Nigel,

I may invest if I can find the time to indulge myself in 2 weeks of relentless bombardment of facts, figures, and forumlas that I will
never care about again, probably :)

Agreed. With a lot of that, it's like the joke of the little boy asking
"Why should I study about The American Revolution?? I know who won!!" <G>.

The only other thing is me balking at the cost of a decent radio setup.

The dealers must think we're filthy rich...but in reality, hams are
"frugal cheapskates". A few years back, on an episode of Amateur Radio Newsline, they were talking about a DC to Daylight rig, at Hamvention,
for $20,000!! Now, I could outfit a nice shack for that amount...but for
one rig, that's overkill.

The advantage operating "internet radio" (much to the angst of the
purists), is that I don't have to worry about the cost of rigs, power
supplies, SWR meters, antennas, coaxial cable, tuners, and of course,
all of the rig accessories. I did a demo at an area high school ham
radio club, and told them that considering the price of college
tuition nowadays, it's the like the cartoon of the robber trying to
hold up this man...the thug is told "You're wasting your time!! I'm
a ham!!" <G>. Then, you have the one where the ham says "My greatest
fear is that I'll die, and my wife will sell my radios for what I told
her that I paid for them!!" <BG>.

Daryl, WX4QZ

... H.A.M. Radio Operator: H)ave A)nother M)eal.
=== MultiMail/Win v0.52
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (1:19/33)

Andre,

Why are you interested in extra?

There are only 5 real advantages to upgrading to Amateur Extra:

1) Full amateur radio privileges, although on HF, you still have to
stay 3 kc's away from the band edges, to avoid going "out of band".
There is 500 kilohertz of HF spectrum not available to General class licensees...and 250 kilohertz of HF spectrum not available to Advanced
Class licensees.

2) The shorter 2x1 or 1x2 callsigns...*IF* you're lucky enough to
get one.

3) If traveling overseas, you can get Extra Class privileges with
the CEPT license.

4) As a Volunteer Examiner, you can give and grade ALL the exams.

5) Snob appeal (hi hi).

But, if you have no desire for ANY of the above, there is more than
enough to say grace over, with just a General Class license...which is
the license that the majority of HF operators, hold.

I had to upgrade to Amateur Extra to become a VE Team leader, but
the last time I operated HF was on the Arkansas and Missouri Railroad
Memorial Day Troop Train in 2011 (details on my QRZ bio). Otherwise,
I operate exclusively in the Technician privileges (D-Star, D-Rats,
Packet, Echolink), as I enjoy them.

Daryl, WX4QZ

... What if someone's real name is a psuedonym??
=== MultiMail/Win v0.52
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (1:19/33)