An “Extra” Sweet Victory

While I may have been an #ExtraByEasterFailure, on May 18th, 2024, while with my family at Dayton’s #Hamvention, I finally passed the top-level US Amateur Radio License licensing exam. I am now, after many years, an Amateur Extra class operator. I used many resources to get here, from my experience as a US Navy Radioman/Information Systems Technician (almost 20 years ago), the Amateur Radio Relay League’s (ARRL) books (Updated Version), Ham Radio Prep, random Twitter/X posts with practice questions, and other radio publications. I will say that the two most useful were The Fast Track to Your Ham Radio License products, including the amazing audiobook (new edition for the new question pool coming soon) and the Hamstudy website and apps by SignalStuff. It’s well worth the small cost for the full versions on whatever platform you use. I’ll post a full review of these tools at a later date.

I found that listening to Michael Burnett‘s audiobook at regular speed (1.25 speed for me) and then progressively upping the listening speed to eventually 2.5 helped me consume and retain the material. The key to my success was trying the various practice test/cram sites and apps until I found the one that I liked.

I once again challenge any “stale generals” to give it a try. If you do not have an Audible account, you can sign up for a free trial and get to keep the audiobook for free, though I would wait for the new version to be released. I forgot to ask Michael when to expect that when I met him at his booth at Hamvention.

See you all down the log.