Amateur radio test.

nc13

Hi all, I am thinking of doing the amateur radio test and am wondering if it is hard. I have no tech or electronic background and think I might struggle. Any advice would be greatly wellcome.

Can anyone tell me where I could get secondhand equipment on the cheap?

Thanks.

deaglan169

nc13 wrote: »

Hi all, I am thinking of doing the amateur radio test and am wondering if it is hard. I have no tech or electronic background and think I might struggle. Any advice would be greatly wellcome.

Can anyone tell me where I could get secondhand equipment on the cheap?

Thanks.

best advice would be check out your local club if you have one close enough they usually run courses over a few weeks it would be your best bet on passing the test an electronics background may help you but it can be passed with out any electronic background, there is a list of clubs on www.irts.ie, as for secondhand gear adverts.ie ebay etc all the usual places or check out the bring and buys at rallies, any more questions please post

nc13

Thanks. I think I'll have a crack at it. Any suggestions on make or model of radio and stuff?

EI8GHB

I could write a book about this!! I did the test in October (and passed) having studied for 11 weeks, mostly on my own.

You will get a good idea what's involved from my blog at

http://hamradioireland.blogspot.com/

Go back to the earliest posts last July and August:

http://hamradioireland.blogspot.com/2009_07_01_archive.html

Should give you a good idea what to expect.

I was not great at maths in school (C in pass maths in the Leaving Cert) and hated formulae but there's only a certain few key formulae to be learned (about 10 or 12 max) and working them out is not as difficult as it seems.

It would help enormously if you were a listener to the HF bands because this will help you with questions about band plans and prefixes etc. I have a reasonably comprehensive list of helpful web links which I can send on if you like?

Most importantly, best of luck and I hope you do it and pass!!

deaglan169

hi EI8GHB great website lots of interesting info on there i think i may have heard and possibly even worked you on dundalk repeater, i also have some stuff on passing the rae it also applies to the irish exam if i can dig it out i can post it on to you NC13 on cds, it helped me i passed when i was 16 with very little knowledge of electronics radio etc and as for maths ive failed more times than i care to remember at school and to this day in college:D so dont worry about it in relation to exam as its just simple equations

thejanitor

Hi,

The best advice I can give you is to try:

http://www.irts.ie/downloads/Studying_for_the_Amateur_Radio_Examination.pdf

Good idea to contact your local club for support and classes if available.

nc13

Thanks for the info lads. As I said I am a total beginner, so what do I do first? I dont have any equipment,does that matter? And again thanks for the help!!

EI8GHB

As I said I am a total beginner, so what do I do first? I dont have any equipment,does that matter? And again thanks for the help!!

If you're a total beginner, then I would think about getting a HF receiver and start listening to the ham bands. This helps with learning the band frequencies and also with country prefixes.

Get the IRTS CD and have a look. It covers all the different sections which you will be asked about in the exam. Contact your nearest amateur radio society or club and see if they give lessons for the test.

When you say you're a total beginner, does that mean you've never had a radio, like a 40-channel CB? Have you ever listened to shortwave radio?

How are your maths? Especially formulae?

nc13

I do have an old cb radio but dont use it much because I can never get anything on it. I was a taxi driver and had 2way radios but thats it. Are hf recivers expencive? I dont have much of a budget. I'm not bat at maths.

EI8GHB

You would expect to pay a couple of hundred at least for a half decent HF receiver. I haven't had many receivers as such, more transceivers, but my HF receiver for years was the Icom IC-R75, a great little radio. There's also a basic enough receiver called (I think) the Lowe 150. And at one time I had a Realistic DX-394 which is basic enough but cheap, maybe less than a hundred quid. But maybe check eBay?

Try typing "HF receiver" into the eBay search box.

mickmcgee

Try buy and sell.ie

nc13

Thanks everyone I've sent off for the IRTS cd. I will post how I am finding it.

brownmini

thejanitor wrote: »

Hi,
The best advice I can give you is to try:
http://www.irts.ie/downloads/Studying_for_the_Amateur_Radio_Examination.pdf

Suggest that when studying sample papers , not only figure out why the
supplied answer is the correct one but also figure out / study to know why
the other answers are wrong.
This will help you when you encounter a question that is related.

Remember that when doing multi choice exam papers, you dont need
to know the correct answer all the time [- but it helps], you just need to
know which answers just couldnt be the right answer...whatever is left is
the correct answer.

Remember that you do not need to get 100% in the exam.
It might be nice to aim that high but even if you just get
1% over the pass mark, you will get the same end result -
"A licence from COMREG"

bmw316

if your in cork and you need something to cover the h.f. band as in a good receiver at a cheap price then pm me as i have what you need.
my deal will not be beat thats a fact
29 bst 01

deandempsey

Guys, anyone know what would be regarded as a likely exemption qualification would be ?

watty

Used to be a UK full licence. Possibly a Marine Radio Operator qualification. Ring Comreg and ask.

god's toy

deandempsey wrote: »

Guys, anyone know what would be regarded as a likely exemption qualification would be ?

Maybe i've not had my fill of caffeine today but I'm kinda lost on this question.
Anyone help?

pixbyjohn

deandempsey wrote: »

Guys, anyone know what would be regarded as a likely exemption qualification would be ?

