I frequently get e-mails and comments here on the blog about my No-Nonsense Technician and General Class study guides. I thank everyone for the kind words they have had to say about them.

They frequently conclude with the question, “Now, when are you going to do an Extra Class study guide”? Unfortunately, I often respond, there’s so much material that I just don’t have time to do it.

It is true that I don’t have time to do this myself, but if I could enlist the help of three or four or more other hams, I think we could pull it off. Each of us would take one or more sections, and then I would collect and edit them, and then put them all together for the final product.

What say, OMs? Anyone want to help out? The new question pool is slated to go into effect on July 1, 2008, and if we sign up enough authors and work at it, we can have the study guide ready by the beginning of June.

I’m attaching a list of all the sections in the new question pool below. Let me know which sections you’d like to tackle.

SUBELEMENT E1 -– COMMISSION’S RULES [6 Exam Questions -- 6 Groups]

• E1A Operating Standards: frequency privileges for Extra Class amateurs; emission standards; automatic message forwarding; frequency sharing; FCC license actions; stations aboard ships or aircraft
• E1B Station restrictions and special operations: restrictions on station location; general operating restrictions, spurious emissions, control operator reimbursement; antenna structure restrictions; RACES operations
• E1C Station control: definitions and restrictions pertaining to local, automatic and remote control operation; control operator responsibilities for remote and automatically controlled stations
• E1D Amateur Satellite service: definitions and purpose; license requirements for space stations; available frequencies and bands; telecommand and telemetry operations; restrictions, and special provisions; notification requirements
• E1E Volunteer examiner program: definitions, qualifications, preparation and administration of exams; accreditation; question pools; documentation requirements
• E1F Miscellaneous rules: external RF power amplifiers; Line A; national quiet zone; business communications; compensated communications; spread spectrum; auxiliary stations; reciprocal operating privileges; IARP and CEPT licenses; third party communications with foreign countries; special temporary authority

SUBELEMENT E2 - OPERATING PRACTICES AND PROCEDURES [5 Exam Questions - 5 Groups]

• E2A Amateur radio in space: amateur satellites; orbital mechanics; frequencies and modes; satellite hardware; satellite operations
• E2B Television practices: fast scan television standards and techniques; slow scan television standards and techniques
• E2C Operating methods, part 1: contest and DX operating; spread-spectrum transmissions; automatic HF forwarding; selecting an operating frequency
• E2D Operating methods, part 2: VHF and UHF digital modes; packet clusters; Automatic Position Reporting System (APRS)
• E2E Operating methods, part 3: operating HF digital modes; error correction

SUBELEMENT E3 — RADIO WAVE PROPAGATION [3 Exam Questions -- 3 Groups]

• E3A Propagation and technique, part 1: Earth-Moon-Earth communications; meteor scatter
• E3B Propagation and technique, part 2: transequatorial; long path; gray line; multi-path propagation
• E3C Propagation and technique, part 3: Auroral propagation; selective fading; radio-path horizon; take-off angle over flat or sloping terrain; earth effects on propagation; less common propagation modes

SUBELEMENT E4 — AMATEUR RADIO TECHNOLOGY AND MEASUREMENTS [5 Exam Questions -- 5 Groups]

• E4A Test equipment: analog and digital instruments; spectrum and network analyzers, antenna analyzers; oscilloscopes; testing transistors; RF measurements
• E4B Measurement technique and limitations: instrument accuracy and performance limitations; probes; techniques to minimize errors; measurement of “Q”; instrument calibration
• E4C Receiver performance characteristics, part 1: phase noise, capture effect, noise floor, image rejection, MDS, signal-to-noise-ratio; selectivity
• E4D Receiver performance characteristics, part 2: blocking dynamic range, intermodulation and cross-modulation interference; 3rd order intercept; desensitization; preselection
• E4E Noise suppression: system noise; electrical appliance noise; line noise; locating noise sources; DSP noise reduction; noise blankers

SUBELEMENT E5 — ELECTRICAL PRINCIPLES [4 Exam Questions -- 4 Groups]

• E5A Resonance and Q: characteristics of resonant circuits: series and parallel resonance; Q; half-power bandwidth; phase relationships in reactive circuits
• E5B Time constants and phase relationships: R/L/C time constants: definition; time constants in RL and RC circuits; phase angle between voltage and current; phase angles of series and parallel circuits
• E5C Impedance plots and coordinate systems: plotting impedances in polar coordinates; rectangular coordinates
• E5D AC and RF energy in real circuits: skin effect; electrostatic and electromagnetic fields; reactive power; power factor; coordinate systems

