Before we left on our tour I took measures to prepare for some radio ham license examinations scheduled for today, 6 April. To that end I had made firm bookings for the ferry trip across the Sea of Cortes back to La Paz on 4 April, two days before the examinations, just in case something went wrong with the ferry (which it did!)
I got greedy and decided to go for both the "technical" and the higher "general" certificates. I downloaded study guides for the two examinations onto my Acer webtop as PDF files. During the tour I managed to go over the dry material over and over whenever I got a chance, usually on a bouncing bus and later a bit on the train. A couple of times I grabbed an hour of study while Brenda was out bird watching.
The work paid off because this morning I took the tests and passed them both. I don't know the scores but one of the markers said "good work" regarding the test for the General certificate. I had to memorize things like "The mixer is the receiver stage that combines a 14.250 MHz input signal with a 13.795 MHz oscillator signal to produce a 455 KHz intermediate frequency (IF) signal." (An question on today's test.) Or how about "The approximate maximum theoretical forward gain of a 3 Element Yagi antenna is 9.7 dBi", another of today's questions. However, I did manage to learn a lot about all aspects of radio work, which was supposed to be the goal of it all.
Anyway, I am a true Ham now and expect to receive my new call sign after the papers are processed by the US FCC.
This blog began in late 2006 with the planning and preparation for a circumnavigation of the world in my 39-foot sail boat Pachuca. It then covered a successful 5-year circumnavigation that ended in April 2013. The blog now covers life with Pachuca back home in Australia.
Pachuca
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
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2011
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April
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- Apartment No. 2
- Visit to Doctor
- New Slip
- Apartment and Clearing the Boat
- Unloading Pachuca
- Brenda Off to Oz OK
- KF7PBW
- Frigate Bird Rookery
- Back in La Paz
- Another Quiet Day
- Another Night at Bahia San Gabriel
- At Anchor Again
- Ham License Examination
- Return to La Paz
- Back in La Paz
- To El Fuerte, State of Sinaloa
- Bahuichivo Station, Then Cerocahui
- Posada Barranca, at the Heart of Copper Canyon
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1 comment:
Congratulations HAM!!! You did well!
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