so i decided i finally want to get my technician license after my neighbor got into ham radio last year and it looks really cool but i have no idea where to start. i downloaded something called the question pool but it has like 400 questions and i dont even understand half the words in them. is there a specific order i should go through it or do people just memorize all the answers?

also saw some people mention hamstudy.org and some book by gordon west i think? not sure if i need to buy something or if free stuff is good enough. i work full time so i cant spend hours every day on this, probably like 20-30 minutes here and there. how long did it take most people to feel ready?

hamstudy.org is genuinely all you need, i didnt buy anything and passed first try. the way it works is it tracks which questions you keep getting wrong and drills you on those more, so its not like just reading through 400 questions in order. once youre hitting like 85-90% consistently on the practice tests you're pretty much ready. the actual pool repeats a lot of the same concepts just worded differently so once stuff clicks it clicks.

the electrical stuff tripped me up at first, ohms law and calculating things with antennas, but theres youtube videos that explain it way better than any book. just search for tech license study and youll find people walking through the hard parts. i think it took me maybe 3 weeks of casual studying, not every day. dont stress too much, the test really isnt that bad once you stop looking at the whole pool as one giant wall of text.

yeah the Gordon West book is fine but honestly its not necessary. the question pool is publicly available because the FCC requires it, so you literally will see those exact questions on the exam, no surprises. some people think thats cheating or whatever but thats just how it works for all the license classes.

one thing i'd say is dont just memorize answers without understanding anything, especially the band privileges stuff and the safety questions, because once you actually get on the air you'll want to know why you're allowed to do certain things and not others. the rules questions make more sense when you think about them practically. anyway good luck, the tech exam really isnt as scary as it looks at first