Ham radio license study/prep course - any interest?

[Jeremy Z]

Dear The Mailing-list, I'm trying to gauge interest for a ham radio
license study/prep class/course.

The most popular license for beginners is the Technician Class
license, which requires only a 35 question multiple-choice written
examination. The exam questions are chosen "randomly" from a publicly
published question and answer pool.
The class I'm proposing would help teach you everything need to know
for the Technician Class license exam.

We may also be able to provide an onsite testing session. I'm not sure
about class fees (probably free) or a time-frame at this point. If we
held an exam session you would have to pay your own exam fee
(approximately less than or equal to $15).

Additionally the course would be open to anyone who wants to attend
including non-members. If there's enough interest, say 10 or more "for
sure" people, I'll get it setup!

If you're interested in taking the class or helping teach, please
reply and/or email me directly. Also if you know someone that isn't on
The Mailing-list and might be interested, please feel free to pass
this email along.

A few related links:
http://www.arrl.org/getting-licensed
http://www.arrl.org/licensing-education-training
What is Amateur Radio? - http://www.arrl.org/what-is-amateur-radio
The DIY Magic of Amateur Radio - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlDwVhx7miQ

-Jeremy

[Cory Straka]

Very interested. A non members vote, should it matter.

[Brandon Jasper]

I keep meaning to get my General ticket, but something always happens to redirect my attention.  I can probably pass the exam, just need to drag myself out to take the test.

Brandon

On Wed, Jan 11, 2012 at 4:15 PM, Jeremy Z <zunk...@gmail.com> wrote:

[mike perez]

you know i am interested. that makes three

[Nick Borko]

If the exam were also being held after the session, I might be interested.  As an old comm officer the technician information is mostly review for me, but I wouldn't mind a refresher right before an exam.

Nick

[Jeremy Z]

@Cory, non-member votes count for this one.

@Brandon, if we do the testing too, I'll make sure we can test for
Technician, General and Extra class licenses, as one exam fee covers
one attempt at all three exams.

@Nick, yeah should be easy for you, you'd probably only need to study
the FCC rules and the band/frequency allocation questions.

[letterj]

I'm very interested.    Please keep me posted about details.

[kc]

As long as it's nights and weekends, I am 100% down to sign up. Studied for it 15 years ago, but never followed-through...

Actually been ACTIVELY thinking about it LATELY.

kc


Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T. (My other car is an ANDROID!)

[Jeremy Z]

Ok, well 6 is sufficiently close to 10 :-). I've gone ahead and
started the process of putting it together.

I have a few questions for you guys as to how you want the class structured.
How many class sessions would like to do, and how long would you like
the class(es). We could do something like one 8 hour session to four 2
hour sessions M-Th, or one 2.5 hour session once a week, or whatever.
I was leaning towards a few 4 hour Saturday sessions, but I can do
just about anything evenings/weekends, and would like to accommodate
as many people as possible. I'm thinking of doing the class mid-March
as I'll mostly be focused on our Luminaria project. I'm also working
on a couple possible ways to do it much earlier, say late
January/early February. So please let me know what you think. If you
would like to talk about it in person or as a group I'll be at
10bitworks tomorrow after the swap meet. Alternatively feel free to
reply.

Typically people use a study book and online practice exams to learn
everything on their own and then take the test. You'll probably need
to study on your own in addition to the class(es). Below are a few
resources to start off with. I've known some people that have no
previous electronics/technical experience that have studied for it in
about a week or less and passed, others that have done it in 2 or more
weeks.

Study guide books ~$21 (you'd only need one or the other as they cover
the same content):
http://www.amazon.com/Technician-Class-2010-2014-Gordon-West/dp/0945053622/
http://www.amazon.com/Ham-Radio-License-Manual-Arrl/dp/0872590976/

This study guide and the question pool could be combined to come up
with an approximate equivalent to the above.
http://www.kb6nu.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/2010_Tech_Study_Guide.pdf
http://ars.nc4fb.org/question%20pool%20listings/technician-questions.pdf
or http://www.ncvec.org/page.php?id=349

If you buy a used study guide book from somewhere make sure you get
the latest version covering the 2010-2014 question pool. Old ones will
be similar but I don't recommend using them. If anyone on the list
has a study guide book they're not using, please feel free to donate
it to 10bitworks, we'll definitely make use of it.

Practice exam websites:
http://www.qrz.com/ht/ (requires login)
http://aa9pw.com/radio/technician/
http://www.eham.net/exams/
Others (make sure they use the 2010-2014 question pool):
https://encrypted.google.com/search?q=ham+radio+practice+exam

-Jeremy

[mike perez]

two 4 hour sessions sounds right to me.

in addition, i'd like to suggest the PalmVE android app as a study resource. Its great for those idling times in life.

https://market.android.com/details?id=net.rten.palmve&hl=en 

[kc]

Yeah, I would 2nd the (2)4-hour Saturdays... That would be great for me as school is back...! Sunday is fine, too. As is Friday evening...

kc

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T. (My other car is an ANDROID!)

---

From: mike perez <meek...@gmail.com>

Sender: sa-hack...@googlegroups.com

Date: Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:40:30 -0600

To: <sa-hack...@googlegroups.com>

ReplyTo: sa-hack...@googlegroups.com

Subject: Re: [San Antonio Hackerspace] Ham radio license study/prep course - any interest?

[Tom AB5XZ]

Jeremy,

 

I will help if time permits.

[Jeremy Z]

Thanks Tom, looks like you're also a VE, which is great. I have a
couple guys that have also volunteered from KARS, one of which is a VE
Team leader. I'm working on getting my accreditation too. So assuming
we get the scheduling right we should be able to give exams too.

[Mike Garis]

Add one more to the list to take it, I am interested, any evening or
weekend is fine assuming I am in town.

- Mike G.

[Donald Greer]

I'm a maybe, and a plus one for my daughter.

Depends on schedule.

Don

[Jeremy Z]

This class has been put on hold until mid to late March due to the
Luminaria project.

-Jeremy

[KidKubota]

I have subscribed to this since I saw a sheet over at KCOMM. It sounds like
a very interesting operation. I have not had time to go see your operations
but I have not given up. Right now I am working down at the Texas
Experience next to the Harry and Joe Freeman Coliseum, getting things setup
for this coming up Stock Show and Rodeo. I want so much to find the time to
visit your place but time is a very precious commodity these days since I
retired over 10 years ago. I have never been so busy...

I also have access to one of this San Antonio's best HAM Radio instructors
to help. I have attended quite o a few of his classes, including the Extra
that I now hold, thanks to him. If you would like when you are ready maybe
we can set up some type of communication to help your members. Just
recently I became an accredited VE in case that will help.

Joe Bruno
W5AUQ
210-363-9500

-----Original Message-----
From: sa-hack...@googlegroups.com
[mailto:sa-hack...@googlegroups.com]On Behalf Of Jeremy Z
Sent: Tuesday, January 31, 2012 3:22 PM
To: sa-hack...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [San Antonio Hackerspace] Re: Ham radio license study/prep
course - any interest?

[kc]

Good to know as I am busy, personally. Still 100% interested and will rearrange schedule to facilitate participation...

FYI to all.

kc
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T. (My other car is an ANDROID!)

-----Original Message-----
From: Jeremy Z <zunk...@gmail.com>
Sender: sa-hack...@googlegroups.com

Date: Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:22:01
To: <sa-hack...@googlegroups.com>
Reply-To: sa-hack...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [San Antonio Hackerspace] Re: Ham radio license study/prep course
- any interest?

This class has been put on hold until mid to late March due to the
Luminaria project.

-Jeremy