AF6AY wrote:

As an FYI on the tests up to mid-2007, I've counted the number of pool
questions from my printout of the pools available in Februrary 2007:

Technician pool had 392 (35 required). Ratio of pool to requred
11.20:1

General pool had 485 (35 required). Ratio of pool to required 13.86:1

Extra pool had 802 (50 required). Ratio of pool to required 16.04:1

The pools have gone beyond 10:1 by a fair margin...even if I've mis-
counted slightly. My printouts (single spaced, both sides) FILL a
1" loose-leaf notebook.


Did you exclude from that count the questions that were later
disqualified? When I took the tests, most of the questions about band
edges had to be dropped because of the rule change. A few others were
dropped due to errors or poor wording. I think the current pool size has
been chosen to allow for a safety margin for the elimination of some
erroneous questions. (I am currently studying for the GMDSS operator
test and the worst questions on the amateur tests are worded better than
a large number of these.)
My figure of 8 or 10 pool questions to 1 test questions was very
rough and not intended for 4 significant digit precision. However, other
FCC test pools bring the average a bit closer to it, such as the GMDSS
test pool (600 in pool, 100 on test).


Some time back I showed the notebook to an acquaintance who is an
aspiring actor, not a radio hobbyist. He is used to memorizing lines
of
a script and being as letter-perfect as possible, his lines as well
as
others in the same scene. His main comment went something like,
"Holy ##$%&!!! You had to memorize all that?!?" :-)

"No," I said, "Only certain things about regulations...theory and
practice should be known enough to pass."

Out of 120 questions, I missed 6 (counting the marks made by the
VEC team leader) and am sure that 5 of those were on certain
regulations like bandplan numbers and satellite operation. That was
satisfactory to me with 95 percent correct. I've got a little chart
of
bandplans and don't expect to get to outer space to operate
satellites. :-)


Beat you. I got 100 on all three tests (amateur elements 2, 3 and 4).
I will admit that there was some rote memorization involved, especially
on the parts that I didn't know anything about (calculations involving
imaginary numbers, for example).

--
Klystron