so ive been interested in ham radio for a while now, mostly because a coworker keeps talking about it and it sounds cool but also kind of overwhelming. i looked up the FCC license thing and theres like three different levels? technician, general, extra? i dont even know what the difference is really or which one i need to just get started talking on a radio.

also where do people actually study for this stuff. i found some websites but i dont know if theyre legit or if theres like a book i should get. the test questions look really technical in places and im worried ill just fail. is there a passing score i need to hit or is it just pass/fail kind of thing. sorry if these are dumb questions i really dont know anything yet

not dumb questions at all, everyone starts somewhere. ok so the short version is just go for your Technician first, thats the entry level and it gets you on VHF and UHF which is where most local activity is anyway. the General and Extra open up HF privileges which is the longer distance stuff, but dont worry about that yet.

for studying honestly just use HamStudy.org, its free and it drills you on the actual question pool that shows up on the real exam. the way it works is the test questions are all published in advance so youre literally studying the exact questions youll see. some people feel weird about that but thats just how it is. i used that site and passed first try with room to spare. the exam is 35 questions and you need 26 right to pass so its not impossible if you put in a few evenings of practice. look up a local ham radio club too because a lot of them run license exam sessions and some even do free classes for new people.

yeah i was in the same boat like eight months ago lol. i used the Gordon West study book which some people swear by but honestly hamStudy and also the hamstudy app on my phone is what actually got it to stick for me. i studied maybe 20 minutes a day for like 3 weeks and passed. the electrical stuff tripped me up a bit at first, ohms law and that kind of thing, but theres youtube videos that explain it way better than just reading it cold.

one thing i wish someone told me -- find a VE session near you before you feel totally ready, because you can usually just retake it same day if you fail and the fee is pretty small. took some of the pressure off knowing i wasnt stuck waiting months to try again