Why You Should Upgrade to your Extra Amateur Radio License - Ham Radio Q&A

In my previous video I talk about why you should, and shouldn’t upgrade to your General Amateur Radio license. That video generated a fair amount of comments and discussion, and I what I saw for the most part was really positive. Like I mentioned previously, the exams are nothing more than a framework and are nothing more than a vehicle to a better understanding of the art and science of amateur radio. So upgrading your license can be very fulfilling and rewarding endeavor.

ARRL Extra Class License Manual:

Gordon West Audio Theory Course:

Music by license:

[bhud]

The FCC just issued my upgrade to Extra today. I was first licensed in March of this year (2018) as a Tech, but was encouraged buy the VE to keep going and upgrade to General as soon as I could. I took his advice and started studying and took the General at the end of March. That same VE encouraged me to go ahead and keep forging ahead, so I took his advice and used the entire month of April to study. It wasn’t easy due to work and family commitments, but I used all of my spare time to study. I took my Extra exam on the last Saturday in April and they just issued my upgrade today. I did have some motivation though. I took my Grandfathers call sign, and when he passed away, he was an Extra. I figured I couldn’t take his call and be just a Technician or General, because he wasn’t so that was very personal to me. I found the challenge to be a lot of fun and I think I learned a lot along the way. Thank you for videos Michael! You really have some great ones! 73, Brian W5LGQ

[whiskeydna]

Been following you for a couple years now. I received my tech in early 2024, and the general a month later. I didn’t intend to go any higher but after finally getting some actual time in the hobby, I too wanted to “summit” that peak 😉
I procrastinated a bit and agree the material can be dry or boring at times, but I think the time I actually spent enjoying the hobby helped me understand some of the extra material better. It wasn’t easy, and after hunkering down and being determined to pass, it finally paid off. I am glad I accomplished this summit and now have more room to grow and explore this hobby.
I look forward to catching you again on the air 👍😉😎 73

[donausmus]

Upgraded at age 71 about a month ago for the worry free band privileges and just to prove I could do it. Rewarded myself with a vanity call sign and Texas radio operator plates and mobile radio setup on my Ram 2500.K1DLA, 73.

[hamradiobone]

I got my tech license in Nov. of 2022. General in Dec of 2022,
Yesterday, 04-22-2023, I earned my extra license.
It was hard to study for it, but I did it, and am glad I did.

[FriedChickenBlowout]

Go Badgers!

Just upgraded to Extra. I’m the kinda guy that just has to get the highest level license for anything I’m working on. Looking at your videos to send to friends. I’m mailing out a couple new radios to friends tomorrow to try to get them into the hobby.

[FrugalOffGrid]

I passed my amateur technician exam last week and my general today. I still haven't made my first contact because I live in the middle of nowhere. I have an antenna on the way and look forward to testing it out. I'll start studying for extra soon.

[jamesseaman]

I've been a licensed 13 WPM General since 1976, and had my exam administered by the FCC. I have all the privileges I need or could possibly want to use.

[zeltarstormrun]

I recently upgarded to Extra, I suppose the main reason was so I wouldn't have to keep track of where I could and couldn't transmit. Got my tech last June and General earler this year figured I'd upgrade before I forgot everything from the other tests lol.

[NelsonReyesJr]

I just took the Technician and General exams and passed them today (09-14-20) on the day of my father's birthday (R.I.P. dad, we love you). I took the Extra test as a practice test and I got 21 out of 50 questions correct without studying. My VE Team encouraged me to continue my journey and I have already signed up for the Extra Exam again in December of 2020. I have an 8 month old daughter and I cant wait to introduce her to the art of Amateur Radio and all of its facets. Thank you for the great videos!!! I cant wait to get my call sign, and get on the air!!!!

[perojunak]

Well, after being a general class for well over 30 years I decided the day that I retired it would be a good little challenge to add to my list of things to do with the extra time I would have. I always appreciated being a general but the extra band space and great group of folks found in the extra portion turned out to be all the reward I really needed. I no longer have to worry about my privilege limits or other things of the sort and never have to be sorry about not being able to call that nice DX station that is not in my segment of the band. It is very worth the study time to get!

