so ive been a tech for about 2 years now and mostly just been doing 2m/70cm stuff with my handheld and a j-pole on the roof. its been fun but honestly i feel like im hitting a wall with what i can do locally and some guys at the club keep talking about HF and making contacts across the country and even overseas and it sounds really cool.

anyway i started looking into the general exam and i have a few questions. first off how hard is it compared to the tech exam? i remember the tech exam being not terrible but there was a lot of stuff about regulations that tripped me up. also whats the best way to study, like is hamstudy.org still the go-to thing people use or is there something better now? and how long did it take you guys to feel ready? im not trying to rush it but also dont want to spend 6 months studying for something if i dont have to.

also one more thing - once i actually pass do i need to wait for my license to update in the FCC database before i can use HF or can i do it right away? i feel like i read something about that but cant remember what the rules actually are.

general isnt bad at all, honestly probably easier than tech in some ways because a lot of the tech stuff front-loads you on regulations and you already know that going in. the extra math stuff like calculating impedance or whatever tripped a few people up in our club but if you just drill the question pool on hamstudy it all kind of clicks after a while. i think i studied maybe 3 weeks pretty casually before i felt ready, maybe an hour here and there in the evenings.

hamstudy is still what most people use and its genuinely good, it'll tell you when your weak areas are and focus you on those. there's also the ARRL general class book if you actually want to understand the why behind everything instead of just memorizing answers, which i'd reccommend if you have the time.

on your FCC question - yeah you do need to wait for your license to show up in the ULS database before you can operate on the new privileges. used to be you had to wait for the physical license but they changed that a while back so as soon as the database reflects your upgrade youre good to go. usually just a day or two after the session results get submitted, sometimes faster.

went through the same thing last spring. tech for like 3 years doing mostly simplex and some APRS stuff then finally sat down and did the general pool. took me maybe two and a half weeks of hamstudy before i was consistently hitting 85%+ on the practice tests and i just went for it. passed with only two wrong which surprised me honestly.

the HF thing is so worth it by the way. got on 40m like two days after my upgrade showed up in the database and worked a station in Argentina on my very first try with just a wire dipole in the backyard. kind of blew my mind after two years of talking to the same 10 guys on the local repeater.