so ive been a Tech for about 2 years now and mostly been doing VHF/UHF stuff, some APRS, got my first HT and then a mobile rig, the usual path i guess. but lately ive been really curious about HF and everyone keeps telling me to just get my General and i keep putting it off because honestly the exam just looks intimidating compared to the Tech one.

like i looked at the question pool and there's a lot of stuff about propagation and electrical theory that i dont really understand. i passed my Tech by mostly memorizing answers with HamStudy which worked fine but im not sure if that approach works as well for General or if the questions are harder in a way that trips you up more. also someone at my local club said something about needing to know math for the General which kind of scared me off for a bit.

anyway i guess my main question is, is it actually worth the time investment and how long did it take you guys to feel ready for the test. and also once you have General what are the HF privileges like, can you actually get on 40m and work DX or is it still pretty limited until you get your Extra

honestly the math part gets overhyped. there's like maybe 4 or 5 questions that involve actual calculations and most of them are pretty simple ohms law stuff or just knowing a formula well enough to plug numbers in. if you use HamStudy consistently for 3 or 4 weeks you'll be fine, the question pool isnt that much bigger than Tech and the concepts build on each other once you start seeing them repeat.

as for HF privileges with General, yeah you get access to most of the good stuff. 40m is great for regional and evening DX depending on conditions, and you get a solid chunk of 20m which is basically the workhorse band for international contacts. there are some portions of 20m and other bands that are Extra only but in practice i never felt like i was missing that much when i was a General. you can absolutely work DX and get on SSB and do contests and all that. i waited way too long to upgrade honestly, had my Tech for 4 years before i finally just sat down and studied. dont do what i did.

i just passed my General last month so this is pretty fresh for me. i used the ARRL General study guide book plus HamStudy and i think i studied maybe 3 weeks on and off, not super intense. the electrical theory stuff is a little more involved than Tech but if you understand the concepts behind it rather than just memorizing the answer letter it actually sticks way better and helps on the ones that are worded slightly differently.

havent gotten on HF yet because im still figuring out the antenna situation but thats a whole other problem lol