Rant - Studying not going well for my General

[Prerunner1982]

I had one gal in my Tech class with the same problem. After trying all kinds of things I finally suggested that she go to the test questions on the back of the book. She highlighted the correct answer and blacked the others out. That way when she went through the questions only the correct answer popped up.

She was the only one on the class that scored 100%.

I typically recommend doing the "Read Questions" section because it gives you only the question and the answer, wrong answers are subdued. Go through the question pool many times before even looking at a practice test. This way only the correct answers are in your mind so that when you take the practice (an ultimately the real) test the answers jump out at you.

Great minds think alike!

 

[naysjp]

I made flashcards for the 10 bands, listed in the upper corner of the card if the band is USB or LSB, whether or not there is an extra segment or VIP room which means a General doesn't get to use all of the band. I also listed the watt limitations which helped so that I remembered that all except 30M, 60M have a 1,500W limitation. I increased my practice tests by 2 correct questions so far. Still not in the 80s but this was more progress than what I was seeing. I stepped back from studying for a week and that may have helped.

 

[Trainfool]

@naysjp
I'm just starting down this road too, knowing little to nothing about HAM, but I would love to get my license. I have picked up "Pass Your Amateur Radio Technician Class Test - The Easy Way" By Craig Buck K4IA on Amazon and love how it is written; the author is very clear and even comical at times. The author has the same theory as mentioned previously in this post, read and study the correct answers and not the wrong answers. The same author also writes a book for all three tests, Technician, General, and Extra. I don't know if this book would help you, but, it seems to be very informative for me and it's under $20. Just sharing what seems to be working for me BUT I have not taken the exam yet sooooo... we shall see.

 

[Boort]

I had one gal in my Tech class with the same problem. After trying all kinds of things I finally suggested that she go to the test questions on the back of the book. She highlighted the correct answer and blacked the others out. That way when she went through the questions only the correct answer popped up.

She was the only one on the class that scored 100%.

HamStudy.org does exactly this with their Read Questions option. For getting my Technician I would read the questions for an hour or so then switch to study mode. After the 1st week I had built up enough repetitions to see Which sections I was understanding and which I needed to drill on more. Drill on my worst section each night and once they were even and averages rising back to the full set of questions. Kept drilling until I was scoring 90-100% in all sections then took my test. this was at the beginning of the pandemic so I got more study time than I expected because there were no testing sites available for months. I kept up drilling a few tiems a week to keep the knowledge fresh for when I was able to get a test.

I've been thinking of doing the same for General, But want to see what I do and don't enjoy about HAM before I invest more time and Money into the hobby.

Boort

 

[M Rose]

HamStudy.org does exactly this with their Read Questions option. For getting my Technician I would read the questions for an hour or so then switch to study mode. After the 1st week I had built up enough repetitions to see Which sections I was understanding and which I needed to drill on more. Drill on my worst section each night and once they were even and averages rising back to the full set of questions. Kept drilling until I was scoring 90-100% in all sections then took my test. this was at the beginning of the pandemic so I got more study time than I expected because there were no testing sites available for months. I kept up drilling a few tiems a week to keep the knowledge fresh for when I was able to get a test.

I've been thinking of doing the same for General, But want to see what I do and don't enjoy about HAM before I invest more time and Money into the hobby.

Boort

I found HF opened a lot of doors for me... and was more on track with what I wanted to do with amateur radio than what the technicians license allows... for a solo overlander, I feel General is the minimum a person should try to achieve. Last week a guy broke down in the middle of no where without cell coverage. He fired up his 2m radio and couldn’t hit a repeater, so he got out his HF radio and started ARDOP and was able to send a winlink message to his boss for help through our winlink gateway 400 miles from his location . Within a couple of hours the tow truck was able to come rescue him... He also mentioned his Spot device failed to connect to the satellite system to send out an sos... and was also limited on how much data he could send to retrieve the proper assistance.

 

[MarioT'sCJResto]

I'm at my wits end. I've been dedicating study time since February towards my General class ticket and I am still sucking at nailing decent practice test scores. I've tried ham study dot org, Ham 2.0 for the past week, I purchased the ham study dot org app so that I can study during laundry day and while waiting after my COVID shot. I'm still not anywhere near passing. I spent 3 hours last saturday studying. I'm running out of positive vibes. I studied more for this ticket than I did for my Technician ticket. That was go through questions and then take the test immediately. I had to take it twice but I passed. The frustration is real because I have put in more time on this test preparation. I've even tried focusing on the week areas. I was supposed to take this test March 27, then I postponed to the first weekend in April but I'm not ready. I'm home nursing a hurt shoulder so it's not like I'm working as of late. I'm not spending any more money on ham anything until I pass. I have enough study material I shouldn't have to buy "so and so's" study material. I'm at a loss.

I have been tinkering with the thought of adding a Ham radio to my rigs, but I’m holding off until I find the time to take the basic.
I just don’t have the time with my work, and I just picked up two midland CBs, to along with my GPS trackers I should be good to go for now.

 

[naysjp]

I found HF opened a lot of doors for me... and was more on track with what I wanted to do with amateur radio than what the technicians license allows... for a solo overlander, I feel General is the minimum a person should try to achieve. Last week a guy broke down in the middle of no where without cell coverage. He fired up his 2m radio and couldn’t hit a repeater, so he got out his HF radio and started ARDOP and was able to send a winlink message to his boss for help through our winlink gateway 400 miles from his location . Within a couple of hours the tow truck was able to come rescue him... He also mentioned his Spot device failed to connect to the satellite system to send out an sos... and was also limited on how much data he could send to retrieve the proper assistance.

Thank you for that observation. I have a Spot device that is not active(yet) but I use their other product to protect my rig.