[chirp_users] OT License

[Joe Hobart]

Dennis,

I administer license exams.  We always encourage those who do well on their
technician exam to take the general exam.  Recently two candidates, who did not
plan to take more than technician, also passed the general.  Both left in a mild
state of shock.  Not everyone passes, but it is good practice.

Two numbers to remember:

   300:  speed of light in millions of meters per second.  Divide 300 by MHz and
get wavelength.  Divide 300 by wavelength in meters and get MHz.  Half of the
wavelength gives you the length of a half wave dipole, etc.  A meter = about 40
inches or about 3-1/4 feet.

   7:  We have bands starting at 7, 14, 21, 28, and 3.5 MHz.  CW and data in the
lower part; voice and image in the upper parts.  Get the colorful frequency
chart from ARRL:

   http://www.arrl.org/graphical-frequency-allocations

That will give you another way to look at amateur allocations.  I keep a copy of
that chart near my radios.  I can't remember all those numbers either.

The technician license question pool changes somewhat on 1 July.  If you know
the material, you would still pass, but

Good luck,
Joe, W7LUX