Foundation Licence

Post by **robbage** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 5:11 pm

VK6ZMS wrote:You don't know what your call sign is until ACMA publishes it.
The one you ask for may not necessarily be the one that gets issued.

Yes... when I renewed, I had a callsign (that wasn't listed) all lined up as first choice.. but just before I posted off the bucks and app, I rechecked and it had been issued. This was probably a week later. Also, if they think it might be offensive, you'll get something else. Like when a group I know sponsored a section of highway in the USA where a sign went up saying "Sponsored by UFIA" not being aware that it stands for 'Unexpected Finger In the Anus'. The sign didn't last long

slipknot · Post by **slipknot** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 8:03 pm

hope you enjoyed the course Meg, did they give you breaks during the day, actuly i think when i went they gave us about 10 coffe breaks per day

pretty good but, they are long days, hope you passed!, your certificate wont arrive at your house for another 3 weeks meg, i didnt have much time to read but i think someone has already mentioned that once your callsign is on the register you can start talking, Neil and Kathy are very kind people and I bet you also spoke to VK6NT on ssb there, funny guy he is.

Post by **meg** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 8:06 pm

slipknot wrote:hope you enjoyed the course Meg, did they give you breaks during the day, actuly i think when i went they gave us about 10 coffe breaks per day pretty good but, they are long days, hope you passed!, your certificate wont arrive at your house for another 3 weeks meg, i didnt have much time to read but i think someone has already mentioned that once your callsign is on the register you can start talking, Neil and Kathy are very kind people and I bet you also spoke to VK6NT on ssb there, funny guy he is.

There were alot of coffee breaks

but that was good too - got to chat to the other students and the trainers. Kathi and Neil were both lovely (and I think Max was the other chap?). And yes, we did speak to VK6NT - he has the patience of a saint to go through calling with each of us!

Post by **Zebedee** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 8:33 pm

Hey stop picking on the coffee breaks. they're the best bits!!!

Actually the breaks are there for a very good reason. Experience as well as studies have shown that a person's capacity to absorb information in a classroom environment drops off after an hour or so.

I know I couldn't sit there for ages without suffering a serious case of brain fade

When you come back to do your Standard and Advanced classes (!!!) you'll find that the coffee breaks are also hourly-ish

As for the on-air stuff, when I did my Foundation class I thought that talking to an instructor at a remote location really added to the realism. After all, when you're licenced, you're often not going to meet in person the people you talk to.

The stuff that a student goes through on air is straight from the Foundation training syllabus:

Demonstrate, by making on-air contacts using appropriate calling procedures, the correct operation of HF and VHF / UHF transmitter/receivers in modes consistent with the conditions of a Foundation Amateur Licence. Demonstrate the use of a signal strength meter to make meaningful signal reports.
Demonstrate an all-stations (CQ) call on HF and VHF / UHF, making a contact and initiating a change of frequency (QSY) from the calling channel to a working channel.

Post by **Tyranus** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 10:02 pm

Just don't tell the other instructor "there's a general consensus in the room that he should move house as he appears to be getting an awful lot of interference in short amounts of time" he advised me that that may be the case but it only ever happened at exactly the right time. He then promptly asked me a question.
However on Sunday when I did my prac assessment he didn't.

Blinky · Post by **Blinky** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 11:28 pm

Zebedee wrote:
Actually the breaks are there for a very good reason. Experience as well as studies have shown that a person's capacity to absorb information in a classroom environment drops off after an hour or so.

Lessons were structured for a max of 40 mins when I did my instructors training as that was said to be the attention span of the students. Maybe it's extended a bit now. Either way, much needed. Don't know about coffee, but certainly a break for stretch,walk and for those in need of a nicotine fix.

I know I hate sessions that go on and on and on.

slipknot · Post by **slipknot** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 12:35 am

wasnt quite picking on the breaks, they were good, and plus, its an excuse to grad more biscuites and coffee!

Post by **Zebedee** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 9:27 am

Tyranus wrote:Just don't tell the other instructor "there's a general consensus in the room that he should move house as he appears to be getting an awful lot of interference in short amounts of time"

There's always one in every crowd!

Blinky wrote:Lessons were structured for a max of 40 mins when I did my instructors training as that was said to be the attention span of the students. Maybe it's extended a bit now. Either way, much needed. Don't know about coffee, but certainly a break for stretch,walk and for those in need of a nicotine fix.

I know I hate sessions that go on and on and on.

Yep that may well be the case - I know that the optimum attention span isn't very long, which is why a change of activity or a break is recommended at regular intervals. I've also heard of people running things to a 50/10 timetable - 50 mins of learning and 10 mins of break.

Whatever works for the class I guess

slipknot wrote:wasnt quite picking on the breaks, they were good, and plus, its an excuse to grad more biscuites and coffee!

Yep - that's one thing I learned pretty early on, amateur radio classes are fuelled on coffee and biscuits!

Post by **Tyranus** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 9:48 am

Zebedee wrote:
Tyranus wrote:Just don't tell the other instructor "there's a general consensus in the room that he should move house as he appears to be getting an awful lot of interference in short amounts of time"
There's always one in every crowd!

That was ME!

and proud of it, we'd been joking about it for a couple of people, I was the only one that had the guts to tell him

. Not to mention he thought it was pretty funny as when he replied he was laughing. I think he appreciated a change from the norm. Good on ya Victor Kilo 6 November Tango!

Zebedee wrote:
slipknot wrote:wasnt quite picking on the breaks, they were good, and plus, its an excuse to grad more biscuites and coffee!
Yep - that's one thing I learned pretty early on, amateur radio classes are fuelled on coffee and biscuits!

Haha yep! Also had some good chats with Eddie, or VK6ZSE, he's go into some very interesting stuff over the years.

Post by **Zebedee** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 3:09 pm

Tyranus wrote:Not to mention he thought it was pretty funny as when he replied he was laughing. I think he appreciated a change from the norm.

I remember another course where the student was asked a question over the air and gave an answer that, while technically correct, was totally unexpected.

I'm struggling to remember what it was now, but I do remember it gave people at both ends of the link the giggles

Post by **robbage** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 5:17 pm

Zebedee wrote:Yep - that's one thing I learned pretty early on, amateur radio classes are fuelled on coffee and biscuits!

That's training for the long QSOs, once the licence comes through.

Post by **Zebedee** » Sat Sep 27, 2008 2:13 pm

Well done to the candidates who sat their exams today and passed, including our very own Meg and Tyranus

Post by **meg** » Sat Sep 27, 2008 2:28 pm

Thanks Zebedee - and it was good to meet you finally too

Post by **Zebedee** » Sat Sep 27, 2008 2:30 pm

Ditto!

Tell you what though, this morning tired me out - and I wasn't even taking an exam!

But at least now you know I wasn't kidding when I said the paperwork side was a pain in the backside

Cheers,

Post by **meg** » Sat Sep 27, 2008 2:36 pm

Zebedee wrote:But at least now you know I wasn't kidding when I said the paperwork side was a pain in the backside

It certainly took longer than the exam did! But don't let that put any of you off - it was a fun and informative course, and I'm really looking forward to my callsign coming through now.

Any of you others thinking of signing up get on it - I know they've got at least one enrollment for the November course already