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The equations and formulas in the General Class Handbook are tough for me. Any tips?

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Cobra 139XLR, Cobra 89XLR w/Freeband added, Cobra 139, Sears AM/SSB, Maco 103C, Other assorted goodies
"The more educated you become, the more dangerously you live."

... Practice! Short-cuts are handy, but will do more harm than good unless you know the long way around. There's nothing but grade school math on any of the license tests, and un-programmed calculators are allowed at test sessions.
- 'Doc

I learned this a long time ago in college: Have a strategy for taking the test.

That means that you don't HAVE to know everything or get all of the answers correct to pass. First figure out the parts of the test that you feel confident you can pass easily. Then take a few practice tests to see how many questions you're lacking before passing. You'll probably find that if you just concentrate on a few of the easier math problems while focusing on the other areas of the test, you can skip some of the harder math questions and you'll still pass the test.

Remember, there are no extra points on these tests for getting more questions correct; you either pass or fail. Figure out how to pass and don't worry about the rest.

Answer the questions you do know and use common sense to guess the answers you dont know,a guess has the chance of being correct(if like the uk the us test is a 4 answer multiple choice,you have 25% chance of guessing the correct answer,in most questions 2 answers are obviously wrong,that leaves you almost a 50/50 chance on every question),a blank answer has no chance.

the equations and formulas may be a bit harder but common sense guessing is simple arithmetic,good luck.

Thanks guys. That's reassuring.

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Cobra 139XLR, Cobra 89XLR w/Freeband added, Cobra 139, Sears AM/SSB, Maco 103C, Other assorted goodies
"The more educated you become, the more dangerously you live."

As I recall, the math in the Tech test is related to wattage, amperage, voltage, and resistance. The watt, amp, and volts part is about understanding proportions. Ten amp at 100 volts is equal to 1,000 watts, They may change the voltages or other values, and expect you to solve for 'x'. Simple algebra; no math genius is necessary.

Understanding resistance is the same principle. Look up ohm's law and learn thru online examples. It isn't really that hard - and ther is lots of places online to learn that part. Basic electricl principles are all they are asking. The General exam is a bit more complicated - and the Extra exam requires a working knowlede of various circuits. So - study a bit online and I'm confident you will nail it!

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"...The 444 in San Jose CA; the Central Gold Coast..."

Thanks Rob. Look out logarithms here I come!

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Cobra 139XLR, Cobra 89XLR w/Freeband added, Cobra 139, Sears AM/SSB, Maco 103C, Other assorted goodies
"The more educated you become, the more dangerously you live."

You'll probably discover that your main use of logarithms will be calculating dB gain/loss with antennas, amplifiers and such. There are countless other areas where log calcs have to be done, but for hams, power gain/loss and voltage gain/loss will probably be the biggies.

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If you're like everybody else,
you're about average.
73 de K7KBN

7732 I was really sweating the general class test even after the code requirements were dropped.All I done was to go to the dreaded QRZ.com site and take the practice test till I felt comfortable that I would pass.

And another thing that I done was to get a study book from MFJ for the general class test,what MFJ done was to take the entire question pool for the general class test and show the right answer just as it appears in the actual test.

After a few weeks of studying about an hour an evening I felt I had it down to the point that I could pass...and I did!!

Believe me,if I can do it anyone can ...so go get that upgrade !!

Hamtest online is great!

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Cobra 139XLR, Cobra 89XLR w/Freeband added, Cobra 139, Sears AM/SSB, Maco 103C, Other assorted goodies
"The more educated you become, the more dangerously you live."