Welcome jeffwv!
I am also semi-new, as I have had my EX II for only about 10 months now - but what a difference and what a machine.
I have not done much in saving patterns yet and neither has Savage really, scared I will miss something I guess - more than anything else and also since I dig more than either of my hunting partners. But I have been following what Sunzabeach has been doing with it and his experimentation and he has become quite good at it and has more than a few very good patterns saved.
Interesting that all three of us has an EX II and that we hunt together a lot and may have a big advantage over others in our club, since we all try different things while at the same site, then compare and help each other adjust, learn and enjoy the hobby together. THUS, just what the Forum here does, except the razzing is a little thicker in the field!
Many of them here would be what I would call "big-time" experts and I visit the Forum when I can, read and only just recently started to reply, as we three can only do so much and there are just so many here with information that every time I visit, I learn something new - and I mean every time. And they razz each other well too - so it feels like home.
Again welcome and good luck
"Wide Eyed and Wide Open".
Krusty