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Reviews For: Gordon West Written Element Study Guides

Category: Ham Radio Education & Exam Prep Materials

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Review Summary For : Gordon West Written Element Study Guides
Reviews: 28MSRP: 11.95
Description:
Study guides for the written exam elements by Gordon West. In Question and Answer format with explanations. Available for Technician, General and Extra.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.w5yi.org/Textbooks.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00284.8
K1DWZ Rating: 2007-08-23
Excellent study material Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased the Extra Class manual and CDs. Passed the exam with a score of 47/50 WITHOUT using a calculator (I forgot to bring it ) I listened to the CDs while following along with the manual. I found that my memory retention was better that way. His short cuts to some of the material is interesting and usefull. After a couple of months of study I saw my on line practice test scores reach into the high 90s. I looked at other licence manuals but found the Gordon West manuals to be the easiest to master.
AD5KL Rating: 2007-07-24
The best Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Gordo's materials helped me pass all exams & continue to help me study for my GROL. It's as fun as it is informative. I highly recommend his study materials.
W4BGN Rating: 2007-07-24
New Book Better Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
In my previous post, I had some negative comments about the Gordon West Extra study book. I have exchanged the book for a new one, this one is better. I must have gotten a misprinted book at first.

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Earlier 1-star review posted by W4BGN on 2007-07-22

Bought the extra class cd set and extra class book. Well, the extra class cd set says element 2 on them, which is technician, but they really are extra class.

The book has proved to give the wrong answers, we researched them with the correct arrl vec question pool, most are wrong in the extra class book.

Maybe I got a book that is misprinted, I don't know.

Just do yourself a favor, and buy the ARRL book, much better!!!
N6PSE Rating: 2007-07-22
Excellent resource! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just spent four weeks studying Gordon's Extra Class study guide and audio CD recordings. I passed the Extra Exam here in June.

The questions were accurate and reflected what I had on my test. I knew that the VEC's were holding out the frequency questions based on recent tests.

The best part of this study kit was the last audio CD, Gordon reads emails with tips and hints from others who have recently passed.

These audio CD's and study guide is as GOOD AS GOLD!

Good luck

Paul N6PSE
N1KDO Rating: 2007-01-22
Highly recommended. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just used Gordon's General and Extra study guides. Worth every penny. I got 34/35 on the general test. 45/50 on the extra. Passed both! Thanks, Gordo!

(I used Gordon's technician book 15 years ago with similar success.)
N1ERF Rating: 2007-01-06
Highly recommended. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I passed the Technician exam with the first book. It was straight forward with examples. Right now I am studying the General book along with the ARRL book. In this current edition, it has random (ham related) corporate web links with sprinkled in with the questions. This was different from the last question pool, which was more like the Technician book. (I can do without the links).
I'm using the ARRL book for more details, but I like the format of Gordo's books. The Gordo Morse CD set (0-5 WPM)is just the tapes transferred to CD (those would come in as a 4).
All of his material are still highly recommended. They all have an element of fun. I would also supplement the books with the ARRL version.
KD5MJJ Rating: 2007-01-06
Extra Class--Very Good Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I finally became motivated to upgrade from General. I purchased Gordo's Extra Class Study Guide PLUS his matching audio course on CDs in late November 2006.

First, I am a retired geezer and never worked in electronics. I have a Liberal Arts Degree so I am a left handed "techie." I hate Math even though I can blunder through it.

I spent about 20-30 hours working with Gordo's materials during December 2006. I took smallish bites of 2 hours or thereabouts per study session. My scores on the practice exams went from mid 60's to mid 90's in one month.

I passed the Extra Test in early January '07 missing only two or three questions.

Pretty Good !

The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

73
Hank
K5ICW,
ex kd5mjj
WO8VET Rating: 2006-07-02
This book helped me pass my Ham Radio test Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Even though it took me a year to study, it help me pass my Ham Radio "with room for error". I think every person studying for their Technician class license should use this book. It's great!!! Any aged boy or girl (ages 8-16), or adult can use it. I was only 8 when I got my Ham license. I'm going to start my studying for my General class license.
WO8VET
Ryan
KA7EKW Rating: 2006-06-13
As good as they get Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Way back in olden days, there was only the ARRL exam prep book. Read it and you would understand all about ham radio, enough for the exam and more. It was dry, dull and you had to learn it ALL.

Then came a guy named Dick Bash. The Bash Books told you absolutely nothing about radio theory, but it gave every question and the answer. Bash went down in flames because of a lot of bad press.

Then a bright guy named Gordo realized that people wanted to know about radio theory and wanted to pass the exam, but didn't want to spend 6 months in the process. He started teaching ham classes in Southern California in the late 1970s, and hundreds of "Gordo's Whiz Kids" still remember some of his jokes (if they can be called that) or hooking up an HF rig to a tuner and a set of battery jumper cables -- one would clamp onto his car for a ground, the other end would load a lawn chair or a plastic trash can full of water, and there would be Brazil or Japan or Belgium, with a good copy -- but just TRY to explain your antenna system!

Gordo's secret was that you learned what you needed to pass the exam AND enough beyond that to be interested enough to learn more. This has been carried into the course materials that carry his name, and they are as good as it gets when it's time to study for a license or an upgrade.
N7DDD Rating: 2005-12-04
Excellent teaching/training tool! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I am an accountant by training so electronics is a foreign discipline to me. I tried studying on my own using ARRL's manual for more than two years, but could never achieve more than about 50% on the Amateur Extra on-line practice tests.

I acquired Gordon West's CD and manual set and after listening/studying for less than a month passed my Amateur Extra exam.

The materials cover ALL types of learning styles, i.e. visual, auditory and experiential. And, I carried the manual with me to review for a few minutes when I was not able to listen to the CD. Also, I played the CD in my car while driving. It is a versatile collection of materials and I will continue to use it for technical reference in the years to come.

I strongly recommend the materials. They enabled me to LEARN more about the art and science of radio communications and PASS the exam. Thanks, Gordon! DDD de N7DDD