HAM’n it up!
Week before last, Geoff mentioned that the local Amateur Radio league (ARTS) was holding a testing session the following Friday at the local Red Cross. He figured I was a quick study, and let me borrow his somewhat-dated copy of Now You’re Talking: All You Need to Get Your First Ham Radio License, and I went about studying for my Technician license (the first rung of the ladder).
The old-timers will tell you (quite rightly) that the new HAM licensing is far easier than it was in the olden-days. Now, the entire question pool for the 35 question test is open to the public, and to you only have to pass a single 5 words-per-minute Morse code test. Youth wasted on the young! Well, I took many an online practice test, and even started learning CW (HAM shorthand for Morse code).
Friday (Good Friday) rolled around, and I took the Technician class exam at the Red Cross and passed! Geoff suggested I attempt the General class exam and the Morse Code while I was there, since I paid my $10. I missed 16 our of 35 on the General exam (not bad, considering I had only taken one practice exam for the General class license). Then I decided to attempt the 5 WPM Morse code test. The play you 5 minutes of a Morse code QSO (HAM-speak for a conversation), and you have to transcribe a least a solid minute. Oh lordy, that was tough. It was quite the embarassment, but at least I know more now about my enemy than before. Woo-hoo.
So that was Friday. They told me I’d have my callsign by Monday (today), and that it would be posted on the FCC’s website. Well, Monday is here, and who says the government is slow! I am now the proud owner of the call KI4EZO.
In the next couple of weeks, I’ll be studying for my Morse code, General and Extra class licenses.
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Congrats, Ben. Though cheap cell phones with free long distance and the Inter-web have conspired to steal some of the thunder away from Ham Radio, it is still fun to talk to nice people on the other side of the world with a piece of wire in your back yard as an antenna. Your talent at building things will serve you well. Have fun…
73
AE4RV
Congratulations, and good luck on the rest of your tests!
but didn’t you forget to add “ly nerdy” onto the end of “awesome”?
Geoff and I collectively call our hobbies “girl repellent” :)
On a side note — the United States’ first amateur radio station was set up on Cape Cod.
…that I’m diggin’ this blog’s new look.
Next, far be it from me to comment on the potential nerdiness or repellent nature of your hobbies, considering that some of my own interests (theatre, children’s literature, books in general) could very well be categorized as “man repellent.”
And finally, yeah, I’ve been to the Marconi Station. On a date, as it happens. I didn’t go inside, but I can say that the parking lot affords a lovely ocean view. :)
It’s really not “girl repellant”. Personally, I much perfer the “nerds” to the jocks, etc. The nerd factor only becomes a problem when guys expect us all to be Lara Croft. While this is probably not a problem from which either you or Geoff suffer, you can trust me that there are many who do. As long as a guy doesn’t expect me to take up all *his* hobbies, I can handle just about anything, except perhaps (as I often say) heroin.
And congratulations on your new adventure! Use your powers for good, not evil. ;)