Getting your ham license is easier than you think.<\/p>\n
If you want to be able to use the fancy radio gear that the hams get to use, participate in a local emergency communications team, be prepared to communicate with family and friends even when your cell phone or land-line service disappears, or do the many other cool things that licensed amateur radio operators get to do, you\u2019ll need an FCC license.
\nHere\u2019s the quick version, with explanation and resources farther down:<\/p>\n
\u201cOh no!\u00a0 It must be very difficult jump through all the hoops to get such a license,\u201d many of you are probably saying.\u00a0 Or \u201cHow could I possibly learn all of those technical concepts without an electrical engineering degree?\u201d, or \u201cThere\u2019s no way I could afford the huge licensing fees.\u201d\u00a0 Good news \u2013 none of this is true!\u00a0 It\u2019s easier, probably much easier than you think.
\nThe test is easy to pass, and the license application is ridiculously simple.\u00a0 Not only that, the people who administer the test will enthusiastically help you with any questions you have about the application.<\/p>\n
When it comes to the content of the test, the concepts are not complicated. The electronics information you\u2019ll need to know is super-simple.\u00a0 But wait, there\u2019s more.\u00a0 Have you heard of the\u2026 metric system?\u00a0 You\u2019ll need to know about that too.\u00a0 And can you remember some very complex rules?\u00a0 For example, \u201cYou have to say your call sign at least once every 10 minutes when you\u2019re talking on the radio.\u201d\u00a0 Remember some rules, some numbers and letters that matter to the FCC, and you\u2019re just about ready.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m\u00a0 trying to make the point that the test is easy, because it is.\u00a0 But I have one more bomb to drop.\u00a0 Ready?\u00a0 Every possible question and answer you could get for the exam is already published and available for you to study.<\/strong>\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t get any easier than that.\u00a0 You will need to review the Q&A before you go take the test, because a lot of the info isn\u2019t stuff you\u2019ll read about in People magazine, or Wired, or whatever you usually read.<\/p>\n Once in a while you hear about someone who didn\u2019t pass the Technician exam.\u00a0 I can only guess that the reason why is 1) very poor test-taking skills (e.g., not paying attention to which letter you\u2019re filling in on the answer sheet, even when you know the right answer), or 2) lack of any studying whatsoever (that must be the case for some folks, just like in school.\u00a0 But you don\u2019t have to take the ham test, so why bother?\u00a0 Peer pressure?\u00a0 I don\u2019t know.)<\/p>\n So why do I even need to write an article on this, if it\u2019s so easy?\u00a0 Because I want to make it even easier, to help anyone pass the test and get that license and open the doors to all the fun that ham radio can bring.\u00a0 Here are some tips:<\/p>\n Here are some of the most common, useful books:<\/p>\n Here are flashcards, if you learn well this way:<\/p>\n Here are some\u00a0online testing resources.\u00a0 You can\u00a0take the tests in advance, as many times as you want, for free!\u00a0 (There are other sites you can pay for, but take a look at your free options first):<\/p>\n Note:\u00a0 If you have only read one or two chapters of a licensing book and want to take a free online test, and then only get 15% correct, don\u2019t get frustrated and give up!\u00a0 You will need to review the rest of the material in the license book. If you go through all<\/strong> of the Q&A before you take an online test, you will get much better results.\u00a0 I know that may sound like common sense to many of you, but I know a lot of folks who are so itching to take the test that they don\u2019t review all the Q&A first, and they wondered why they didn\u2019t get all of the answers right. \ud83d\ude10\u00a0 But I know you\u2019re smarter than that.<\/p>\n What did I do?\u00a0 I started by reading through both\u00a0of the Q&A books I list below (but I often take an overkill approach).\u00a0 Then I read a book that explained additional info for beginners to ham radio, because I was curious about how ham radio worked.\u00a0 And then I took a few practice tests, until I could reliable get a score greater than 80%.