In another blog post, a reader commented:
I’m amazed at how many people say the Extra is easy. I’m happy for you if you find it so. I’m about to take the Extra for the 6th time. I don’t have an electronics background. I’m a junior high music teacher, licensed since 1969. I’ve been studying the material for weeks, and will continue to take the test until I pass.
I replied:
I don’t think that the Extra Class exam is easy. Indeed, taken to extremes, to really learn everything that’s on the test, you’d have to get a degree in electrical engineering. Heck, I actually do have a degree in electrical engineering, and I had to study before I took the Extra Class exam.
I think that a lot of hams get distracted when studying for the test. By that I mean that they try to learn everything there is to know about a topic, rather than learning what they need to know to pass the test. For example, there are several questions on digital logic on the Extra Class test. To learn everything about digital logic, you’d have to take several college courses or pore incessantly over thick textbooks and build lots of digital circuits. While that may teach you a lot about digital logic, it may not help you answer the digital logic questions on the Extra Class test. And, that’s only one of many topics on the test!
That’s why my study guides are written as they are. The goal isn’t to teach you all the nuances of digital logic, or antenna theory, or circuit design, but to give you just enough background so that you understand why the correct answers to the questions on the test are the correct answers.
Some hams think that’s cheating, but like I said before, to really learn everything that’s on the test, you’d have to get a degree in electrical engineering and work as an engineer for many years. This is just a hobby. If we really wanted to ensure that all Extras were electronics (and antenna and RF systems) geniuses, then we’d have to make the test a lot harder, and very few would be able to pass.
Getting back to your situation, I’d be happy to help you. If there are particular topics or questions that you don’t understand, please feel free to e-mail, and I’ll either e-mail you back, or we can schedule a time to talk on the phone or maybe even on the air.
I’ll extend that offer to all my readers. My e-mail address is [email protected]. If I get enough responses, we could even do regularly-scheduled classes over EchoLink or the Internet. At one point, I was holding weekly Extra classes on the W8UM repeater here in Ann Arbor. It had an EchoLink connection, and we had people from all over the country.
Josh Myer AJ9BM says
I’d add one more thing: the Extra test is eminently practical. It seems to fulfill a narrow purpose, by ensuring you’re acquainted with all the topics needed to be a good operator. Specifically, it lets you know what you don’t know, and gives you a foundation for learning more as you need to. This stands in contrast with the Technician test, which seems mostly to ensure the testee knows which end of the HT you hold on to. (Which is also great: we get a lot of new people in quickly. I’d worry more, but techs are generally doing things that my 5 year old does responsibly, though he only gets FRS radios for now.)
When I got my Extra ticket, I went out and spent way too much money on a nice custom frame for it (the only non-cheapo frame in the house). When anyone asks about it, I give them a summary of what I learned in getting it, and they invariably go “Oh. I see why you’re proud of it!” My only regret is that I am a no-code Extra, but I am literally working on that right now. I’d like to do more QRP, and CW is the go-to, so I’m working on learning morse for a half hour every day.
Fred W8ZLK says
Like you mentioned, one shouldn’t aim to get 100 % on the extra exam. Some topics are just too labor intensive to master, and you can usually skip those. Smith charts are perhaps one example of this. Concentrate on the basics for topics such as digital logic.