life keeps getting in the way.

But I have more motivation recently as CERT has moved to a township model and need HAMs for comms directors. My township so far is without.

 

[Cameramonkey]

New link for the training materials straight from the guy who's organizing the class and verified by yours truly:

http://www.indianaelmernetwork.us/study/General_2015.zip

The organizer is trying to twist my arm into helping teach the class. I guess he thinks my 26 years in amateur radio must mean I know something. I'm considering it.

Weird. My copy of Powerpoint says the slides arent valid.

 

[bb37]

Weird. My copy of Powerpoint says the slides arent valid.

I get the same thing. Hopefully, Wayne will have an answer in the morning.

If you are studying for your Tech license, but haven't taken the test yet, ask Wayne if he'll let you take the General class. There will be opportunities for you to take the Tech test at one of the testing sites around town while the General class is going on.

 

[bb37]

Here's a link to a folder of files:
Index of /study

I was able to download the General_2015.zip file found in this folder and unzip it. The .ZIP file contains a large .PDF file that is a review of the questions in the General class question pool. It will probably be used as a reference in the class. The smaller .PDF files are handouts generated from the .PPT files. I was able to open all of these files.

 

[PistolBob]

Looks like the link on the IEN site is for the AD7FO materials....that is what the email I got said. Glad they got it worked out.

 

[Notalentbum]

I signed up and have wanted to get the bump to general but RF stuff is one of those things that just doesn't gel in my brain. Any decent, easy study materials on the actual topics rather than studying the test questions?
One of these days I'm actually going to talk on my radio!

Matt

 

[bb37]

What about RF doesn't "gel in your brain"? Maybe I can help.

Remember that the General test is 35 questions and you need 26 correct answers to pass. There will be no more than three questions on the test about radio wave propagation and no more than three questions about signals and emissions. Do you see the point I'm trying to make?

There's an old joke that goes something like "Do you know what they call the person who graduates last in their class at medical shool?".

 

[PistolBob]

Found out today that the testing date of March 16th includes Techs, General, and Extra exams.....you can actually take all three if you feel up to it. Tech and General are 35 questions...Extra is 50. Also found out you have to have a government issued photo ID and a copy of your radio license if you have one. The guy also recommended you go to the FCC website and get an FCC FRN number so you don't have to put your social security number on anything.

 

[Notalentbum]

What about RF doesn't "gel in your brain"? Maybe I can help.

With a little study, I know I can easily pass the test. It is just a subject I want to know and understand in depth and I have been unable to get the big picture. Once I get the "big picture" on a subject it all makes sense and I gain a much greater understanding of it. I've been through the same thing with many other subjects over the years.
I'm sure that if it was high enough in importance to me I would take the time and put in the effort but there are so many other things I still want to learn that RF is still just a curiousity.

Matt

 

[The Professor]

Hey guys. Not trying to hijack the thread, but is there a similar program for newbies? A training program to get your first license?

Yes, I realize it's actually quite easy. IIRC, I scored something like a 90% by taking the online quiz for No-Code Tech without even studying. But I'm also interested in getting to know some of the people in my area (Evansville).

Thanks, in advance.

The Professor

 

[Notalentbum]

I found a free iPhone app that did it for me. Study materials, section tests and full practice tests. I've since deleted it so I'm not sure what it was called. I think the tech level was free but you had to pay for the other levels.

Matt

 

[bb37]

But I'm also interested in getting to know some of the people in my area (Evansville).

The Tri-State Amateur Radio Society is probably the biggest amateur radio organization in the Evansville area. They've not yet updated their web site with 2017 meeting, training, and testing dates, but you may want to keep an eye on it.

 

[bb37]

The group that is organizing this General class is part of the Laurel VEC testing program. As a bit of background, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allows teams of amateur radio operators to conduct the licensing testing for the amateur radio license classes. These teams are known as Volunteer Examiners. There are several Volunteer Examiner Coordinators around the country and Laurel is one of them. The VECs set the standards for their VE teams, provide testing materials, and process the test session results for reporting to the FCC. The Laurel VEC has two primary advantages: they don't charge anything for testing (other VECs charge as much as $16 to offset their costs) and they have set up an electronic test session processing scheme which means that you'll get your license in just a few days after the test session.

The Laurel VEC has a web page at https://www.laurelvec.com/?pg=faq that explains some of the details of getting an amateur radio license and how the test sessions are conducted. I highly recommend that you read this information before you go to a test session. As mentioned above, make sure you have the required documentation.