Upgrading to General Class

One of the things I was looking forward to about getting my amateur radio license was being able to request my grandfather’s call sign. It had not yet been re-issued. It would be such a legacy to have that call sign. Once I passed my Technician Class exam I started looking into what it took to request my grandfather’s call sign. I found out because my grandfather had an Amateur Extra license and his call sign indicated that, I could not request it until I too had an Amateur Extra license. Okay, back to the books I go.

I went on to Amazon.com and purchased the General Class License Manual for my Kindle. I like electronic books and I thought this would be a handy reference to have accessible with me wherever I have my mobile phone. I started skimming past the first chapter on the history of radio and licensing procedures. I already understood that from my Technician Class license I got a little more than a month ago. Then I started getting into more of the meat of the General Class license material.

As you move forward in the manual there are many good illustrations to display what the material is talking about. Whether it be antenna design and propagation patterns or electronic symbols and circuits, the images are essential to understanding the material. They are so small on a Kindle, especially on a mobile phone, you can’t look at them while you read about what is being described. I tried it on my tablet and it was a little better, but still not adequate.

I have finally surmised that for these matters a physical book is the best answer, so I have ordered one. My experience with my Technician Class license manual told me to get a spiral-bound manual. Do yourself a favor and purchase the physical book. It’ll be a great addition to your library.