SUBELEMENT E6 — CIRCUIT COMPONENTS [6 Exam Questions -- 6 Groups]

• E6A Semiconductor materials and devices: semiconductor materials (germanium, silicon, P-type, N-type); transistor types: NPN, PNP, junction, power; field-effect transistors: enhancement mode; depletion mode; MOS; CMOS; N-channel; P-channel
• E6B Semiconductor diodes
• E6C Integrated circuits: TTL digital integrated circuits; CMOS digital integrated circuits; gates
• E6D Optical devices and toroids: vidicon and cathode-ray tube devices; charge-coupled devices (CCDs); liquid crystal displays (LCDs); toroids: permeability, core material, selecting, winding
• E6E Piezoelectric crystals and MMICS: quartz crystals (as used in oscillators and filters); monolithic amplifiers (MMICs)
• E6F Optical components and power systems: photoconductive principles and effects, photovoltaic systems, optical couplers, optical sensors, and optoisolators

SUBELEMENT E7 — PRACTICAL CIRCUITS [8 Exam Questions -- 8 Groups]

• E7A Digital circuits: digital circuit principles and logic circuits: classes of logic elements; positive and negative logic; frequency dividers; truth tables
• E7B Amplifiers: Class of operation; vacuum tube and solid-state circuits; distortion and intermodulation; spurious and parasitic suppression; microwave amplifiers
• E7C Filters and matching networks: filters and impedance matching networks: types of networks; types of filters; filter applications; filter characteristics; impedance matching; DSP filtering
• E7D Power supplies and voltage regulators
• E7E Modulation and demodulation: reactance, phase and balanced modulators; detectors; mixer stages; DSP modulation and demodulation; software defined radio systems
• E7F Frequency markers and counters: frequency divider circuits; frequency marker generators; frequency counters
• E7G Active filters and op-amps: active audio filters; characteristics; basic circuit design; operational amplifiers
• E7H Oscillators and signal sources: types of oscillators;
  synthesizers and phase-locked loops; direct digital synthesizers

SUBELEMENT E8 — SIGNALS AND EMISSIONS [4 Exam Questions -- 4 Groups]

• E8A AC waveforms: sine, square, sawtooth and irregular waveforms; AC measurements; average and PEP of RF signals; pulse and digital signal waveforms
• E8B Modulation and demodulation: modulation methods; modulation index and deviation ratio; pulse modulation; frequency and time division multiplexing
• E8C Digital signals: digital communications modes; CW; information rate vs. bandwidth; spread-spectrum communications; modulation methods
• E8D Waves, measurements, and RF grounding: peak-to-peak values, polarization; RF grounding

SUBELEMENT E9 -– ANTENNAS AND TRANSMISSION LINES [8 Exam Questions -- 8 Groups]

• E9A Isotropic and gain antennas: definition; used as a standard for comparison; radiation pattern; basic antenna parameters: radiation resistance and reactance, gain, beamwidth, efficiency
• E9B Antenna patterns: E and H plane patterns; gain as a function of pattern; antenna design (computer modeling of antennas); Yagi antennas
• E9C Wire and phased vertical antennas: beverage antennas; terminated and resonant rhombic antennas; elevation above real ground; ground effects as related to polarization; take-off angles
• E9D Directional antennas: gain; satellite antennas; antenna beamwidth; losses; SWR bandwidth; antenna efficiency; shortened and mobile antennas; grounding
• E9E Matching: matching antennas to feed lines; power dividers
• E9F Transmission lines: characteristics of open and shorted feed lines: 1/8 wavelength; 1/4 wavelength; 1/2 wavelength; feed lines: coax versus open-wire; velocity factor; electrical length; transformation characteristics of line terminated in impedance not equal to characteristic impedance
• E9G The Smith chart
• E9F Transmission lines: characteristics of open and shorted feed lines: 1/8 wavelength; 1/4 wavelength; 1/2 wavelength; feed lines: coax versus open-wire; velocity factor; electrical length; transformation characteristics of line terminated in impedance not equal to characteristic impedance

SUBELEMENT E0 -– [1 exam question -– 1 group]

• E0A Safety: amateur radio safety practices; RF radiation hazards; hazardous materials