I helped teach a number of ham crams for the our local
ARES/RACES group. We always included information about Ohm's
law, how to cut a 1/2 wave dipole, and operating procedures.
They're all on the tech test, and for many students it's a lot
easier to learn how to figure out the answer than it is to
remember which multiple-guess is correct.
Quick example: There is a question about how long a 1/4 wave
antenna is for 2M. We tell them that 40" is a good enough
conversion for a meter, so 2M is 80" and 1/4 or 80" is 20". The
correct answer on the test is 19" but the other 3 answers are
way wrong, so picking the closest answer works. We even get to
mention that the velocity of light in a wire is slower than it
is in free space, so 19" is the right answer.
What I find with students is that many are completely at sea
about how ham radio works in the practical sense of picking up a
microphone and making a contact. There's nothing like just doing it.
We would run a 2nd class a month after the ham cram and license
test. We would tell the students to bring their new radios and
we would get the local repeaters programmed into them. We would
then coach them in making some contacts with each other.
As weeks went by, we would encourage them to act as net control
for our weekly net, and then to act as net control for the
county net when it was our group's turn.
Again, like any student, spoon feed them at a rate such that
they can learn. It takes a lot of Elmering to make a ham.
73 Bill AE6JV
On 1/1/21 at 10:58 PM, [email protected] (Bob McGraw) wrote:
I was asked by a club to teach a new hams class in preparation
for the license exam. I inquired as to what I would be
teaching. The answer came back "the test!". No thank
you, if I can't teach Ohms law, how to cut a 1/2 wave dipole,
and operating procedure, I'll just stay under my rock. I've
been licensed for 60 years and had my First Class Radio
Telephone license before I obtained my ham license, that was
while in high school in 1960. I guess that makes me an old
f**t as well.
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Bill Frantz | If the site is supported by | Periwinkle
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Peterborough, NY 03458
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