so ive been interested in ham radio for a while now, my neighbor has a big antenna setup and it got me curious. i looked into it and apparently you need a license first which makes sense but i dont really know where to start. like is there a book i should get or a website or what. also how hard is the test actually, im not great at math and someone told me theres some antenna calculations and stuff on it which is kind of intimidating. any advice would be appreciated, i just want to get to the point where i can actually transmit and talk to people

honestly the technician exam isnt that bad at all, i was worried about the math too but theres really only a handful of questions that involve any actual calculation and even then the formulas are pretty simple. the pool of questions is publicly available so you kind of know exactly what to expect going in which is nice.

i used hamstudy.org to study and just drilled practice tests every night for like two weeks before i took it. there's also the ARRL technician manual if you want something more thorough but i honestly just did the online practice questions and felt ready. Gordon West study guides are popular too, my elmer swore by them. just find whatever format works for you and grind the practice tests, the real thing felt almost identical to the practice ones. good luck with it

hamstudy is the go-to for most people these days. but one thing worth knowing — the question pool gets updated every few years so just make sure whatever resource you're using is current. i think the tech pool was refreshed not that long ago so some older printed guides might have questions that aren't on the exam anymore or are worded differently.

also look up if there's a local club near you because a lot of them run licensing classes and can point you to a VE session close by when you're ready to test. in person sessions are usually pretty low key, i've helped administer a bunch of them and nobody's ever failed because they were nervous or whatever. and once you pass you get your callsign in the FCC database usually within a few days, sometimes faster. then you're on the air.