so ive been a tech for about two years now and mostly just been doing local repeater stuff and some APRS. i keep hearing people talk about HF and honestly it sounds really cool but i dont really know where to start with the whole upgrading thing. like how different is the General exam from the Tech exam? i remember the Tech exam being not that bad but people keep saying General has a lot more electrical theory and i was never great at math in school so thats kind of what's been holding me back from even trying.

also i guess my other question is even if i pass, what do i actually need to get on HF? i dont have any HF radio obviously. is it super expensive to get started or are there cheaper ways to get your feet wet first. sorry if this is a vague question i just dont even know what i dont know at this point

honestly the General exam isnt that scary, i was in the same boat as you worrying about the math stuff. theres some impedance and reactance questions and yeah a little ohms law but most of it you can just memorize the answer pool and youll be fine. the question pool is public so just grab the ARRL General study guide or use HamStudy.org which is free and just drill the practice tests until you're consistently hitting like 85% or better and you'll pass no problem. took me maybe three weeks of casual studying doing like 20 minutes before bed.

as for getting on HF without spending a fortune, look around for a used Yaesu FT-450 or an Icom IC-718, you can find them for $300-400 sometimes less if you're patient on QRZ classifieds or eham. not fancy but they work. and honestly before you even buy anything, find your local club because a lot of elmers will let you sit in and operate their station first so you can figure out if you actually like it before dropping cash on gear

yeah what he said about HamStudy, that site basically got me through it. i will say though some of the band plan questions tripped me up at first because as a tech you dont really think about all the different HF allocations. just make sure you actually learn which frequencies General class gets versus what Extra gets because there are a few questions specifically about that and i blanked on one of them during my actual exam, still passed but it was closer than id like to admit lol