As to the learning curve, well, I can say that I personally think that the Element 2 (Technician) examination could definitely stand to be a lot tougher than it is. I've been thinking about amateur radio for a long time, but a couple of weeks ago I got an itch to really go for it. I had never studied anything about the topic before I discovered some of the practice tests online.

My first attempt at a practice test resulted in a passing grade. As I kept taking practice exams, I began to learn a lot more about radio topics. Now, I have a pretty good background in math and science, plus I've studied a bit about electronics due to my interest in guitar amplifiers and recording, but I've never studied anything specifically related to radio.

After a couple of days playing with practice tests online, I went to a local bookstore and picked up a copy of the ARRL "Now You're Talking" book to help me brush up on radio-specific topic areas where my knowledge base was weak. Approximately two days later, I found out that the local VE group was giving exams that evening. I passed the Element 2 with only one question wrong (and I know which one--it was about repeater offsets and I guessed at it).

I would think that anyone with a good grounding in math and science, plus a basic knowledge of electronics would be able to pass Element 2 as easily as I did, if not easier. My opinion is that the Technician exam places too much emphasis on basic technical knowledge that no one should have graduated high school without, and not enough emphasis on rules, regulations, and operational procedure and etiquette. Judging from what I've seen so far of the Element 3 question pool (General class license), it looks like there's a lot of emphasis on regulations and statistics that can be easily looked up but are difficult to remember, but a little diligence will go a long way here toward entraining your memory for the test.

The biggest stumbling block for most people will probably be the Element 1 exam, which is the 5wpm International Morse Code test. People have told me that since I'm a musician, I will find it much easier than most people, but I'm stil having a lot of trouble learning the alphabet. Then again, I've only been studying Morse code for a week or so. You need Element 1 for a General or Extra license, currently. The FCC has issued a proposal to eliminate this requirement, and it will probably pass into effect soon. There is much debate in the ham community as to whether or not this is a good thing.

Anyway, even the Technician privledges provide wide latitude for operation. Full access is granted to all bands above 30MHz, which includes what are probably the most popular frequencies (70cm UHF, 2m VHF, 6m HF). Those three bands alone will go a long way in a localized emergency situation. 2 Meter range can get out to 100 miles on a good day with a powerful station, or so they say.

Today I added a Diamond RHF40 antenna to my Icom IC-W32A. I was able to easily hit my local club's repeater from 10 miles away transmitting at 5 watts from inside my car. Try *that* with a Motorola Talkabout on GMRS. Even without the new antenna, and operating on AA batteries (1.5W), I was able to be understood through that repeater from over 9 miles away on relatively flat ground.