so i passed my technician back in march and ive been having fun on 2m and 70cm but honestly i want to get on HF and actually talk to people further than 50 miles away lol. my buddy keeps telling me general isnt that bad but i looked at some of the practice questions on the qrz pool and some of that electrical stuff is way over my head. like the impedance matching questions and the stuff about feed lines, i sort of understand the concepts but when it comes to the actual math im lost.

is there a good way to study for this or do i just grind through ham study or hamexam dot org until i memorize everything. also how long did it take most people, i feel like i should be able to do it in a month if i really focus but i dont know if thats realistic. any advice from people who recently upgraded would be helpful

honestly dude dont stress the math too much. a lot of those questions you can just memorize the answer without really understanding the formula and youll still pass. i studied maybe 3 weeks using hamexam, just did like 20-30 questions a day and by the end i was consistently getting 85 or above on the practice tests. the actual exam felt easier than the practice ones weirdly enough.

the impedance stuff does trip people up but if you just remember that 50 ohms is your friend for most coax situations and know the basic ohms law stuff youll be fine. after you get your ticket and actually start using HF it all starts making more sense anyway when you see it in practice. good luck, general is totally worth it, 40m alone has kept me busy for months

A month is definitely doable, maybe even less if you put in consistent time. I used the ARRL General Class license manual when I upgraded and I thought it was worth going through at least the chapters on propagation and operating practices even if you just skim the math heavy sections. Understanding why HF works the way it does made the whole thing more interesting to study for.

One thing I'd add - once you pass, don't wait too long to actually get on HF. A lot of new generals buy a radio and then spend six months tweaking antennas before they ever actually call CQ. Just get on 40 meters in the evening, find a frequency that sounds clear enough, and start talking. You'll learn more in two hours of actual operating than you will reading about it. The bands are pretty decent right now with the solar cycle so its a good time to upgrade.