Finally!

During the weekly net for the Eagle Rock ARC on December 4th, someone announced there would be a test session in Rexburg the following Saturday, December 8.

I figured this would give me just enough time to take a whole bunch of practice exams for the Amateur Extra class license so I can finally accomplish upgrading my amateur radio license. So that is what I started working on.

Saturday morning rolled around and I got up early enough to be at the city offices in Rexburg by 9:30. Boy, morning is a tough time to be taking a test of any type--except maybe a urine test (you old OMs will know what I mean). When I arrived, there were the 3 VEs and 3 people taking exams. Todd Smith, the exam session coordinator came to me, introduced himself, and had me fill out all necessary paperwork and pay the examination fee.

It has been 18 years since I upgraded from technician plus to general. I haven’t really had a lot of incentive to upgrade for the sake of more frequency segments on HF, however, I figured since I tested for and was granted a General Radiotelephone Operator License in March 2017, I should take the Extra exam before I forgot what I learned for that license. Besides--if I could pass two exams totaling 130 questions--a 50 question exam should be a snap.

Well...maybe not a snap...but three days of study was enough to squeek by and pass the Extra exam. Like I figure--pass is pass!

So on December 10, 2018, the FCC granted me an upgrade to my Amateur Radio Service license from General class to Amateur Extra.

Time to celebrate!

It Has Been Awhile

The last 13 months have been super crazy for my wife and me. In just less than a year, we have lived in 3 states, which means we have moved twice.

In October of 2017, I was offered a job with Day Wireless Systems in Lacey, Washington (next to Olympia) as a Radio Technician. We had three weeks to pack, move, and get settled in to start work. It didn’t quite happen that way, but I’ll spare the gory details.

I started my new job on October 30, 2017. I spent most of my time programming radios and doing bench testing. Since I was the only radio technician in the office a lot of the time, I also answered a lot of technical questions.

In August of 2018, I was asked if I wanted to transfer to the Day Wireless office in Idaho Falls. I immediately said I would. They didn’t have a technician there, so within three weeks, Terri and I packed up, moved, settled in, and on September 10th, I started my job in Idaho Falls.

Between a somewhat demanding job and some health problems, I didn’t spend much time with amateur radio activities in Washington. I tried to do some portable HF QRP, but I had a really hard time finding a place to setup. In case you didn’t know--Western Washington is covered with trees! Tall ones, too!

So...finding a place that didn’t have trees to interfere with propagation, overhead power lines, and too close to people and traffic, was nearly impossible.

I did go to a couple of meetings of the Olympia Amateur Radio Society (OARS) and I also checked out their Field Day setup in June. They have a great bunch of guys and do a lot of great activities.

I have been in Idaho for about three and a half months now, so I’ve decided to get back involved in ham radio activities. I’ve checked into a few different nets and have attended the Eagle Rock Amateur Radio Club meeting a few times now. I’ve also been checking into their weekly nets regularly. I also signed up with the ARES/RACES group and the LDS Church ERC in this area.

While writing this blog entry, I’ve been listening to the 146.850 repeater (which is part of the Intermountain Intertie system) where ham operators at National Weather Service offices are calling CQ to make contacts for the annual Skywarn Recognition Day.

I met a number of licensed hams in Washington and even worked with a few. I got on a few 2 meter repeaters from time-to-time, but just didn’t get involved in any group activities. I’ve really been itching to build some radio equipment, mostly HF QRP radios and some other odds and ends. I’ve been collecting electronic parts for awhile, so I think it’s time I do something with them. I also need to check out and get involved with some organizations like I have in the past, such as ARES, RACES, QCWA, and a local club or two.

Next Wednesday, the Eagle Rock ARC is having their annual Christmas get-together at a restaurant called "Leo’s Place." You just can’t beat getting together and socializing with a bunch of great guys over food. And...bringing the "better half" along lets her know that we’re not just a bunch of OMs out causing trouble, one night a month.