so ive been a Tech for about 8 months now and mostly just been messing around on 2m and some local repeaters but honestly its getting kind of boring and i want to get on HF. everyone keeps saying just go take the General exam its not that bad but i dont know, some of the question pool stuff looks pretty intimidating especially the electronics theory parts and the propagation stuff.

im studying with hamstudy.org right now and doing okay on the practice tests but im not sure if that actually prepares you or if the real exam is harder somehow. also does anyone remember roughly how long it took them to feel ready? im averaging like 78-80% on the practice tests and not sure if thats good enough to go sit for it yet

78-80% on hamstudy is honestly probably fine, the real pool is the same questions so if youre consistently hitting that you should pass. i think i was around 75% when i went and took mine and passed first try with a few to spare. the exam itself felt easier than the practice tests to me, maybe because i was just clicking through on auto pilot at that point from doing so many of them.

the theory stuff does look scary at first but honestly for the exam you dont need to deeply understand all of it, you kind of just learn which answer goes with which question after a while. that said once you get on HF and start actually using the bands the propagation stuff starts making a lot more sense naturally. just go schedule it, worst case you retake it, its only like 15 bucks

i was in the exact same spot last year, tech for like 6 months then decided to just go for it. took me maybe 3 weeks of studying on hamstudy every night before bed for like 20-30 mins. passed with an 87 i think. the HF privileges are totally worth it, 40m alone is a whole different world compared to local 2m stuff. good luck whenever you decide to go