If you have a ships radio officers ticket.

sensormatic

i say not you will need to sit the exam its as simple as that

pixbyjohn

god's toy wrote: »

Maybe i've not had my fill of caffeine today but I'm kinda lost on this question.
Anyone help?

I think he means is there an exemption to having to sit the Radio Experimenter's (radio amateur's exam ) examination.
If you hold a radio officers certificate you are exempt and may apply for a callsign as the Radio officers cert is far and above the qualification of a radio experimenter's licence.

god's toy

pixbyjohn wrote: »

I think he means is there an exemption to having to sit the Radio Experimenter's (radio amateur's exam ) examination.
If you hold a radio officers certificate you are exempt and may apply for a callsign as the Radio officers cert is far and above the qualification of a radio experimenter's licence.

Thanks for that! I have one more question,

I hold an Maritime Mobile Service certificate, (CEPT/ERC/REC 31-05) would that count as an exemption qualification ?

watty

Ask Comreg. Simply Ring them on Monday.

telecinesk

I used my city & guilds as an exemption.. years ago. Anyway depends on the level and what comreg deem as acceptable. Good luck. Either way go for the ticket.

Our man in Havana

I am in for the test on the 7th down in Limerick.

sensormatic

best of luck with the test:pac:

iceax

did any one find any good mock papers for the exam other than the irts ONE.

can find a lot of us based and aus stuff but not much irish or uk !!

Pls send on any links that you may think be worth while.

Our man in Havana

The IRTS control all the papers and it is not possible to get anything bar the sample paper from them.

BravoMike

Have a look at the following file; it is from the New Zealand theory examination. Their syllabus is quite like our own and covers a lot of the same topics just look at page 3 and 4 of the file and you will notice the similarity with the HAREC. The file contains a bank of questions, hopefully it will be useful
http://www.nzart.org.nz/exam/files/questionbank81206.pdf
See you on Wednesday Haddockman

iceax

many thanks for the link , this has to be the best link EVER !!


any one want to work out a math question for me ?

its a RC in series question with a 5 v A/C input

place meter across Rx = 5v

place meter across Cx = voltage across Cx is what voltage ? (this is the question)

there is not values for R or C and no hz value for the input

regards

watty

It's more important to understand the stuff and learn the whole syllabus than banks of questions and answers. Then also you will spot the wrong MC answers.

Esp. to progress later.

watty

All the best everyone for Wed Afternoon 7th July 2010

snowman707

best of luck to all to morrow

hope to hear some new callsigns on air soon!

ei2dj

I hope it went well for all today,

Best of luck,

73 de Mike

Our man in Havana

Thanks!

It was a tough one.

watty

Come on Comreg!

Results before end of next week?

Our man in Havana

They took 6 weeks the last time.

EI8GHB

Fair play to all who did the test and best of luck. Having been through the experience last October I can tell you the wait for the results can be agonising. It took the exam on October 6th and got my results on October 21st - 15 days later. Best thing to do is to try to put it out of your head and concentrate on other things!!

I believe the IRTS mark the exams fairly quickly and get the results back to Comreg within a few days but it can take a while for things to be processed from there.

I felt the October 2009 exam was tough, very tough, but later discovered I had achieved a good result, getting 74%, 80% and 90%, well above the 60% needed in each section. So don't sweat too much. And for those who ultimately don't make it - definitely try again in October because a lot of the stuff will still be fresh in your mind.

73 de EI2KC (ex EI8GHB)

Our man in Havana

Best thing to do is to try to put it out of your head and concentrate on other things!!

That is very difficult to do.

EI8GHB

That is very difficult to do.

Yes I know. To be honest, I couldn't put it out of my mind at all. I fretted and agonised over the questions and the answers I had given and spent two or three days trying to figure out if I had enough correct answers to pass and that only made it worse because it seemed as though I was close to passing but maybe not enough.

Maybe tranquilise yourself or enter a time warp or something?

Taildragon

The letters started dropping on doormats today. How did you get on, Haddockman?

Our man in Havana

Black smoke. Missed it by 1 question. Roll on October.

Taildragon

Bummer. So close, too. Will you try again later in the year, or wait for the new syllabus in 2011?

Our man in Havana

I will try again in October.

What are the main changes in 2011?

Taildragon

It's the same HAREC syllabus, just more clearly defined. You'll know which areas will require an "in depth" knowledge, and which will need a more cursory, "working" knowledge. Details should be on the IRTS website by now.

BravoMike

Brand new shiny callsigns came through the door today

Our man in Havana

Well done.

Hope to be joining you all in October.

telecinesk

Yes go for it again, bit like driving test. its not about the end result, its the doing it and learning process. Radios are useful things and knowing what goes on inside and so on is a worthwhile education.really best of luck in october..

Taildragon

Wishing all candidates for the exam the very best of luck for tomorrow, October 6th.

Our man in Havana

I passed!

BravoMike

Congrats now put the licence application in the post and hope to hear you on the air soon.
Out of cutiosity what was the exam like compared to the one in June?

Our man in Havana

It was much harder in my opinion. I thought it would be another try again letter.