Everything a new or aspiring ham needs — from zero to call sign to first contact. No course to buy. No fluff. Just the information, in order.
The ham radio licensing process has clear steps. Here they are, with a guide for each one.
Three FCC license classes exist — Technician, General, and Amateur Extra. Most beginners start with Technician. It covers all VHF/UHF bands and takes a few hours to study for.
You need an FCC Registration Number before you can sit for the exam. Get one free at FCC CORES — takes about 5 minutes online.
The Technician exam has 35 questions drawn from a public question pool. You need 26 correct to pass. The entire pool is publicly available — nothing on the test is secret.
Find a session near you on ARRL.org or HamStudy.org. Bring your FRN, a government ID, and $14–$15 in cash. You will know your score before you leave the room.
Pay the $35 FCC fee, wait 24–72 hours for your call sign, and you are licensed. No waiting for mail — the FCC database entry is your license.
A Baofeng UV-5R gets you on 2 meters for under $30. Find a local repeater on RepeaterBook.com, program it in, and make your first contact.
Exactly what to do with your CSCE, how to pay the FCC, and when you can legally transmit.
The FCC Registration Number you must have before your exam. Free, 5 minutes, here's how.
Everything to bring to your Technician exam. Miss one item and you cannot test.
Step-by-step: download CHIRP, install drivers, enter repeater frequencies and CTCSS tones.
How to apply for a specific call sign through FCC ULS — formats, the 18-day window, and lottery rules.
What a repeater is, what offset and CTCSS mean, and how to make your first contact through one.
Answer four quick questions and get a personalized, printable checklist for your exam session.
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