Three weeks to go - and much to be done !

Countdown Timer: 3 weeks 0 days to go

Well, there's just three short weeks left to go until the exam, and I'm a bit anxious. I feel that I've made major progress, of course, but just fear that on the day a whole heap of questions will be thrown at me that I can't deal with.

That's fear of the unknown for you.

Looking at the facts as they stand, I've come a long way in seven weeks. I have covered a lot of topics which were previously pretty alien to me, and have even managed to convince myself of something I thought I'd never say - the maths ain't so difficult after all. There you go, I said it !

So in reality, I've put myself in a reasonable position to pass the exam. I know there's a chance that questions will come up that I won't be able to answer, but that has been the case since the start. What I need to do now, and what I would urge all of you to do, is to use the time left (21 days in total!) to cover over the things you are weak on.

In my case, these topics would include:

Power (haven't learned the formulae yet)
Amplifiers
Transistors and Diodes (not enough done here)
Measurements
Circuit diagrams (need to learn filters, baluns etc)
Oscilloscopes and sine waves (not a tap done there yet!)

Although I have done a lot of study this week on Elecromagnetic Compatibility (EMC), I still feel there is room for improvement.

To aid me in further study, I am going to concentrate on the best sources available to me. These would be:

Towards the Radio Amateurs' Examination by John Bowyer

and

The IRTS course study CD.

Both are invaluable. The Bowyer book because it has many sample questions, plus the answers, plus an explanation of the answers. The IRTS disc because it is relevant to the Irish exam.

Oh, and of course I will continue doing the QADV questions like a maniac.

Anyhow, I need at this point to give you a few words of encouragement. Michael from Kilkenny is studying hard having failed the exam in June. He has come a long way. He gave me a DVD which contains material on the maths for the exam which I started watching last night and it is amazingly beneficial. Keep up the good work Michael - you'll get there.

Just by way of testing myself, I did the two sample papers again today, mainly to see if I have kept all the information in my head. Here are my results:

Sample Paper Revision 3:

Section A: 100%
Section B: 93.3%
Section C: 80%

Result: PASS !!

Sample Paper Revision 4:

Section A: 90%
Section B: 100%
Section C: 90%

Result: PASS !!

Look, it's as simple as this. If I can get this far, so can you . . . !! :D