okay so ive been interested in ham radio for a while now, mostly because my neighbor has this huge antenna setup and it looks really cool and he let me listen in on some contacts once and i was hooked. i want to get my technician license but i dont really know where to begin. like do i just go take a test somewhere? do i need to study first? is the test hard? i looked at the FCC website and it was kind of confusing. also how much does it cost to get licensed and do i need to buy a radio before i even take the test or can i figure all that out later

welcome to the rabbit hole haha. okay so first thing — you definitely dont need a radio before the test, that comes after. for studying most people use HamStudy.org which is free and it drills you on the actual question pool, the technician test is 35 questions and you need a 26 to pass. some people also use the ARRL technician manual which you can get on amazon but honestly hamStudy alone got me through it. the test itself isnt too bad if you put in maybe a week or two of practice, some of the electrical theory questions are a little weird if you havent done much of that but they show up enough times you just kind of memorize the answers. to find a testing session near you look up a VE session through the ARRL or ARRL affiliated clubs, the fee is usually around 15 bucks give or take. your neighbor is probably a ham too so he might be able to point you to a local club which is honestly the best way to get plugged in once you pass.

i just passed my tech last month so this is pretty fresh for me. the thing that helped me most was just doing practice tests over and over on hamStudy until i was consistently getting like 85% or better, then i felt ready. there were a couple questions on the actual exam i didnt recognize but enough felt familiar that i passed no problem. one thing i wish someone told me is that some test sessions have walk-ins and some require you to register ahead of time so check before you just show up somewhere