Unpopular opinion : Is it too easy to get a licence in the US ?

You can get an extra class licence in the us without understanding a single thing about radio simply by memorising the question and answer pool.

Of course it’s too easy.

I’m very happy to try and help people learn and progress in the hobby but when you get people with extra class licenses asking questions that they should know, I despair.

The uk syllabus describes what is needed for each level. At foundation, it’s all ‘recall’ so you wouldn’t expect much technical knowledge. In intermediate, it’s a mixture of ‘recall’ and ‘understand’. When you get to full it’s largely ‘understand’ with a mix of ‘solve’ and some ‘recall’.

You don’t get new Full licence holders in Blighty asking the dumb questions you hear from new Extras in the us. Their exams are based on knowledge and understanding, not just memorising questions and answers.

/r/amateurradio Thread