so ive been lurking here for a while and my neighbor actually got me interested in all this after i saw his antenna setup in the backyard. anyway i decided i want to actually get licensed but im kind of overwhelmed by all the info out there. like i dont even know if i should be studying from a book or just doing practice tests online or what. someone at work told me the test isnt that hard but i dont have any background in electronics really so im a little nervous about the theory parts. is there a specific order i should learn things or do most people just grind the question pool until they know it. also how long did it usually take you guys before you felt ready to actually go sit for the exam

honestly the technician test is pretty manageable even without an electronics background, dont stress too much. what worked for me was using hamstudy.org every day for like 2-3 weeks, maybe 20-30 minutes at a time. it tracks which questions you keep getting wrong and drills those specifically which is nice. the theory stuff like ohms law and basic antenna concepts you can kind of just memorize the formulas without deeply understanding them and still pass fine. i did read through the ARRL technician manual too but mostly i just used it as a reference when something in the question pool made zero sense to me. the actual exam is 35 questions and you need 26 right so theres a bit of cushion. find a local club that does testing sessions, a lot of them are pretty chill and some even do walk-ins on weekends

yeah i was in the same boat like 8 months ago lol. i just did practice tests basically the whole time, maybe looked at a youtube video here and there when i really didnt get something. took me about 3 weeks of casual studying. the parts about electrical safety and operating procedures are pretty easy, the math scared me but theres only a few questions on it and honestly if you just memorize what the answers are you can get through it. one thing i wish someone told me is to just go take the test sooner than you think youre ready, worst case you fail and see what areas need more work and most VE sessions let you retest same day if you want