Transmission1

I found out today that I passed my advanced exam after sitting it last weekend.

So that's me finally fully licensed at long last.

Foundation license to Full license in 29 months.

Time to get the shack up and running properly now after being away from operating radio for some time.

My advice to anyone thinking of going for any radio exam is to just go for it, take the time to read the study book and absolutely hammer QADV and hamtests.

Bloody well done.

If I had to take my RAE again, I know that I would have to do some serious revision, or I might actually fail it. So all hail to you.

In my day, it was 'Advanced or nothing', and if I was just coming into the hobby now, then I would stop at 2E. But you have gone one stage beyond. I genuinely raise a glass to you.

There are many on here who say ''I'm happy as an FL'', or ''Why should I advance ... the rules say I don't have to''.

It's just an excuse for ''I haven't got a cat in hell's chance''.

Congratulations buddy and well done.

Well done!

Did mine last year, it was bloody difficult!

RedDragon wrote:I found out today that I passed my advanced exam after sitting it last weekend.

Time to get the shack up and running properly now after being away from operating radio for some time.

My advice to anyone thinking of going for any radio exam is to just go for it, take the time to read the study book and absolutely hammer QADV and hamtests.

Well done. I hope you've been saving to fund your habit, because it's more costly than being on crack cocaine and can syphon money quicker than an ex-wife. CB is mere pennies in comparison.


As for the advice, the main stumbling block for most newbies, is finding somewhere local. You can self learn, but you still need a venue to do your practical (not needed for full) and a place to take the exam.

ChrisCSL wrote: There are many on here who say ''I'm happy as an FL'', or ''Why should I advance ... the rules say I don't have to''.

It's just an excuse for ''I haven't got a cat in hell's chance''.

So what would you do? Do you ban an M3/6 after a certain time limit?

Or reduce foundation privileges to 50W on 6, 4, 2 and 70cms, and giving intermediate that plus HF (not including 470KHz and 5MHz) with 10W.

GW0DIV wrote:Or reduce foundation privileges to 50W on 6, 4, 2 and 70cms, and giving intermediate that plus HF (not including 470KHz and 5MHz) with 10W.

And then bring in a Super Advanced exam for full licence holders and reduce standard full tickets to 50w on HF and those VHF/UHF bands, for those that don't take and pass the Super exam?

Call it "Extra" not "Super" and make the M0s into ME0s to show they'd the leet skillz to make it to the top rung of the ladder and can now look down on the advanced peeps

Oh and well done RedDragon, congrats on the advanced pass!

:-)

Steve

Now I'm an M3, but of that more in a moment.

The trouble with the foundation level stuff is that the restrictions fall into exactly the same categories as other "challenges" in the hobby such as QRP. The restrictions are supposed to encourage you to move up, but in every other area of the hobby you're expected to see restrictions as a challenge to work within. Once you get into that mindset, you stop thinking of them as an annoying restriction. In the end, the only true restrictions that would work for FL would probably be band and mode restrictions, and perhaps geographic restrictions that say you can only access stations within 100km of your registered station address, for example. Anything else and the keen amateur will soon rise above them and still manage to work the world.

As for me, I have had a number of reasons for not moving to IL, and none of them have anything to do with amateur radio at all. With most of them addressed now/soon, I intend to move up soon. But as for the full licence, it may well be that I "can't cut it". Time will tell. I'd like to think I won't be expected (by some) to give up the hobby if I haven't got the full licence within a certain amount of time.

Well done RedDragon!

mm3oqr wrote:In the end, the only true restrictions that would work for FL would probably be band and mode restrictions, and perhaps geographic restrictions that say you can only access stations within 100km of your registered station address, for example. Anything else and the keen amateur will soon rise above them and still manage to work the world.

Yeah, that worked well, you mean like introducing B and novice licences and keeping some of them on HF+.

Then gave them an easy backdoor, about 15 years ago.

Thanks for the messages guys.

Im just glad all this self study is over and done with now.

1 MARK,

I passed this retched exam by one mark.

oooohhhh soo close.

get in there!!!

Well done RD for gaining your advanced ticket.

Noted the thread has been tainted by those having a 'dig' at foundation holders again though.

RedDragon wrote:Thanks for the messages guys.

Im just glad all this self study is over and done with now.

Now the real self study starts!!