so ive been a tech for about 8 months now and mostly just been messing around on 2m and 70cm local stuff but honestly im getting a little bored and everyone keeps telling me to get my General so i can get on HF. my question is how hard is the actual exam compared to tech? i remember the tech exam not being that bad but people are telling me the General pool is a lot tougher especially the electrical stuff and i was never great at math in school lol. also is it worth it just for HF or am i missing something else that General gives you. i have an old icom 718 that someone gave me and i just want to get on 40m and maybe 20m eventually.

any tips for studying would be appreciated, im using hamstudyorg right now which is what i used for tech but wondering if theres something better for General prep

honestly the General exam isnt as scary as people make it sound. yeah theres more math than tech but most of it you can just memorize the formulas and plug in numbers, you dont really need to understand the theory deeply to pass. the question pool is bigger but hamstudy is fine, thats basically what i used and i passed first try. just grind the practice tests until youre consistently hitting 85% or above and youll be good.

the main thing General opens up for you is the HF privileges obviously but also you get more operating flexibility in general, like some of the good parts of 40m and 20m that are restricted to tech are night and day difference in how busy and interesting they are. 40m at night is kind of addictive once you start hearing stations from all over. with that 718 youre gonna have a blast, solid radio. just get an antenna up and go for it.

just took my General two weeks ago after being a tech for like a year and a half. the electrical theory section tripped me up a little, stuff like impedance and resonant circuits but if you watch some of the KB6NU or dave casler videos on youtube it clicks way faster than just reading. i probably watched like 4 or 5 of his videos and then drilled hamstudy for maybe 3 weeks and passed with an 88 i think.

also one thing nobody told me before i studied -- some of the questions on the actual exam feel worded slightly different than the practice ones so dont just memorize the answers, try to actually understand whats being asked at least a little bit. caught me off gaurd on a couple questions but still passed so it wasnt a huge deal