so ive been lurking on this forum for a while and i think im finally ready to actually get my ticket. my neighbor is a ham and he keeps telling me to just do it already. the problem is i dont really know where to start, like do i need to buy a radio first or study first or what. i looked at some websites and theres a lot of information and it got kind of overwhelming. i guess my main question is whats the best way to study for the technician exam and how hard is it really. i work full time so i dont have a ton of spare time but i can probably squeeze in an hour or two a few nights a week. any advice would be appreciated, i dont want to spend money on stuff i dont need before i even know if this is for me

honestly the technician exam is not bad at all, dont let the question pool intimidate you. i used hamstudy.org almost exclusively and passed on my first try with like 3 weeks of casual studying. the site shows you which questions you're weak on and keeps drilling those which is really helpful. the pool is like 400 something questions and the actual test pulls 35 from it so if you use that site enough the real questions start feeling familiar.

as for buying gear before you pass, i wouldnt bother yet. your neighbor can probably let you listen on his setup and that'll keep you motivated without dropping cash. once you get your callsign then you can start the rabbit hole of figuring out what you actually want. and trust me that rabbit hole goes deep lol

i was in the same spot maybe 8 months ago. what got me through it was the Gordon West technician book, its pretty cheap and goes through everything in a way that actually explains why the answers are what they are instead of just memorizing. some people just memorize and pass fine but i wanted to actually understand the stuff especially the electrical theory bits which tripped me up at first.

also check if there are any local clubs near you doing a license class, a lot of them do weekend sessions and some even have a VE session right after so you can test the same day you finish the class. thats how i did mine and having other people studying the same stuff made it way less lonely. the test itself i was way more nervous than i needed to be, it was pretty straightforward