so ive been wanting to get into ham radio for a while now and finally decided to just go for it and take the technician exam. problem is i have no idea where to start with studying. i downloaded something called the question pool but theres like 400+ questions and i dont know if i need to memorize all of them or what. a friend told me just use ham study dot org and youll be fine but another guy at a local club meeting said i need to actually understand the material not just memorize answers. which is it? also some of the electrical theory stuff is kinda going over my head, like the ohms law stuff isnt too bad but then theres stuff about capacitors and inductors and i honestly have no clue. is there like a good book or video series someone can recommend that actually explains it in plain english? i really dont want to spend a ton of money on this before i even know if ill like it

honestly your friend isnt wrong about ham study, i used it and passed on my first try without reading a single book. the way the tech exam works is the actual questions on your test come directly from the published question pool, so if you can answer all the pool questions you will pass, its literally that simple. that said i do think understanding the basics helps because once you get your license youll actually want to know what youre doing when you get on the air. for the electrical theory stuff i just watched some youtube videos, W4EEY has some decent ones i think, or just search technician exam prep and youll find plenty. dont overthink it, most people pass this thing in a few weeks of casual studying, its not like an engineering exam or anything

the ARRL technician manual is the classic recommendation and its not that expensive, maybe 30 bucks or so, but truthfully you dont need it. i elmered a bunch of new hams over the years and what i tell everyone is do the ham study flashcard thing every day for like 20 minutes and pay special attention to anything you get wrong, then look that topic up so you actually get why the answer is what it is. the pure memorization approach works fine for passing but you'll be confused when you actually try to do anything on the radio. the capacitor and inductor stuff you mentioned, you really only need to know the basics for the test, like which one does what in a circuit, you dont need to go deep into the math. FCC regs section is what trips people up more than the theory honestly, just make sure you know the band priveleges for tech class and the rules around repeater operation and youre mostly set