"JB" wrote in message
news:uSDBk.486$UB3.159@trnddc07...

I took the General Radiotelephone Operator's License exam in 1981, just
after it went into effect. However, they were still giving the old 2nd
class
exam, which was mostly about tube technology and which shared nothing in
common with the Extra Class amateur exam of the time.

I did 2nd Phone in the late 70's and there was tube, transistor, RTL and
TTL
logic theory, and 'complete the schematic' type questions but less of that
and more general types of engineering and circuit theory, AC/DC theory, RF
and transmission lines and most of it involving Electronic Math. Trig,
Vectors, no Smith charts or Calculus. Very little of it had anything to
do
with tubes specifically. The rest was FCC parts. It was said at the
time,
that it was more like the Advanced Ham ticket. I got my Advanced a year
or
two before, and I agree the technology level was equivalent and it was
about
200 questions or so. Later when I did the Extra, (90's) there were
questions well beyond the 2nd Phone but only 25 of them! The code test
and
the noise floor equations made me strain. I wish the bandwidth and
modulation questions were on the Technician class test though.


------------

Yep, the solid state and basic computer theory were there too, but I was
surprised that they used a schematic of an RF tube amp for diagnostics
purposes. I was sure that they were going to use solid state equipment for
diagnosis. I was wrong. As it turned out, tubes are always easier for me to
figure out, so it ended up being a plus for me.

The Advanced Class amateur license test was definitely the pinnacle of
amateur radio technical testing, but I didn't feel it was up to the 2nd
Phone test that I took for the General. In fact, I even found a few mistakes
in the Advanced test.

The Extra Class test (I took it in 1985) did include a question or two that
required some trig, but I figured out the answer in my head before finishing
the equation. It was obvious that the conjugate impedance was going to be
capacitive. There was only one answer with a -j, so it was obvious that that
would be the correct answer.

Ed, NM2K