VE6SUM -- I first took a ham radio class back in 1985, but we relocated to another city, before the course was finished.
I signed up for classes
again in 1989, but then the
company that I worked for closed its doors, and we had to move elsewhere.
At last, in 1992, I took the test, which required
Morse
code at 5 wpm back then, and passed. I received a Basic license which gave
privileges for 80 metres and below.
I was grandfathered to full license
privileges a few years later, when the Morse code requirement was no longer
required.
VA6SUM -- I took a 12 week course
in 2006 and
passed with a mark of 98%. A mark of 80% is required to receive a Basic
license - full
licensing privileges - while a mark of 70% to 80% gives one access to 2 metres.
There is also an Advanced
Certificate available, but Basic is all the average person needs.
I am over 50 and I found that it
took a lot of work to get the old brain in gear to actually start learning
again...it probably took six weeks before I began to really learn the material.
But, should you be *thinking* about taking a course, whether ham radio or
something else, and if you are not sure that you can do it, because you are
older, or have been out of school for a long time - try it! You can
succeed!
Many thanks to the instructor,
VE6HDB,
and to VE6MX and VE6MK, for the demos of repeaters and APRS.
