General Test Question Assistance

[OLLIE]

I am having no problems so far remembering the technical questions on the General Test... I need some help/pointers remembering questions such as the following and there are a few like this. (They give you the band or the frequency and you have to determine which one is correct.)

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Which of the following frequencies is within the General class portion of the 75 meter phone band?

A. 1875 kHz
B. 3750 kHz
C. 3900 kHz
D. 4005 kHz
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My rule of thumb for has always been 300 divided by the band number but that's not always close enough. Did you all just memorize the right kHz or is there a method to the madness that will allow me to determine the correct answer???

[DaveK]

Memorize. Take practice tests. Take more practice tests.

Put up the band plan at work, at home, in your car. Well......forget the car thing.

[cruiserlarry]

Memorization is the only practical way to remember the band plan.

And I remember very little of it now, as I've done very little HF work in the last 8+ years, and there have been changes since I received my Extra ticket.

Once you have your license, you can put up a band plan poster on your wall, and you'll eventually remember the segments you work over time....

[Cnynrat]

LIke Larry and Dave said, in the end you do have to memorize the answers to the band plan questions. The calculation (300/Band) will get you in the ball park, and may help you rule out obvious wrong answers. But they seem to always include at least a couple plausible answers.

For this question, and others that have to do with phone vs. CW portions of a band, it may be helpful to remember that in all cases were a portion of the band is allocated for CW and another for phone, the CW is always at the lower frequencies in the band. You can't always get the answer solely based on that fact, but sometimes it may help you select between a couple of close choices in the answers.

This particular question always bothered me a little, because when I look at the band plan I don't see a 75 meter band. On the ARRL band plan chart they call it the 80 meter band. Never could figure out why that was.

[taugust]

Ollie,

As the others have stated, memorization is the best way. However, there will only be one or two of this type of question on the exam. If you are clear on everything else, you could blow this off and still pass the test.