This is one of the "technical" sections of the course. For some people this is the part they have been waiting for. For others it is a dreaded "something they have to learn to get on the air". The subject matter focuses on the basic components of electronic circuits and how they interact with each other in radio circuits.
When you are reviewing this material, it is really important that you remember that the objective of the course is not to teach you to how to become a radio technician so that you can repair and build radios. The purpose is to give you exposure to basic concepts so that you can pass the exam. The focus is to review the questions and learn the answers. If you want to really learn how to build and repair radios you can do this later in other courses that spend more time on this.
About 20% of the exam questions will be from sections B-005 & B-004 in the question bank. There are about 180 questions to review. They are found in the following sections:
Basic Electronics and Theory - 005 5-1 metric prefixes - pico, micro, milli, centi, kilo, mega, giga 5-2 concepts of current, voltage, conductor, insulator, resistance 5-3 concepts of energy and power, open and short circuits 5-4 Ohm's law - single resistors 5-5 series and parallel resistors 5-6 power law, resistor power dissipation 5-7 AC, sinewave, frequency, frequency units 5-8 ratios, logarithms, decibels 5-9 introduction to inductance, capacitance 5-10 introduction to reactance, impedance 5-11 introduction to magnetics, transformers 5-12 introduction to resonance, tuned circuits Circuit Components - 004 4-1 amplifier fundamentals 4-2 diode fundamentals 4-3 bipolar transistor fundamentals 4-4 field-effect transistor fundamentals 4-5 triode vacuum tube fundamentals 4-6 resistor colour codes, tolerances, temperature coefficient
There are a lot of things to learn but if you go through this systematically and learn each section, each component, and each forumula before you go on to the next section, you should have the confidence to pass this group of the exam questions.
For beginners, the review of the materials and the exam questions will take several hours. You will probably need to set aside several evenings for this.
Take several breaks when you first read the Study Guide and check the questions. Your brain needs to the time to absorb the material.
Immediately after you read a section in the Study Guide, review the questions for that section. Keep track of the questions you got wrong and go back and review that section in the Study Guide again. After reading all the material, try all the questions in the section above. If you don't get the right answer, go back to the Study Guide again.
Use all your senses to help you remember the things you want to. E.g. draw the ohms law triangle several times so that you can visualized it in your mind. Repeat the formuals out loud several times so that they become automatic. Say "E equals I times R", or "E=IR" or "P equals E times I", or "P=EI", etc. at while writing them down on paper.
Draw some circuits. Don't just look at them in the book.
Your instructor will provide some practical demonstrations and hands on activities. They will help you remember some of the material that you reviewed before the class started.
Memorize the key forumlas and before you start on the first question, do a "brain-dump" while your brain is fresh. This means write down all the forumlas on a blank sheet of paper provided. When you come to questions later that require formulas you will have them right there in front of you.
Next: Radio Receivers, Transmitters, and Power Sources