\u00a0 After that, I focused on areas where the answers made the least sense to me, practicing those a few more times, making sure I had the right answers fresh in my memory.\u00a0 This approach made passing the test a piece of cake.<\/p>\n Find the study approach that works well for you, and when you\u2019re ready, take a couple practice exams. Once you can pass the online test regularly at 80% or higher, you should be ready to take it for real.<\/p>\n You can do it!\u00a0 Seriously \u2013 how often does the test you\u2019re taking already have all of the answers available?<\/p>\n Finding a place to take the exam should not be difficult.\u00a0 When I looked, I had a hard time finding a place, but I was on my own with nobody to help me.\u00a0 These resources will make it much easier for you!<\/p>\n Eventually you\u2019ll find out where the testing takes place in your area.\u00a0 And that\u2019s it.\u00a0 You can review all the answers at your leisure.\u00a0 You can find a club nearby who will let you take the test and help you (if you need it) with the simple FCC form.<\/p>\n And then you pay.\u00a0 Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you.\u00a0 The cost of a license is expensive\u2026 NOT!\u00a0 An FCC amateur radio license is FREE<\/strong>.\u00a0 You may have to pay ~$15 to take the test, so that the club running the testing can pay for\u00a0supplies, room rental,\u00a0postage to ship off your answer sheets to the FCC, etc., but you read correctly about the cost of the\u00a0license.\u00a0 Free.<\/p>\n But wait, what about when you renew, 10 years later?\u00a0 (Yeah, every ten years.\u00a0 Pretty convenient, right?)\u00a0 That\u2019s when you have to pay, right?\u00a0 No, it\u2019s still free.\u00a0 However, there is a special circumstance when you could<\/em> pay, if you really wanted to.\u00a0 If you want a \u201cvanity call sign<\/strong>\u201d, which means you can pick some of the letters and\/or numbers (if that combination isn\u2019t used already).\u00a0 Some hams do that with their initials (like me \u2013 my call sign is AB8L).\u00a0\u00a0 So that must be expensive, right?\u00a0 Sorry to disappoint you once again.\u00a0 It\u2019s $14.25.\u00a0 For ten years.\u00a0\u00a0And the cost is the same when you renew, 10 years later.<\/p>\n One more thing \u2014 the first license level is called \u201cTechnician<\/strong>\u201c.\u00a0 It allows you access to a certain set of\u00a0UHF, VHF, and some HF frequencies, which will give you the ability to do short- and some medium-range communicating.\u00a0 The second license is called \u201cGeneral<\/strong>\u201c, and gives more access to more frequencies, including\u00a0a lot\u00a0more of the HF spectrum, which will be important for medium- and long-range communications.\u00a0 Tip:\u00a0 if you are studying for the\u00a0Technician exam, you may want to do the General exam at the same time.\u00a0 You can take more than one test in the same testing session for no additional charge!\u00a0 (And the license\u00a0is still free.)\u00a0 The last type of license is called \u201cExtra<\/strong>\u201d and gives access to all of the frequencies available to amateur radio operators.\u00a0\u00a0You will probably need to study a lot\u00a0more for\u00a0the\u00a0Extra exam \u2013\u00a0it\u2019s quite a bit harder.\u00a0 But Technician and\u00a0General are probably all you would ever need.<\/p>\n Now what?\u00a0 Have I covered all of your questions and concerns?\u00a0 If you have any questions, post them and I\u2019ll reply.<\/p>\n Now go out and get a license, and I hope to hear you on the air soon!<\/p>\n -Andrew, AB8L<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Getting your ham license is easier than you think. If you want to be able to use the fancy radio gear that the hams get to use, participate in a local emergency communications team, be prepared to communicate with family and friends even when your cell phone or land-line service disappears, or do the many … Continue reading The Secret to Getting an FCC Amateur Radio License in Record Time!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-radio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":821,"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20\/revisions\/821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Ham Radio License Exam Testing Resources<\/h2>\n
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Where to Take a Ham Radio License Exam<\/h2>\n
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Ham Radio FCC License Fees<\/h2>\n