"N2EY" wrote in message
...
In article om, "Dee D.
Flint" writes:

Both the pool AND answers are published.

And how do we convince FCC to change that?

Let's take a typical question:

What is the length of a dipole for 14.240Mhz?

I assume you mean "half wave"...

What kind of half wave dipole? Made of wire or tubing? Of uniform
thickness or
tapering? In free space or near other objects?

The answer depends on a bunch of things!

That is of course true but at least knowing the basic formula gives the new
ham a place to start even though there are additional factors that should be
considered.


Now since the questions AND answers are published, the prospective test
taker can simply memorize the numerical answer instead of having to learn
the appropriate equation and how to use that equation. Using the
memorize
the numerical answer approach, the new ham has passed the test but is
unable
to calculate the dipole that he/she may actually want to build for
operating

Exactly!

Now suppose we rewrite the question to:

"What is the formula for computing the length of a half-wave dipole for
14.240
MHz, if the dipole is made of #10 wire and is in free space?"

The person being tested then memorizes the formula from the choices in the
pool
but doesn't necessarily know how to use it. Same problem.

As above, at least the new ham has a place to start. With the "just
memorize the specific answer" approach, he/she has no place to begin.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE