Steve,
Would the class be appropriate for a Noob?
I know how to use the "press to talk". haha. Im interested in class if Noob friendly.
Pat
Pat, the class is geared towards newbies....but it is designed to help folks who have been studying the Technician Class Question pool on their own for a couple of weeks or more, and who are having trouble remembering some or all the answers to the questions.
We provide memory tricks and such for that, and explain how and why (to a limited depth of course) things work, what you can and can't do in regards to the law, and we give tips on where to purchase radios most economically, how to build your own antennas, etc.
Then after reviewing all the questions in the pool, plus the above , we give the exam.
With folks who have studied for 30 to 60 minutes a day for 2 to 4 weeks in advance of taking the class, plus taking the class and then the exam right afterwards, we have a 98% pass on the first try rate.
The class alone, with no prior study, would not likely be enough to see a successful passing of the Technician class exam, although we have had two people who did just that.
One person worked in radio controls for stages and such and was an electrician with an electrical engineering background as well, the other fellow has a true eidetic memory, anything he sees or hears, he remembers. He listened to us go over all 404 questions in the pool, with the correct answers, plus the other info, took the test and scored a perfect 100% correct answers.
But those to are the exception.
If you currently don't have a Technician Class License, I would suggest you start by downloading the Current 2014-2018 ARRL Technician Class Question Pool, from this link:
http://ncvec.org/page.php?id=362
The one you want is the "
2014-2018 FCC Element 2 Technician Class Question Pool.doc"
And also down load the graphics (schematics) that go with it, the ones you want there are:
Graphic T-1.jpg
Graphic T-2.jpg
Graphic T-3.jpg
In the word doc format, you can go through each question, the correct answer is shown by a letter in parenthesis ,A, B, C or D, do not memorize the letter that goes with the correct answer, it will most likely not be the same letter associated with the correct answer on the exam!
We have had two people fail the exam because that is the way they studied, they memorized the question and the letter that was shown on the ARRL pool as the correct answer, don't do it!
Go through the word doc, and erase all the incorrect answers , leaving just the correct answer and the question.
Now if you study that for 30 to 60 minutes per day, for 2 to 4 weeks, and take the free practice exams located on QRZ.com, you will quickly learn the material.
When you are passing the practice exams on QRZ.com with a score of 80% or better, you are ready to take the real exam, as it only requires a passing score of 74%, you have to get 26 out of 35 questions correct on the real exam.
If you want more practice, then sign up for one of the study sessions.
We offer them each month on the same day we hold the exams, that is the second Saturday of every month, at the same location posted above. But you must call Dick Grady and register for the class, it is free, but unless we have at least one person wanting to take the study class, we don't hold it. This month we have 3 people who have signed up for this Saturday's class.
The three of us who teach it have nearly 100 years combined radio experience, and if we don't know the answer to your radio question, one of us will find it for you and get back to you ASAP.
Dick has a Masters Degree in Electronics, and worked for Bell Labs for 35 years designing and building all types of radio gear.
Jerry was in the Navy for 25 years, and was a communications specialist there the entire time, he has 50+ years of using radios behind him, and is extremely active on HF,VHF and UHF every day, he contests and works world wide HF nets constantly.
If you have any other questions, post 'em here and I will try to answer them for ya.