ok so i've been interested in ham radio for a while now, like probably two years of just watching youtube videos and reading stuff online but never actually doing anything about it. my neighbor is licensed and he keeps telling me to just go take the test already but i honestly have no idea where to start. like do i need to take a class or can i just study on my own? and what even is on the technician test, is it mostly electronics theory or more like rules and regulations stuff? i looked at the FCC website and it was kind of overwhelming. also is there a fee to actually get licensed now, i heard they changed something about that recently. any help appreciated, i feel like im overthinking this whole thing

honestly you're way overthinking it, which is totally normal. the technician exam is 35 questions, multiple choice, and you need 26 right to pass. it covers a little bit of everything — some basic electronics, band plans, operating procedures, safety stuff, FCC rules. nothing crazy deep. the best thing i can tell you is just go to hamstudy.org and start hammering the question pool. the whole pool is public so theres no surprises on test day, every question on the actual exam comes straight from it. some people study for like two weeks doing 20-30 minutes a day and pass no problem. as for the fee yeah the FCC started charging $35 for new licenses a couple years back, but the VE session itself most clubs do for free or like $15. find a local club through arrl.org and they'll have test sessions listed. your neighbor can probably point you to one nearby too. just go do it, the test is genuinely not that bad

i just passed mine like three months ago so i remember this exact feeling lol. i used hamstudy and also the hamradioprep website which has a paid course but honestly i think i couldve passed just using the free stuff. the thing that helped me most was just doing practice exams over and over until i was consistently getting like 90% or better, then i scheduled the test before i could chicken out. the electronics questions are the ones that tripped me up at first, like the ohms law stuff and calculating things, but once you see the same question a few times it kind of clicks. good luck, it feels really good once you pass