so ive been interested in ham radio for a while now, my neighbor does it and it always seemed cool but i never really looked into it seriously until lately. i guess im just not sure how hard the test actually is or how long it takes to study. like do i need to know a lot of math or electronics stuff beforehand? i took basic physics in high school but that was years ago. also not sure if i should just go for the Technician first or if theres some reason to try to do more than one at a time, ive heard some people do that. any advice on where to actually start would be helpful, there seems to be a ton of stuff online and i dont know whats actually worth using

honestly the Technician exam is not bad at all, i was pretty nervous about it but studied for maybe 3 weeks using HamStudy dot org and passed no problem. the question pool is public so you literally know exactly what can be on the test, theres no surprises. the math is pretty minimal, like you might see a basic ohms law question or something about calculating frequency but nothing that requires more than a calculator and some common sense. i wouldnt stress too much about prior electronics knowledge.

the thing about doing Tech and General back to back is real, some people study for both at once since youre already in study mode anyway and the General isnt a huge jump. i didnt do that but kind of wish i had because i had to go back and restudy a bunch of stuff months later when i decided to upgrade. just depends how much time you want to put in up front i guess.

hamstudy is what everyone recommends and for good reason but also look up the ARRL study guides if you actually want to understand why the answers are what they are instead of just memorizing. the flash card method works fine for passing but a few months later youll have forgotten half of it. not that thats a huge deal for the Tech test but once you get into General and Extra it helps to actually know the material.

find a local club too, most of them run licensing classes and can point you to a test session nearby. VE sessions have been popping back up pretty regularly since covid slowed things down. some clubs even do online exams now which is convenient if theres nothing close to you.