Some Good HAM Exam Prep Resources

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If you’re like me, you like to run through practice questions to prepare for tests. Here is a short list of resources I’ve used, and recommend.

 

Web: http://hamexam.org/

A simple site that just runs you through test questions. Definitely a great free resource.

 

Android: Amateur Radio Exams 1.0 Pro

Aside from the $2 price tag, and slightly humorous contradiction in the name, this is a pretty rock solid little app. It has numerous useful test modes, including: random, previously unanswered, previously incorrect, and all questions test modes. It also remembers where you last left off and offers an option to resume from that point. The real selling point of this app, though it’s not terribly unique, is that you can study anywhere without fumbling through your phone’s browser.

 

iPhone: Unknown

I don’t own an iPhone, but I’ll be happy to take app recommendations and post them here. Feel free to email me at deseehc@kcabdeef-off.com if you know of a particularly useful app.

The Bucket List

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Here we have my personal list of things I want to do someday. It’s a living post and will get updated in the future.

Things to do:

  • Earn an Extra Class HAM Radio License
  • Volunteer with the Iditarod
  • Earn a Pilot’s License
  • Learn Assembly(wasn’t nearly as exciting or interesting as I though it would be)
  • Earn a General Class HAM Radio License
  • Build a kit car or dune buggy

 

Places to go:

  • Alaska
  • Iceland
  • The Rocky Mountains & the West Coast
  • The Nurburgring

Thanks But No Thanks Microsoft

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This has got me Cheesed Off™ : At no point during the installation of Office 2013 Professional Plus (MS HUP version), are you ever given the option to customize the installation. I’m just venting here, but really, when did selecting your installation packages become so antiquated.

Untitled

 

Lenovo T520 Unresponsive Touchpad in Debian Wheezy

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Every now and the touchpad on my T520 either gets stuck in scroll mode, or just stops responding. As a quickfix (not a solution) one can restart the track pad driver with the following two commands:

modprobe -r psmouse
modprobe psmouse proto=imps

 

Edit:

So, I’ve discovered there is Function key ([Fn]+[F8]) that enables/disables the trackpad, which also works well to solve this issue.

HP LaserJet p1102w on Debian Wheezy

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After about three weeks of on-and-off tinkering I finally figured out how to get my HP LaserJet p1102w printer working over wifi. There are tons of forum and blog posts of varried age, discussing this topic. Some say to use “foo2zjs”, I found these to be unhelpful. Others advised using HPLIP, which is available in the Debian repositories, I found these to be very helpful.

  1. Install HPLIP:
    sudo aptitude install hplip
  2. Run the HP setup inside the Terminal*
    sudo hp-setup -i

    *: I had significant trouble installing the proprietary HP plug-in through the GUI, which is where the majority of my issues came from. I really don’t know why, but everything worked fine once I ran it in verbose mode using “-i”
  3. Follow the instructions and print a test page

 
Other Notes:

  • I also added myself to the lp and lpadmin groups (Not sure if it was necessary, but it’s something to try)
  • The printer was previously configured to connect to my network. I don’t know how to go about doing that in linux.