As many of you know, I’m one of the commentators on the ICQPodcast. Most of them live, or have lived, in the U.K., so I get exposed to a lot of British ham radio stuff.
Like the U.S., the U.K. has three classes of license: Foundation, Intermediate, and Full. They roughly correspond to our Technician, General, and Extra Class licenses. One big difference is that they don’t publish the question pool over there. Even so, there are some websites where you can take practice tests.
Yesterday, Ed, DD5LP, who, I believe, grew up in the U.K., and got his first ham radio license there, sent the group this:
Hi Guys,
You probably already know of this site: https://radiotutor.uk/
Try taking the mock licence tests on this site (or the 10 question Quiz) (provided to them by Hamtests.co.uk who no longer provide on-line tests) – it’s interesting BUT read the questions through multiple times as some of their English is bad and sometimes there are very similar answers and I guarantee if you aren’t careful you’ll chose the wrong one as I did a couple of times reducing my pass rate down and me kicking myself as I knew the correct answer but chose the wrong letter!
Just for fun, I decided to take the 26-question test. Surprisingly, I only got 23/26 correct. Here’s my reply:
Hmmmm. I got 23 of 26 correct, so I’m guessing that I qualify for the Foundation license. The questions I got wrong are:
- 1) Which of the following bands do space researchers use?
- 5) “Q” Codes exist
- a question that I’m too embarrassed to list here.
I just didn’t know #1, but I’m going to complain about #5. The answer I chose is, “To be used solely when transmitting Morse Code, but the correct answer is, “To facilitate communications by using standard abbreviations.” I contend that Q signals should technically only be used when operating Morse Code, and that the are NOT abbreviations.
I got the third one wrong as I didn’t heed Ed’s warning about carefully reading the question. Even so, I should have gotten it correct.
Ed’s email had the subject line, “a bit of fun…” and it indeed it was. Take the test yourself and tell us how you do.
Having said all that, Ed noted in a subsequent email that RSGB publishes their own practice tests:
- https://rsgb.org/main/clubs-training/training-resources/advanced-mock-exams/
- https://rsgb.org/main/clubs-training/training-resources/intermediate-mock-exams/
- https://rsgb.org/main/clubs-training/training-resources/foundation-mock-exams/
I haven’t tried these yet, though.
The quiz I took was not difficult for me to understand, but I’ve been exposed to UK English for a long time. The question that was most difficult was Joules Law, and that is not a British Television programme about a renegade bobby. (which ironically was not a selection in the question’s multiple choice answers. The problem with Joule’s law is that it applies to heat, electrical current and the relationship of both. There are a number of ways to express this, and the original was P = I2R. Potential = current squared x resistance. This also was not among the answers. Their answer was V (Voltage) = I (Current) x R (Resistance), and according to the Electrical Engineering Portal
This is their explanation of Joule’s Law – (https://electrical-engineering-portal.com/resources/knowledge/theorems-and-laws/joules-law)
“Amount of heat (energy) delivered to something
Joule’s Law states that H (Heat) = I (Current) x V (Voltage) x T (Time the current is allowed to flow).
Or, written differently,
H (Heat) = I2 (Current squared) x R (Resistance) x T (Time the current is allowed to flow).
Note: V (Voltage) = I (Current) x R (Resistance), so the two equations are the same, just stated differently. The second version of this law is probably more common in the field.
Joule’s Law is an equation that gives the amount of heat (energy) delivered to something. It would seem sensible to assume that it’s the amount of heat delivered to the weld. However, it is important to consider all the factors in the equation: Current, Voltage, and Time. Joule’s Law assumes that each of these factors remains constant in the secondary of the welding transformer. A weld controller or weld timer may indeed provide a constant amount of current at the electrodes, but recall Ohm’s Law: Voltage equals Current times Resistance, or written differently, Current equals Voltage divided by Resistance.
Factors like pitting or mushrooming of the electrodes, dirty workpieces, changes in force, etc. all have an effect on the surface area (the area of contact) between the electrode and the workpiece. Since changes in the surface area affect the contact resistance (resistance of the surface area), it is reasonable to say that the resistance at the workpiece is not constant, but rather a factor that can change depending on a number of other conditions.
If Resistance is not constant, then according to Ohm’s Law, Current is not constant either. This means that the I-squared version Joule’s Law will not reveal the amount of heat generated at the workpiece unless the resistance at the tips is known.
Simply put, to determine how much heat is being generated at the workpiece using Joule’s Law, current, voltage or resistance must be measured at the workpiece. Although a weld controller may be programmed to deliver 20 KA at 10 Volts, if there is significant resistance in the secondary weld loop, the heat will go there and not to the workpiece. Likewise, if the electrodes are worn or the workpiece is dirty, resistance and current density will be affected. In such a situation, a controller might indicate 10 Volts at the secondary, however there might actually be only 5 Volts at the weld tips.
Such a disparity could easily cause bad welds. ”
So by that standard, their question on this subject ignores the time variable for the elapsed time the voltage is applied. Why is this even on an elementary level radio operator’s license exam in the first place?
It’s not their grammar, vocabulary or sentence structure I find difficult, it is outlandish questions like this one that I find objectionable. I only took the ten question quiz, I found it somewhat challenging, however this question I feel exceeded the level of knowledge expected of a Foundation grade operator. Heck, if you are going to put ringers in like this, why not include particle physics and chemistry too?