[Elecraft] Whaddayaknow... passed the Extra

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

My response to your question, Jim, echoes Don's. 

I expected to teach electronics - basic RF and dc circuits - and ended up
studying all about various operating practices I had never explored. Things
like satellite communications (including calculating orbits) and a whole
bunch of digital modes. 

I don't recall anything in the Extra test that would qualify the individual
to work on a rig, much less troubleshoot or design a basic rig like we had
in years previously.

But that's not limited to Ham tests. Years ago I obtained a commercial
radiotelegraph license - the license required to operate CW at shore
stations and aboard ships. It was heavy with questions testing my knowledge
of RF circuits and how to properly adjust, troubleshoot and repair
transmitters and receivers. More recently, I obtained GMDSS operator's and
maintainer's licenses. GMDSS is what replaced the radio officer and his CW
rig on ships. It replaced CW on 600 meters with SSB on the "short waves" as
the primary means of communicating with shore and other vessels in an
emergency. Again, there was nothing asked of circuit knowledge as in the
former radiotelegraph licenses. Instead, it was all about interfacing
"boxes" and how to "troubleshoot" problems in digital systems (including
demonstrating the ability to convert between Binary, HEX, Octal and decimal
number systems using a pencil (no calculators). On the operating side were
extensive questions about how to choose the best frequency across the HF
spectrum to communicate over the required distance depending upon the time
of day and point in the sunspot cycles, etc. 

"Radiomen" (and women) today - Amateur and Commercial - are no longer
expected to know much about what goes on "under the hood" of the gear, even
those licensed to "maintain" critical systems. "Maintenance" has become a
process of diagnosing which pc board or box has failed and replacing it. 

That doesn't mean that it's not important for *someone* to know how circuits
work, just that the FCC is no longer testing for that knowledge. 

Ron AC7AC