so ive been using the hamstudy.org site and also got the ARRL technician manual but honestly its a lot of stuff and im not sure what actually matters for the test vs what i should just know generally. like some of the electrical theory stuff feels really deep for what im trying to do. my goal is just to get on 2m and maybe HF eventually with a general but for now just trying to pass tech.

anyone have a sense of how hard it actually is if you just grind the question pool? i heard the questions are taken directly from the pool so if you memorize them you should be fine but then i also heard you actually need to understand stuff for general so maybe i should learn it properly now. idk just looking for what worked for people

honestly the question pool method works fine for tech, the actual exam questions are pulled word for word from the pool so if you can consistently score like 85%+ on practice tests on hamstudy you're pretty much ready. i passed mine doing maybe two weeks of studying on lunch breaks.

that said i'd at least try to understand the basic ohm's law stuff and the license privileges sections because that comes up on general too and its not hard once it clicks. the RF safety questions tripped me up at first but there's really only a handful of them and they kind of follow a pattern once you see a few.

dont overthink it. take a practice test right now and see where you actually stand, most people are closer than they think

im in basically the same boat lol, been studying for like 3 weeks. the electrical theory freaked me out too but i watched some youtube videos and it made way more sense than the book somehow. just search for technician license study and theres a bunch of guys who walk through the whole pool.

one thing that helped me was not trying to do the whole thing in order, i just kept doing random practice tests and focusing on whatever categories i kept missing. frequency privileges and operating procedures were pretty easy for me but the antenna and feed line stuff took a while to stick