The ARRL Extra Class License Manual: For Ham Radio (ARRL Extra Class License Manual for the Radio Amateur)

First, a quick check - as you probably know, the question pool for the Extra exam changed on 1 July 2012. Make sure that you get the matching edition of this book and CD - if you order from this page you will be getting the correct edition - the tenth edition. The ninth or earlier editions are useless now.This new tenth edition corrects the shortcomings and problems in the ninth edition which I'd earlier commented negatively about, and uses the same layout and logic as is present in the current version of the General exam study manual too.I've found the best way to study is to use the CD/computer questions/review together with the printed manual. I work through the CD's questions, and if I both get a question wrong and don't understand the short explanation that is then provided, I turn to the relevant page in the book to read the more detailed explanation. If necessary, I'll expand to read the entire chapter in the book.This gives a fairly directed approach to learning just enough to pass the test. Sure, we could all try to learn every one of the hundreds of pages of material in the manual, and maybe in a perfect world that would be ideal. But for those of us keen to simply extend our license that magic extra step, and if we're not going to need to go into the fairly advanced math to design and build our own R-C and other types of circuits, it is sufficient to simply adopt this directed approach to working through the 'need to know' material, and will save you hundreds of hours.That is the great thing about this manual. You can approach it either comprehensively or selectively, and using the CD's random generated tests, you can check your knowledge progress and know when you're able to actually go to be tested with a high degree of confidence you'll pass.I said this is one of the two best ways. The other excellent way is the online hamradiolicenseexam.com product, which claims to give you the skills you need in only 30 hours of study. Both are great, but I like ending up with the excellent, well laid out and clearly written book that you get if you choose this product, and it is good to support the ARRL too.

If all you want to do is earn your Extra Class license, you can certainly do it with this book. But if just passing the test is not enough, and you really want to learn a lot of what is going on behind the questions then this is the ONLY book you want to buy. Ward Silver does an excellent job (most of the time) in explaining a lot of the theory and practice of what you SHOULD know if you are an Extra Class ham.I learned a LOT from this manual. And for me at least, it made me want to know more. You won't learn everything from this manual, but it will send you a long way down the road to understanding how radio actually works and what is going on. In fact, it kind of makes you want to have another license level, so Silver can write another manual, advancing the state of your ham radio knowledge.I gave the book only five stars because the writing was less clear in some areas than others. I learned a lot from all chapters, but Silver's writing is makes some things more clear, other things less clear. Luckily the less clear areas are pretty minimal and can be shored up on the ARRL web site.I passed the Extra Class exam with ease, and this book was the only study material (other than a couple of articles on the ARRL website) that i used. This book is highly recommended for anyone who wants to pass the exam AND know what they are doing.

I've used the ARRL manuals for both the technician and the general class, and scored highly on both exams. Those class manuals were well written, and so is the Extra Class manual, covering not only the question pool but also the theory behind what you need to know, so that in the "real world" you can adapt and overcome any technical challenges.However, in the most recent printings of the manuals, the Exam Review CD is no longer included (I didn't realize this, since some of the reviews here stated "order from this page to make sure you're getting the right edition of book plus CD). Instead, ARRL now runs a free online version that you can use even if you don't purchase the manual. Unfortunately, this new online version is NOT the same as the old software-- it's just an online test generator from the question pool, which are a dime a dozen these days. The old Exam Review CD software was great--not only did it generate practice exams, but it also had features to immediately explain wrong answers by actually giving a paragraph of explanation that made sense, and also allowed you to flag questions and generate reviews using only those flagged questions. That was a HUGE help with studying for the General Class exam-instead of slogging through exams generated from 400+ questions where I already knew most of the answers, I could focus repeatedly on the 50 or so that were difficult to understand or required rote memorization. With 700+ questions in the extra pool, that capability would be even handier, but unfortunately is no longer included.So, four out of five stars. This is a great textbook, and I could see it being very useful in formal instruction. But, it's not a good reference book (too dense and expansive), nor is it a good test prep tool anymore (since it no longer offers anything that can't be had for free online).

When you take and pass one Ham Exam, you are offered the next higher class exam on the spot. I passed the General and was offered the Extra on the spot. I took it, but hadn't studied, so I didn't pass. Since I needed to General to operate the club station, I was okay because I got what I was after. I ordered this book because I wanted to get my Extra Class license as well.This book is up to ARRL standards. It's easy to follow and gives you a good understanding of the topics covered on the exam. Of course, you can go online, find practice questions and memorize the answers, but you really won't have an understanding of the topics required for an Extra license. Buy this book.

Great manual in the fine tradition of the ARRL. Passed my Extra in August 2014 - 98% mark.

Extraを受験するため購入、１アマに比較し　出題範囲が広いが　浅い、現実的。