so ive been a Tech for about 8 months now and honestly i got really into HF after listening to some guys on 40m with my friend's radio at a field day event last summer. i want to get on HF myself but i keep putting off studying for the General because i heard the question pool is way bigger and there's a bunch of electrical theory stuff i never really understood even back when i got my Tech.

i guess my main question is like... is it actually hard or am i overthinking it. the propagation stuff and the operating rules i think ill be fine with but the circuit stuff with the impedance and reactance formulas kind of scares me. i dont even remember the math from the Tech exam honestly, i just memorized enough to pass. anyone else come from a non-technical background and manage to do it? how long did it take you to feel ready

honestly you're overthinking it. i came from a completely non-technical background, was an english teacher for 20 years, and i passed General on my first try after maybe 3 weeks of using HamStudy.org every day during my lunch break. the math questions look scarier than they are because you dont actually have to derive anything, you just need to recognize which formula goes with which situation and plug in numbers. if you can do basic algebra you'll be fine.

the thing that tripped me up a bit was the band plan and frequency privileges stuff, there's more of it than on the Tech exam and it's easy to mix up which modes are allowed where. but just drill the practice tests and you'll start seeing the patterns. i'd say give yourself 4-6 weeks if youre not in a rush, maybe less if you study consistently. the HF bands are absolutely worth it, 40m at night is a completely different world from anything you can do as a Tech.

yeah same boat as you last year, passed it and the Extra at the same session actually which maybe wasnt the smartest idea lol but it worked out. for the electrical theory stuff i just watched some YouTube videos, there's a few guys who specifically go through the General pool and explain the why behind the questions instead of just making you memorize. that helped me way more than just flashcards for the formula stuff.

dont stress too much about impedance matching and all that, you'll run into it again when you actually start messing with antennas anyway and it clicks better with hands-on stuff