KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

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Sometimes, a little one-to-one help goes a long way

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 11:32 AM PST
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kb6nu...m_medium=email


AÂ*couple of months ago, I got the following e-mail:

Dear Dan:
Â*Â*Â*Â* My name is David J Sawicki.Â* I am a 48 year old disabled person. My
disability is Cerebral Palsy. I use a motorized wheelchair to get around
and I do not drive.Â* I graduated from Edinboro University of PA in 1991.Â*
My degree is in Speech Communications with a Minor in Psychology.Â* I am
looking to get my Ham Radio License.Â* Is there a way to get a printable
copy of just the highlighted question numbers and answers referenced in The
No-Nonsense Technician-Class License Study Guide (for tests given between
July 2014 and June 2018).Â*
Â*Â*Â*Â*My intent is to eventually get Amateur Extra license. Probably not all
in the same day though. It is my understanding, that what was highlighted
in bold were the actual test questions on the test.Â*Â* Can I pass the test
if I study this way?Â* I hope what I am asking makes sense.
　Thank youÂ*for your time, consideration, and cooperation. I will be
waiting to hear from you..
Â*Â*Â* David J Sawicki

I didnt quite understand his question, so I said that Id phone him the next
day. Unfortunately, a family emergency came up and I didnt get back to him
for a couple of days. When I finally did call, he explained his question,
and I explained to him Â*how my study guides worked. We also talk a little
bit about how he was studying and that he had some trouble with written
tests. I explained that he could request that the VEs give the test
verbally to him.
We talked some more, andÂ*he mentioned that hed been not quite passing the
online practice tests. It occurred to me that I could give him a practice
test verbally over the phone, to see how that went. I didnt have time to do
it just then, so we postponed that for a while.
Again, I have to say that I was delinquent in getting back to him, but when
I finally did, I went to AA9PW.Com and asked him the questions one by one.
A couple of the questions referred to figures, so we just skipped those,
and in the end, he again failed the test by a single question. So, it was
back to the books.
About a week ago, I got a phone call from David to tell me that hed passed
the test! Not only that, he scored 33/35 on the test. That really made me
feel good that Id invested some time in helping him.
He also told me a funny story. Because of his disability, he was unable to
get to the regularly-scheduled VE test session, so he asked the VEs of the
Wattsburg Wireless Association, if they could somehow give him the test at
his house. The gentleman he talked to said that he thought that he could
arrange for three VEs to show up and would let him know the date.
Well, on the day of the test, seven VEs actually showed up at his house!
The gentleman in charge had apparently sent an e-mail to the entire team
with the expectation of getting at least three to be there. He certainly
didnt expect seven guys to show up.
The Wattsburg guys sound like a great club. Not only did they give David
the test, they gave him a Boafeng HT to get started, they helped him set up
a VHF mobile radio that he purchased off eBay. David tells me that theyre
going to be helping him set up some kind of outside antenna, too.
Davids license was issued yesterday. Hes now KC3IGN.

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