I visited the SOARA meeting tonight and took the upgrade test for Amateur Extra.  I studied about 15 minutes a night for several weeks in December, then put it off until the day of the test. A couple hours before the test I crammed using QRZ’s online tests [LINK] and remembered some of what I studied last month.

The actual test wasn’t too tough, since I had studied most of the material I was completely unfamiliar with, such as satellites, PSK, Smith Charts, etc. After finishing, I marked off 8 questions that I wasn’t absolutely sure about, and that I had not come across in my studying. I went back to these and re-read the choices and took my best guess.

After a few minutes of nail-biting, Heiko AD6OI and another SOARA member came over to complete my certificate of successful completion. I passed with 43 out of 50 correct (I think 36 correct is the minimum to pass).

Thanks to the ARRL Extra study book and SOARA for coordinating the testing!

Hope to work you in my new band privileges!