Well.... I did it.... passed my Tech a month ago

[WRPL700]

Yes, I finally did it.  I got my Tech (KD3AKT).  Had a lot of fun on 10M on Sunday. Got 2 contacts from TX, one from OK, one from ND, one from OR and one from CA.  All on 20 watts.  What a fun hobby.

[Lscott]

Congratulations. Now you get to spend even more money on radios and antennas.

[WRUU653]

Congratulations! Sounds like you are off to a great start. 

[SteveShannon]

1 hour ago, WRPL700 said:

Yes, I finally did it.  I got my Tech (KD3AKT).  Had a lot of fun on 10M on Sunday. Got 2 contacts from TX, one from OK, one from ND, one from OR and one from CA.  All on 20 watts.  What a fun hobby.

Excellent!  Well done.

[GrouserPad]

1 hour ago, WRPL700 said:

Yes, I finally did it.  I got my Tech (KD3AKT).  Had a lot of fun on 10M on Sunday. Got 2 contacts from TX, one from OK, one from ND, one from OR and one from CA.  All on 20 watts.  What a fun hobby.

Awesome!
Did you have to join your local HAM club to get it ?

[WRPL700]

13 minutes ago, GrouserPad said:

Awesome!
Did you have to join your local HAM club to get it ?

Nope.  Just bought an ARRL book on the Tech test and studied it for about two months, then scheduled an in-person test.  Having the GMRS license for several years actually helped learned some things that are in common with both.

[SteveShannon]

18 minutes ago, GrouserPad said:

Awesome!
Did you have to join your local HAM club to get it ?

I’m a volunteer examiner.  We’re not allowed to place conditions like that on testing.  We tell people about our club, but only as information they might enjoy having.

[WRPL700]

I also bought the General book about a week ago and I think I will take that test next month. I don't think I need the Extra.

[SteveShannon]

Just now, WRPL700 said:

I also bought the General book about a week ago and I think I will take that test next month. I don't think I need the Extra.

Another really good training method (I really enjoyed it) is HamStudy.org.  All of the questions are presented along with lots of reference material that unwind the concepts or reasoning behind the answer.  It works really well for those who want to learn the material.  You can choose how you want to be presented the questions, a section at a time or randomly. You can take practice tests as often as you want.  It’s all free online or for a very low price you can purchase the app and take it on your phone or tablet even when you’re offline.  It tracks which questions you get wrong and goes back to them more frequently to help concentrate your studying.

[WRPL700]

9 minutes ago, SteveShannon said:

Another really good training method (I really enjoyed it) is HamStudy.org.  All of the questions are presented along with lots of reference material that unwind the concepts or reasoning behind the answer.  It works really well for those who want to learn the material.  You can choose how you want to be presented the questions, a section at a time or randomly. You can take practice tests as often as you want.  It’s all free online or for a very low price you can purchase the app and take it on your phone or tablet even when you’re offline.  It tracks which questions you get wrong and goes back to them more frequently to help concentrate your studying.

Thanks for the HamStudy.org heads-up.  I will check it out.  

[Davichko5650]

5 hours ago, WRPL700 said:

Yes, I finally did it.  I got my Tech (KD3AKT).  Had a lot of fun on 10M on Sunday. Got 2 contacts from TX, one from OK, one from ND, one from OR and one from CA.  All on 20 watts.  What a fun hobby.

Congrats and welcome to the Rabbit Hole that is Amateur Radio! Enjoy 10 meters while it's hot! Good luck on the General, opens up the world of HF to you!

73 de N0TXW

[WRPL700]

Oops.

Edited yesterday at 06:51 PM by WRPL700
Oops.

[WRPL700]

10 minutes ago, Davichko5650 said:

Congrats and welcome to the Rabbit Hole that is Amateur Radio! Enjoy 10 meters while it's hot!

