so ive been a tech for about 2 years now and mostly just doing 2m and some 70cm stuff, worked a few satellites which was cool but honestly im getting kind of bored and everyone keeps telling me i should just go ahead and get my general so i can get on HF. the thing is i took the technician exam like forever ago and barely remember how i studied for it and the general pool just looks... a lot more intimidating? like the electrical theory stuff especially.

i downloaded the ARRL general study guide from somewhere but havent really opened it beyond the first couple pages. is the exam actually as hard as it looks or am i overthinking this. also is there any difference between studying from the actual question pool vs just using one of those apps. my buddy uses hamwhisperer or something like that and swore by it but idk if just memorizing answers is really the best way to go about it

also slightly unrelated but once i actually do get general what bands am i even going to have access to that i dont already, like is 40m actually as useful as people say for regional stuff

honestly dont overthink it, the general isnt that bad. i was in the same boat and put it off for like 18 months for no real reason. the electrical theory looks scary but theres really only so many formulas they actually test on and once you do a few practice tests you start recognizing the patterns. i used HamStudy dot org and just hammered the question pool for about 3 weeks, maybe 20-30 questions a night while watching tv, and passed with a pretty comfortable margin.

the memorization vs understanding debate is kind of whatever in my opinion, like yeah it helps to understand why an antenna works a certain way but for the purpose of just passing the test, the question pool is finite and they cant change the wording so if you know the pool you know the test. understanding comes later when youre actually on the air and messing with stuff.

and yes 40m is absolutely worth it, especially in the evenings. you can hit stations 500-1000 miles out pretty reliably and during the day its decent for closer regional stuff too. 20m is where a lot of the dx action is but as a new general you wont have the whole band anyway, theres a portion at the bottom thats still extra class only so just look up the band plan before you start so you dont accidentally operate out of your priv.

im kind of in the same situation as you actually, been putting off studying for weeks lol. took one practice test just to see where i was at and got like a 65% which i guess isnt terrible for zero prep but the pass is 74% so i have some work to do. the propagation questions are the ones killing me