This is an old revision of the document!
Getting your General Ham License
There are many ways people have studied to pass their license test. You should be able to use any combination of these in order to pass the test. It’s categorized by media type to help you choose your best method.
Books (including audiobooks)
It is generally recommended to get at least one of these books. The ARRL books tend to be the official ones, but the others are all good as well.
- ARRL General Class License Manual 9th Edition Also found at Amazon and many other places books are sold.
- General License Class Manual Supplement – Supplemental content for the book.
Videos
Nothing is more beneficial than seeing it in practice. These videos will help add context or clarify some of the more complicated parts of the books.
- David Casler KE0OG – David does a good job of demonstrating some of the aspects of each chapter to help get you on the road to understanding. He takes the approach of you watching the video first then you read the chapter.
- W4EEY – I have not watched these videos, but have heard many recommendations for this channel.
- Ham Radio Crash Course by Josh KI6NAZ.
- Ham Radio 2.0 by Jason KC5HWB.
Practice Tests
Practice, practice, practice. Once you are averaging around 80% or better, you are ready to go!
- QRZ.com Practice Amateur Radio Exams – You do need to create an account, but I used this site to pass his exam.
- HamStudy – there are also apps for iOS and Android
Ask Questions
Sometimes you just need to “phone a friend” here are a few different places to ask questions.
-
- Ham Radio Crash Course Discord – It’s like a chatroom and it’s full of very smart people.
- Ham Radio 2.0 Discord – It’s like a chatroom and it’s full of very smart people.
Other resources
Here are other things that I have found that maybe be helpful.