73 de N0TXW

Hey, thanks.  This was a long time in coming.......  40 years ago I was an Army radio operator (18E) so I was pretty good with morse code back then.  The guys were always after me to get my Ham license, but I never did.  So fast forward: a few years back I got my GMRS license and played with that and then last fall convinced my wife to allow me to try for the Ham license.    I still need to work on dusting off my CW skills again.  My hand isn't as steady with a straight key as it once was.  But this is a lot of fun.

[Davichko5650]

10 minutes ago, WRPL700 said:

..  40 years ago I was an Army radio operator (18E) so I was pretty good with Morse code back then.   fun.

I seem to find a lot of veterans with radio backgrounds, like myself, on the ham bands!  I was a Voice Intercept Operator (98G) Arabic with Secondary MOS's as 05H and 05C for Morse and RTTY, as well as having the K3 designator indicating I was an ECM operator as well in the ASA/INSCOM back in the mid-late 70's.  I was already a radio hobbyist in the AM broadcast DX and SWL world. Most my instructors for the radio stuff in the Army were Hams, and bugged all of us to get our tickets.  Didn't get mine until 1992 as a No-Code Tech. Upgraded to Tech+ with the 5 wpm CW test in 1996.  Was off the air for about 15 years what with Life intervening, but got back into it in October 2020 getting my General and then my Extra in Jan. of 2022.  Got into GMRS in 2017 for comms up north where there is no or spotty Cell or internet service. Was WQUR589, but forgot to renew, so now I'm WRJG283 in that service.

[WRPL700]

28 minutes ago, Davichko5650 said:

I seem to find a lot of veterans with radio backgrounds, like myself, on the ham bands!  I was a Voice Intercept Operator (98G) Arabic with Secondary MOS's as 05H and 05C for Morse and RTTY, as well as having the K3 designator indicating I was an ECM operator as well in the ASA/INSCOM back in the mid-late 70's.  I was already a radio hobbyist in the AM broadcast DX and SWL world. Most my instructors for the radio stuff in the Army were Hams, and bugged all of us to get our tickets.  Didn't get mine until 1992 as a No-Code Tech. Upgraded to Tech+ with the 5 wpm CW test in 1996.  Was off the air for about 15 years what with Life intervening, but got back into it in October 2020 getting my General and then my Extra in Jan. of 2022.  Got into GMRS in 2017 for comms up north where there is no or spotty Cell or internet service. Was WQUR589, but forgot to renew, so now I'm WRJG283 in that service.

As I remember it, I was  originally an O5B-A4, but then they changed us to 31V??? And then to 18E.  We used a lot of wired half-wave dipoles.  I still remember using the 468/frequency to get the ball park length.  We used metal audio tape reels to roll up the extra wire and parachute cord thrown over a tree limb to lift up each side.  The radio was a AN/PRC-74B 15 watt.  Good memories.

[tweiss3]

Congrats. I'm glad you have found something fun for you. Great thing about amateur radio, if what you are doing isn't interesting to you, find something else to do with it.

[WSGL775]

Outstanding!

[AdmiralCochrane]

Good job!  There is an amount of redundancy between the Tech and General tests.  Take your General as soon as you can and it will be easier.

[WRYZ926]

You now have so many more squirrels to chase, especially once you get your General. 

[Lscott]

On 2/4/2025 at 9:38 AM, WRPL700 said:

I also bought the General book about a week ago and I think I will take that test next month. I don't think I need the Extra.

Might as well go for the Gold and try for an Extra too. If you pass the General they should let you take the Extra exam in the same session.

[WSEZ864]

We normally would allow a candidate to take both exams IF they have studied for both. Otherwise it would be a waste of everyone's time.

There is a lot of overlap between the Technician exam and the General Exam and we get a lot of people taking and passing both in the same session. The Amateur Extra exam is much more involved and covers materials that are not part of the two more basic exams.

IMO, the General license allows one to access most useful frequencies and modes, and would provide about 90% of what the Extra ticket allows. I would encourage the OP to study and give it a try, but not to be too worried about it until they're more experienced and/or find the General license somehow limiting.