so ive been a tech for about two years now and ive mostly just been doing VHF/UHF stuff, some APRS, helped out with a few local events for emcomm. but honestly ive been wanting to get on HF for a while and keep putting off studying for general. my buddy keeps telling me the test isnt that bad but i dont know, some of the stuff i see in the question pool looks pretty intimidating, like the electrical theory questions and the propagation stuff.

anyway i guess my actual question is how long did it take you guys to study and is there a good way to approach it or do you kind of just grind the question pool and hope for the word. i downloaded hamstudey or whatever its called but im not sure if thats the best way. also does knowing the theory actually help for HF operating or is it mostly just test stuff

Took me about three weeks of casual studying, maybe 20-30 minutes a day. I used HamStudy and also went through the ARRL General manual but honestly the manual is a lot to get through if you just want to pass. The question pool approach works fine, especially once you start seeing patterns in the answers.

The theory stuff isnt as scary as it looks once it clicks. Things like the relationship between frequency and wavelength, understanding why certain bands are better at certain times of day — that actually does help when you get on HF because youre not just randomly spinning the dial wondering why you cant hear anything. Knowing that 40m is usually good for regional contacts in the evening and 20m opens up longer paths during the day actually matters when youre trying to work someone.

Just do the practice tests until youre consistently hitting 80% or above and you should be fine. The real test felt easier to me than the practice ones for some reason.

i passed it like 6 months ago after being a tech for way longer than i should have been lol. honestly just did the qrz practice tests for maybe two weeks and passed with a few questions to spare. the electrical theory ones tripped me up at first but theres really only like a handful of actual formulas you need and once you see them enough times in the practice questions they stick.

the HF stuff after is totally worth it btw, even just getting on 40m with a simple wire antenna was kind of a revelation after years of just hitting local repeaters