[dougbotimer]

This just came across my feed. Having been in a data communications MOS in the military where I both operated and repaired radios, it was just logical apply my education and experience when I decided to get into Amateur Radio. I did both Technician and General test at the same time, but didn’t have time to do the Extra that VEC session. That gave me a month to learn the administrative subjects pertaining to Amateur Radio. The Extra test came easily too. That was 2008. I still consider myself a relative new by, using my license for Skywarn and monitoring events more than anything. Enjoy your videos and learn lots.

[NESP]

I tell people I'm on the "2.1 release" of my ham radio journey.
I started as a novice license holder back in the day and worked dang hard to upgrade to general class the following year. I immediately turned my attention to the extra class and geared up for the exam. I never took it, though, as life got unexpectedly busy and, over time, I drifted away from the hobby. I filed the notion of extra class away as a relic of the past and didn't give it much thought.

Fast forward 20+ years and some friends were getting interested in amateur radio and talked me into getting back into it. I took a couple weeks to brush up before acing the tech and general tests. A couple of weeks later I aced the extra exam. While I like the additional privileges and so forth, this is something I did for me. In spite of drifting away from the hobby, no matter what I told myself, it felt like unfinished business. I'm proud to have corrected that.

73 de N8ESP

[terrysteward]

I upgraded just to see if I could do it. Maybe a dumb reason, but that is my answer.

[hankhamner]

I passed my Technician and General test on October 11, 2018 after 6 weeks of pretty intense study of Gordon West’s exam prep books and watching many Youtube ham related videos including many of yours. Just for the challenge I have been studying for the Extra license and have learned a lot. I will take the Extra exam on December 6, 2018 and I feel confident I wil pass. This is a fun hobby and continuing education and new activities keeps the mind sharp. I am 73 and retired. Please keep up your very interesting and educational videos.

[margaqrt]

I upgraded to extra for the intellectual challenge, and for the desire to understand electronics and radio theory on a deeper level. The additional band privileges were another incentive. The possibility of becoming a VE is also an enticing prospect as it affords you an opportunity to give back to the hobby.


I spent months studying and prepared from multiple sources, including AF7KB's fantastic audio book, the Fast Track to your Extra Class. I too listened to it daily, it was great to be able to study during my work commuting.


Passing is really a great sense of accomplishment. But passing is just the beginning of a whole new world of opportunities in the greatest electronics hobby that is amateur radio.

[UpLevelYourGame]

Just got my AE ticket stamped this Saturday. I did it because at the time I upgraded to General I found out the VEs would be testing in my city so that I didn't have to drive almost 40 minutes away. I also had a lot of fun learning in the process of upgrading my General.

I was committed and started studying some three months before the next exam data.Then the shelter-in-place happened.

It didn't look like I was going to get my AE anytime soon. I stopped studying. Eventually, remote exams started happening. My VEs offered me to chance to take it as their first trial run, and I wanted to give back to that club. So I jumped at the chance.

To summarize, the reasons were multi-fold. I updated because I thought the testing place would just be 10 minutes away, I wanted to help my VEs by volunteering to be a genie pig, and because I had a lot of fun studying. I learned a lot in the process. What's ironic is I have a degree with some minor emphasis on electrical engineering but I never really learned the materials back in college. It took ham radio to help have what I learned make sense. I also never studied so hard for a hobby. Lol.

[wwtf]

I’m a old school advanced class and I probably will never upgrade.
I passed my 20 wpm code test way back in 1993 and failed the written extra. I was never a big fan of dropping the code requirements. I’m satisfied with advanced class.

[NYTA]

After I passed the test for General I tried for Extra. I was lost, I had to guess at to many questions. I've since bought the Gordon West CD course and his book. I'll try again soon.

[kozmosis]

I took the technician and general tests today and I passed both.

[guitchess]

Got my ticket in March 2017. I went straight to general. I deliberately didn't try for extra out of respect for all the extras that I know who had to work a lot harder than I. No code, unlimited free research library(internet), and 2 35 question, multiple choice tests are a drop in the bucket of what many of them had to do. My goal is to get fluent with Morse at 15 words or better, then I'll upgrade.