My journey to Amateur Extra Class

I would guess many amateur radio operators – hams – first became interested in radio during childhood. I remember listening to exchanges between astronauts and mission control during the Mercury and Gemini space programs. That stations on Earth could talk to people in space seemed like magic at the time.

A few years later radio emerged again in my Boy Scout days. Our scoutmaster had a tiny, low-powered transceiver he would pack on our longer backpacking trips. Usually he would set up late in the evening or early in the morning, tapping out messages in Morse code as we sat around the campfire.

And then life happened and I forgot about the magic of radio. Oh, I thought about it from time to time. Occasionally I’d run across hams, and invariably these were very interesting folks.

While I was an emergency medical technician I had to use radio. Living in a very small, remote community also meant we had a scanner on much of the time. Cellular phones were just becoming available at that time, but the primary link for emergency services was still radio.

Then a career change, and eventually some of my old EMT and mine rescue training resurfaced and I became involved with emergency response for my employer. Attending a training at the Washington State Emergency Operations Center, I listened to one of their communications specialists describe the dozens of ways they could establish and maintain contact across the state using radio. I was fascinated by the presentation.

It was time. It was time to stop thinking about the magic of radio and become part of it.  I bought a Technician license manual and started reading. After taking some online practice tests, I took my license exam at the Radio Club of Tacoma clubhouse…and passed! I was a ham!

I joined our local radio club because, well, it was our local club. I was not disappointed, again finding amateur radio operators to be quite intelligent and very interesting.

The magic of radio was renewed for me when I discovered that with a small antenna and a 5-watt handheld radio I could talk with other hams across the country by sending radio signals to orbiting satellites. I became an Earth station sending signals into space and talking with other people over the radio.

Then I bought the General license manual, invested some time in studying and taking practice exams, and again passed, this time at a test offered through the Mason County Amateur Radio Club.

Along the way I became involved with ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) and RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service) as ways to give back to my community.

And then I made the most difficult decision on this journey, deciding to go after the Amateur Extra Class license. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, and after looking through the Amateur Extra manual, I knew it would require a more intense effort than the Tech and General licenses.

I was right: it was very intense.

While I had self-studied for the first two licenses, I recognized there were so many new concepts and new terms that a class would be a more effective way to learn. Fortunately, a winter class was being held nearby.

We met every Wednesday evening and reviewed sections of the manual, went over quizzes provided by the instructor, and discussed challenging topics. I also took sample exams, and reviewed the questions I missed to help me learn the material.

After several months of weekly classes, and lots of reading, and some practicing, I took the exam and passed. The journey was arduous but achievable, and I’m very glad I made it.