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Post by james on Feb 15, 2024 10:48:07 GMT -5
Can I take the US FCC Amatuer Radio License exam in Colombia ?? If so . . . how. . . where ??
James
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Post by wildstubby on Feb 15, 2024 15:02:01 GMT -5
James, I don't see why not however, you would need to find a US VEC to administer the test. If you still retain your US citizenship you may try to contact the FCC. Hell, there may be one or two people at the US embassy that could do it. I know of a couple of fellows who did embassy comms and are hams. I'll snoop around stateside here and ask them.
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Post by james on Feb 17, 2024 12:03:18 GMT -5
Thanks Stub. I have a friend here who is a Colombian VE and can give me the Colombian exam. But I want a US callsign. I can take a flight to the US and take the the test there, but If I can arrange to take it here it would be better. Avoid all the hassle. My wife set up her Social Security to begin in April with a SSA rep here in the Med last monh. I was hoping that the FCC provided the same in-country service here.
- JAMES
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Post by wildstubby on Feb 17, 2024 12:56:50 GMT -5
James, I don't know where exactly you are going but look for local clubs and ask when they will have a VE session. It used to be 2 general class holders could proctor a Novice class but that changed with the advent of VEC's. You may be able to have the club do a special session just for you being that you will not be in the area a long time. No code requirement any longer. I thought you had your license? If you did you will be disappointed with the quality of the questions. Basically R&R's anymore with hardly any technical questions. You wouldn't believe the amount of amateur extra's that ask how to tune an amp!
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Post by charlie640 on Feb 18, 2024 6:10:21 GMT -5
ohhh my... hams unite ! I got my AE in 1978,, let it lapse believe it or not... still can do 25 wpm .. never forget that lol I can credit a find at a ham fest to my current business. Heard the FCC passed a Reg that allows credit for the written portion if I can prove I was licensed. I remember CO QSL cards, being printed on the worlds crappiest paper... almost as crappy as the cards from the USSR lol Suppose if I could speak my mind and talk politics I'd get bk ijto it.. but that not allowed... Ahhhh Fond memories of my Yaesu FT-101 and Drake C-Line... Think i still have the scar on my hand from am RF burn when I grabbed my long wire antenna while keyed up ... lessons learned... LOL
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Post by charlie640 on Feb 18, 2024 9:48:29 GMT -5
I actually I became a VE when the program was first announced,,, because like most hams... I wanted more wall paper to decorate the shack... LOL
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Post by wildstubby on Feb 18, 2024 15:54:15 GMT -5
charlie640 said: Well you will be happy to know that they will pry my Johnson Ranger I from my cold dead hands, LOL! Back when I got my general, I was at 25WPM but missed the advanced exam. I never got back to it until a friend of mine wanted credit for me getting the AA and AE. By then the code was dropped and all the 'theory' was nothing more than rules and regs and what button to push for USB! I am a boatanchor type and I have them by tons. I just sold a BC-610, I have a T-368, a couple of HB rigs: one is a pair of 813's modulated by 810's and the other is a pair of HK-64's X 838's! Plus there are the DX-100's(X2), Apache, Johnson Ranger I, Valiant and Viking I, Collins 32V2, RCA ET-4336F Lend-Lease rig. For receivers: 2 AR-88's, HQ-129X, HQ-140X, Mohawk, NC-2-40D, NC-300, NC-400, HRO-50, Collins R388, Airmec, Marconi CSR-5A. But to show that I'm not all boatanchors, I have a complete Drake TR-7 Line, Heathkit SB-301/-401 and a Kenwood TS-940SAT. I enjoy fixing all of it too!
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Post by charlie640 on Feb 18, 2024 21:17:27 GMT -5
Oh my.... your a real old timer.... EF Johnson & Hailcrafters was before my time.... but saw plenty of them at the fleamarkets,, boat anchors indeed, but they had class and charisma that todays rigs can't touch. I remember the TR7, think that was Drakes first attempt at a solid state "tubeless" design. Every once is a while I wil get a hold of a QST mag... and marvel at what equip is being offered.... I was shocked to see built-in antenna tuners in HF rigs ! I agree.. todays hanm are "appliance" operators more thsn ever. Your licensed here in COL with a shack as well ?
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Post by wildstubby on Feb 18, 2024 22:01:17 GMT -5
charlie640 said: No, I'm here in the states. The wife is orginally from Bogota but lived in Ibague where the 'out-laws' live. Lots of family there though. I thought Drake had a TR6. The TR7/7A were their last offering before totally committing to satellite receivers. Today there is a guy from Cuba who emigrated to the US. His name is Kenny Martinez, KM3KM. His latest product is called the Mercury LUX. 1.5KW solid state amplifier that people are plunking down $3800 and waiting almost a year to receive! His first 2 amplifiers generally can get what they were pair for new. He gives good service and quite a deal for a solid state amp! www.km3km.com/In 8th grade I failed my novice exam so I took on a career in electronics. I wanted an EE to work as a broadcast engineer at a radio station. But the US Navy had other ideas. I wound up making a career in electronics of all sorts and in the course got my ham license and GROL with Radar Endorsement. Now that I'm retired I work on mine and other hams equipment. I'm in the process of upgrading my bench equipment. Although I like to work on test equipment as well.
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Post by wildstubby on Feb 19, 2024 13:48:36 GMT -5
Ok, to get around to james question: I finally got a response from my friend. He no longer works for the State Dept. but said there used to be clubs in some of the embassies. He didn't know if there was one in Bogota. He said they do have a call sign here in the US: W3DOS. But to the point, unless there is a VEC in the embassy or Colombia, you won't be able to get you license exam there.
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Post by búfalo on Feb 19, 2024 14:48:33 GMT -5
For the uninformed (my hand is up).... What is the purpose of a ham? Especially in the days of Wassap.
Only ham experience I've had, maybe, was when I was a kid and tried watching Tarzan on channel 5 (NY) on Sunday mornings. Saturday was cartoons. Anyway I kept seeing a major snow cloud aooear on the TV and skme guys's voice. Not sure who, but someone said it was a ham operator nearby.
Couldn't he just wait for Tarzan to end? The only time this guy would ham.
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Post by wildstubby on Feb 19, 2024 19:58:15 GMT -5
búfalo said: That is a fair presumption buf. To quote the FCC CFR 47, Chapter 1, Subchapter D, Part 97, Subpart 97.1, subsection b: Continuation and extension of the amateur's proven ability to contribute to the advancement of the radio art. I guess before the days of the internet, (which derived from the DOD) and cell phone, this was the way to talk to people around the world. I remember years ago we would go to my friend house where we had a schedule with some other kids in South Africa and we would play chess and talk for about an hour once a week. Now a days to me it is an artform where I am preserving as much of the old radios as I can. On another forum I was talking about taking a piece of equipment that someone had given up on and resurrecting it. Doing a 'victory lap' from the ability of that action! Most scoff or 'poo-poo' the notion. But I find it quite exhilarating! Others just like to work as many countries as possible on either a handful of frequencies or just one. Some prefer Morse code, some prefer voice, others like using their computers. It is pretty diverse when you get right down to it. Hell, there are folks that bounce signals off the moon for communications. I'm not saying it's for everyone. But there is plenty of different paths for everyone!
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Post by búfalo on Feb 19, 2024 21:17:18 GMT -5
Good to know, thanks! Seems like a cool thing to get into.
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