so ive been a tech for about two years now and mostly just been doing 2m and 70cm stuff, some APRS, talked on a few nets. but i keep hearing people talk about HF and honestly it sounds way more interesting and i want to get in on that. so i decided to finally sit down and study for the general exam.

the problem is im not really sure where to start. i downloaded the question pool from arrl or wherever and its just... a lot. like some of it makes sense because i remember it from the tech exam but theres a ton of stuff about operating privileges and propagation and like a whole section on electrical stuff that kind of goes over my head. i guess my main question is how long did it take you guys to actually feel ready for this thing and is there a certain way to study that actually works or do you just kind of memorize the questions

also i saw something about HF privileges being different depending on which band and i dont fully understand that yet either, like do i get access to all the HF bands once i pass or not

honestly the question pool method works fine for a lot of people but i'd say dont just grind the questions without understanding at least some of the why behind the answers, especially the electrical stuff. if you just memorize answers you'll pass but then you get on HF and have no idea what you're doing lol

for the band privileges thing -- yeah so as a general you do get HF access but not full access like an extra class. you'll have portions of 40m, 20m, 15m, 10m and some others but there are parts of those bands that are extra only. its laid out in the part 97 stuff and honestly the exam question pool covers it so if you study you'll learn it. HF is absolutely worth it though, 20m on a decent afternoon and you can work europe without even trying hard.

I was in basically the same spot last year. What worked for me was using HamStudy dot org and just doing practice tests over and over until I was consistently hitting like 85% or better, then I went and sat for it. Took me maybe three weeks studying maybe 20-30 mins a day. The electrical theory stuff was the part that slowed me down too but honestly the questions on the actual exam aren't as bad as studying the whole pool makes it seem.

One thing I'll say -- once you pass, budget some time figuring out where you're actually allowed to transmit on each band before you key up. I kind of assumed I knew and almost made a bonehead mistake my first week on 40m. The ARRL band plan chart is worth printing out and keeping nearby.