On Sep 22, 10:32*am, "JB" wrote:
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

I picked up on that too. *If you didn't know what was going on there, you
would be left drudging through a math problem.

The thing about Trig was having to memorize all the substitutions in order
to poke the problem into a manageable calculation, or you wind up losing
precision. *If that happens, you wont have the clear cut answer for the
multiple guess.

In some ways I miss tube equipment. *Now I have to deal with surface mount
technology. *Even for a resistor, I risk putting a soldering iron up my nose
while squinting through a loupe. *I just dread the idea of replacing a chip
with 100 legs or more. *In the 70's you had to know tubes and everything
else too because there was so much transition. *Ham Radio magazine was my
best friend, and it was an opportunity to learn the discrete versions of
complex stuff like synthesizers and various issues that had to be overcome.
It's all easier now. *If you can figure out what a controller is supposed to
do, all you have to do is make sure the rest of the components can comply..
But there is so much offshore cheap junk now that almost everything is
worthless to fix but cheap to modify. *Except for industrial controls and
things like that. *But now customers are just trained to throw stuff away on
a bigger scale. *I get the idea that We as American citizens are not allowed
to know technology any more.

I had to take a test for the FAA once that the prep material took you
through all kinds of cr stuff that I studied for two months.
When I finally took the BIG test that my job depended on it was ALL
about decibles. The two hour 50 question test took me twenty minutes
and I never picked up my calculator. About all you had to know was 1db
was 20% 3db doubled or halved and every 10db
was 10 times and you pick the multiple guess answer. I remember the
guy giving the test thought I had given up and turned the
test in after only 20 minutes .He certainly was surprised when he
found I ACED it.The people that failed it all knew what they were
doing
They just got bogged down in the crank and grind of the math.

Jimmie