[CW] Preparation FCC - Reduces testing terror

[Jeff]

David, N1EA wrote:
> ...So a total of 2 years of independant study, 6 months needed for General
plus 3 more months...

I believe David was saying that it used to take nearly three years of
serious study to pass all the amateur tests from Novice through Extra, with
two years of that needed just to prepare for the Extra exam.  Well, I can
provide one data point on how easy or difficult the current Extra written
exam is.  I've been studying to upgrade from Advanced to Extra these last
few days and, now, I'm getting about 88% correct on QRZ.com practice tests
(74% is passing).  All I did as far as studying was go through all of the
questions in the question pool once, then I went back (once) over the
questions I missed the first time.  I believe I invested at most 15 hours of
intense study.  (Of course, I've been an Advanced class ham for 32 years, so
I knew some of the answers just from general osmosis.  However, I was
inactive for a number years after taking the Advanced exam and lost a lot of
my electronics knowledge in the interim.)  But I would think that, to
achieve the very highest class of amateur license, a little more than 15
hours of serious study ought to be necessary.

A major aspect that makes the current written tests relatively easy is that,
if you have a good memory, you can't help memorizing many of the answers to
the specific questions in the pool, even though you may not even begin to
fathom the underlying theory.  Back when I took my Novice, General, and
Advanced, the question pools were not published, so you were forced to
really learn the underlying principles.  God only knows how many hours of
study I put in back in those days.  (Too much, because I would be studying
my ham books when I should have been doing school work!)  I don't understand
why the VECs started releasing the entire question pools.  I think they
should only publish a sample test or two.

Anyway, I guess there's no point in lamenting the dumbing down of the tests,
when you consider that the average age of hams of General class and above is
very high and keeps increasing.  Under these conditions, it may be
self-defeating to raise the entry barriers, even though "that's not how we
did it in my day."

I'm particularly upset that I won't get to take the 20 WPM code test, which
I could pass in my sleep, since I work only CW these days.  I don't know if
I could send 20 WPM error-free with a straight key, though, since I haven't
used one in many years.  That would require some practice.  What I plan to
do in lieu of the code test is pass a W1AW qualifying run at 20 WPM.  If
you've never listened to their qualifying runs, you should do so.  Let me
tell you, they pick DIFFICULT text, with lots of lengthy and unfamiliar
words.  It's a nontrivial exercise.

I'm planning to take the Extra on Dec. 9.  Wish me luck, and look for me
down below 3.025, 7.025, and 14.025 in the near future!

73,
Jeff
WB5GWB
Long Island, NY