Just a day away now - good luck everyone !

Countdown Timer: 0 weeks 1 day to go

Well, we're almost there at last. Hasn't time flown? I'm still studying. No, I think you could call it "cramming" at this stage. There are a few things I'm still not sure about, but hopefully I've done enough to pass.

Make sure you bring your paperwork (would have been sent to you in the post by IRTS) and of course your photo ID (driving licence, passport etc). I intend to get a bus from Drogheda in the morning. I hope to get an early bus just in case of delays. I'd rather be there early and hanging around than to be late and find the exam has started without me!

I will report afterwards on how I think the exam went and what sort of questions came up. Remember that there are only 10 questions on theory now and 6 on propagation etc. See previous posting.

Just before I go, a little bit on transistor connections, which might well come up:

Common-base connection:
Low input impedance, high output impedance.

Common-emitter connection:
Input and output impedance similar (medium value).

Common-collector:
Input impedance high, output impedance medium.

A quick note on propagation layers.

Lowest is D. Disappears pretty much at night, ionised during the day. When heavily ionised, prevents signals reaching higher levels.

D layer - 80km above ground
E layer - 120 km above ground
F1 layer - 200 km above ground
F2 layer - 350 km above ground

F layers combine at night. Their ionisation is weakest just before dawn.


OK, I'm off now to do some study on QADV and cram in some more !!!