Congrats to David Riley upon obtaining a US radio amateur license. The ham community has overlap with technical computing and by legacy with vintage computing. And it's a pleasant community. There are other reasons, other overlaps of course. Amateur radio has its own merits. I concur, the effort needed to obtain the Technician license is as he describes: review all the possible questions and get familiar with the answers. There's study guides that provide additional background. I find them worthwhile because questions are regulatory as well as technical. I got my license a year ago, in the manner David describes. That's why I'm posting. The original topic, was about Jeff Brace trying to resolve ARRL requirements to have the VCF-Mid tech swap listed in the ARRL's hamfest listings. That thread seems to be completed. regards Herb -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey USA https://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net preserve, recover, restore 1970's computing email: hjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT com or try later herbjohnson AT comcast DOT net