so ive been wanting to get into ham radio for a while now and finally decided to just go for the technician exam. problem is i dont really know where to begin with studying. i downloaded the ARRL handbook but honestly its kind of overwhelming, like way more than i need right now. someone at my local club meeting mentioned there was an official question pool you could just memorize? is that actually how people pass this thing or is there more to it than that

also is there a specific study guide that people actually recommend or should i just do the online practice tests until i feel ready. i have about 3 weeks before the next VE session near me

yeah the question pool thing is real, all the questions on the actual exam come straight from the published pool so in theory you could just memorize the answers and pass. but honestly i'd say don't do it that way, or at least not ONLY that way. like you'll pass the test but then you get on the air and have no idea what you're doing and that's kind of frustrating.

what worked for me was using hamstudy.org, just grind through the practice questions every day and it tracks which ones you keep getting wrong so you can focus on those. 3 weeks is plenty of time, the tech exam really isnt that bad. the electrical theory stuff trips some people up but if you actually take a few minutes to understand ohms law and how it works instead of just memorizing the answer it clicks pretty fast. the ARRL handbook is way overkill for what you need right now, put that aside for later.

I passed mine last spring using the Gordon West study book and hamstudy.org together. The Gordon West book breaks everything down in a way thats easier to follow than the ARRL stuff imo, like it actually explains why the answers are what they are which helped me remember them better. three weeks should be fine dont stress it