so ive been interested in ham radio for a while now, my uncle has been doing it for years and it always seemed cool but i never really looked into it seriously until recently. i know you need a license but i honestly dont even know what the different levels are or how the test works or anything. like do you just show up somewhere and take a test or is there a class you have to take first? and how hard is it really, im not great at math if that matters

also i looked up some stuff online and saw something about technician and general and extra, are those all separate tests or is it like one big test with levels? sorry if this is a dumb question im just trying to figure out where to even begin

not a dumb question at all, everyone starts somewhere. so the short version is there are three license classes — technician, general, and extra — and you take them as separate tests, though you can actually take multiple on the same day if you feel ready. most people just start with technician which gets you on VHF and UHF and some limited HF privileges.

for studying the hamstudystudy.com site is what most people recommend these days, and hamstudy.org has a free practice exam thing where you can drill questions until they feel familiar. the question pools are public so theres no surprises on the actual test. as for math, the technician exam has very little and what there is is pretty straightforward, dont let that worry you too much. to find an actual test session just go to the arrl website and search for a VE session near you, thats the volunteer examiners who administer the tests. fee is usually like 15 bucks.

yeah i passed my technician like four months ago after studying for maybe two and a half weeks, used hamstudy.org mostly and just did practice tests over and over until i was consistently getting above 80%. the actual test felt easier than the practice ones honestly. the math scared me too but its like two or three questions and if you learn the formula for ohms law youre basically fine