so ive been a general for about three years now and honestly i keep putting off the extra exam because every time i look at the question pool i just kind of close the browser and go do something else. the RF propagation stuff and the filter theory and all the math around impedance matching just looks intimidating. i did fine on the tech and general but those felt more like memorizing facts, the extra questions actually seem like they want you to understand why things work the way they do.

anyway my actual question is i guess, for people who went through it, how much of the theory did you actually have to sit down and learn from scratch vs just memorizing the question pool? i know some people just brute force the pool and pass but i feel like that would leave me feeling like i cheated myself. also wondering if the extra privileges are worth it practically speaking, like i mostly do HF phone and some digital, does having the full extra subbands actually change what you can do day to day or is it mostly only matters for CW and contesting

the theory really isnt as bad as it looks honestly. i went through the gordo guide and some of the ARRL handbook sections and after a few weeks it started clicking. the LC circuit stuff and the way they explain resonance actually made me understand my antenna tuner better so it wasnt wasted effort even beyond just passing. the impedance matching questions tripped me up at first but once you get the concept its the same idea showing up in like a dozen different questions.

as far as privileges go, for phone it does open up the lower edges of 75 and 40 meters which can be useful when the band is crowded and everyone is piled into the general portion, you can drop down a bit and find clearer spectrum. and on 17 and 12 meters the general already gets the whole band so honestly there you wont notice much difference. for what you described your operating is, its maybe a modest upgrade day to day but the knowledge is worth it regardless imo

i just passed mine two months ago so this is pretty fresh. i brute forced maybe 60% of it and actually tried to understand the other 40% and that felt like a decent balance. the transistor biasing questions and some of the filter rolloff stuff i just flat out memorized because i couldnt make heads or tails of the theory behind them in a reasonable amount of time. no shame in that, the exam doesnt care how you got there

the extra subbands thing honestly the biggest deal for me was just having it done, like the credential felt complete if that makes sense. i dont think my actual on air experience changed dramatically the week after i passed but knowing i can operate anywhere feels good