In article , Mike Coslo writes:

N2EY wrote:
In article et, "Bill
writes:

A different point altogether, Jim! A person will learn MUCH more by
reading good reference material.

That's the point, exactly.

Just as an example from the Question
pool vs boo larnin' thread I just started, I learned that Fessenden
received an optical interrupter made by a fellow named Brashear. Now
there is a piece of synchronicity! Brashear was a telescope maker of
great renown at that time. I didn't see that tidbit in any of the
history of telescopes.

I knew about the high speed interrupter but not the tie-in with telescopes.

But that isn't what they are trying to teach us in electronics. somone
somwhere has to decide what question to ask on the test.

That's what the Question Pool Committee (QPC) does.

This isn't a criticism of you or Mike or anyone who takes the tests today.
It's
just a point about the testing methods used. Not that they're going to
change any time soon.

I certainly didn't take it as such. Especially since I take the two as
a functional equivalent! 8^)

Once in a while I take an online practice test just for grins. Usually I
don't
use scratch paper or a calculator, just to make it more of a sporting
course. Ten minutes is about my speed, too, unless I push it.

Sure - they are kind of fun, and a good way to keep up with some of the
dryer details of regulation. The more enjoyable stuff masks the boring
stuff.

It's all good stuff.


Point is, if you pass the test but don;t have the 9000 hours you aren't an
electrician either.

True, but No similar "time in grade" applies to ham licensing.

It's not just time in grade but actual supervised work experience. Back in
the
old days of a 2 year wait for Extra, a ham could just toss the General
license
in a drawer and do nothing for 2 years, yet the "experience" would still
count.

We aren't likely to see such experience requirements reinstated either,
IMHO.

Too bad, that!

Yes, but why fret?

The reason we won't see them is that it adds to the admin workload, because
there would be no multistep upgrades. *Every* upgrade would be a VE visit and
an FCC transaction.

73 de Jim, N2EY