Making the Move to Extra
When I last posted, I was discussing preparing to pursue the “Extra” class license as a ham operator. That eventuality is now reality. I tested and passed my exam last night with flying colors!
So, what does that mean?
In truth, not a lot. In terms of privileges, the extra class designation gives me access to little bit of extra bandwidth on the 15, 20, 40, and 80 meter bands. That’s a bit of a mixed bag, though, since that extra bandwidth, being available to only a subset of ham operators, also limits the number of potential contacts in those frequencies. That can be both a blessing and a curse, I suspect. That is, while there are fewer users in those frequencies, that also means that there’s less congestion. So, it’s really a mixed bag. Truth be told, though, access to those extra frequencies is not why I pursued the upgrade.
Ulitmately, I chose to upgrade for a couple of very selfish reasons:
First, I love to learn (I’ve said that so many times before here) so expanding my knowledge of electronics, radio theory and practice, propagation, etc fits into that thirst for knowledge. Yes, I could learn all this stuff without testing and I’d have been perfectly fine. In fact, I will continue to read, study, and explore/experiment so that I add to my knowledge base. Testing, though, provides both additional motivation to study and actually apply myself to the study and it allows me to demonstrate that I have, in fact, learned something. It’s very easy to read through a lot of material and believe that you understand and can recall that information when that really isn’t the case. Most of us are guilty of that: I’ve read the information, it made sense at the time and I was confident I’ll recall it as needed. Except I don’t. Often I don’t even recall what I’ve read a few days after reading it. Testing forces me to actually get in there and work to reinforce that knowledge.
As I said, though, now that I have passed the exam I will continue to read, study, experiment and learn. I have the ARRL handbook on my desk and I’m reading small sections at a time. I’ve also got Forrest Mims’ book, Getting Started in Electronics, on my desk to help me better understand the world of electronics. I actually started with Mims’ book long before I decided to pursue the upgrade but struggled to understand some of it. Going through the study guide for the upgrade helped me to better understand some of the concepts. And that’s a key learning concept: If you’re struggling to learn something from one source, try a different source. Different authors describe or explain things in different ways or draw connections that others don’t and those different approaches can make the difference between confusion and understanding.
The second reason for upgrading, and this is related to the first, is so that I better understand what so many of the Youtube ham folks are talking about. When they talk about reactance or capacitance, etc I will understand instead of dumbly scratching my head.
The third reason for upgrading is purely selfish: Bragging rights. Being able to say I’m among the higher echelon of ham operators is cool. According to the FCC data shown on the ARRL Website Extras comprise about 21% of all amateur operators. To be counted among that 21% is just cool!
So, what’s next?
CW, also known as Morse Code, is on the “todo” list. I’ve got a trip planned for May so I don’t want to start just yet but when I return I’ll sign up on the Long Island CW Club website to take their course in learning CW. It’s something that has always intrigued me (as so many things do) and something that I’ve attempted independently in the past. This time, though, I think I’ll do it right, take a class that forces me to study and gives me the opportunity to use those skills with other learners. Hopefully the combination of having to meet the requirements of an actual course combined with practice with other learners will make learning easier and actually useful. I guess I’ll see in June!
In the mean time, 73 to you all.