so ive been a tech for about 8 months now and mostly just been doing local 2m stuff on the repeater and a little bit of APRS. honestly kind of bored and want to get on HF. everyone keeps telling me to just go get my general already but i dont really know what to expect from the exam. the tech test wasnt that bad but i remember reading somewhere that general has more math involved? im ok at math but not like great at it.

also i guess my bigger question is like once i actually pass, what do i even need to get started on HF. i have no idea what kind of radio to look at or if my current antenna situation is even usable. right now i just have a little mag mount on the roof for VHF. so yeah kind of a two part question i guess, the exam itself and then what happens after

the math on general isnt nearly as scary as people make it sound. theres some ohms law stuff and a little bit about calculating things like resonant frequency but honestly if you just grind the question pool on HamStudy or qrz.com for a couple weeks you'll recognize the answers without even having to do the math in your head. i spent maybe 3 weeks studying like 20 minutes a night and passed no problem. the operating procedures and band plan stuff is probably the bigger thing to actually understand rather than just memorize.

as for getting on HF after, that's a whole other rabbit hole. a used HF transceiver like an older Icom or Yaesu is totally doable if you watch the classifieds on QRZ or eham. antenna is really the more important part though, a simple wire dipole cut for 40 meters will get you making contacts pretty quick. dont overthink it at the start

passed my general like 6 weeks ago coming from tech same as you and honestly just use HamStudy, the app is free and it tracks which questions you keep getting wrong which is super helpful. took me maybe 2 weeks. the electrical stuff tripped me up at first but you start to see patterns in how they ask the questions.

still working on the HF side myself lol so cant help much there but everyone in my club said 40m is the best band to start on for actually hearing people