ok so i've been studying for about 6 weeks now using hamstudy.org and i think im pretty ready but honestly im still nervous about a few things. the electrical stuff makes sense to me now but some of the regulations questions still trip me up, like the ones about what frequencies you're actually allowed to use as a tech. i keep second-guessing myself on those.

anyway the test is saturday at a local club session, i think there's a VE team there. do they give you scratch paper? is it multiple choice the whole way through? i know it comes from the question pool but i dont know how strict the room setup is or like if you can skip questions and come back. sorry if this is obvious stuff i just want to know what to expect walking in

yeah its all multiple choice and 35 questions, you need 26 right to pass. most VE sessions ive seen will give you scratch paper if you ask, sometimes they just have it out on the table already. you can definitely skip around and come back, at least every session ive been to worked that way, just let the VEs know if youre unsure about the process when you sit down.

honestly the regulations stuff that trips people up is usually the band privileges and the part 97 rules around things like third party traffic and stuff. if you're using hamstudy and youre consistently hitting above 80% on the practice exams you're probably fine. the real test feels a lot like the practice ones. just read every question all the way through before picking, thats where most people mess up, they see a familiar phrase and jump at the first answer that sounds right without reading all the choices.

I took mine a few months ago and was super nervous too lol. Honestly the hardest part for me was just finding parking at the place haha. The test itself was way less stressful than I expected. Bring a photo ID and the fee, I think ours was like $15 cash only so double check that with whoever is running the session because apparently it varies.

One thing nobody told me beforehand — when you finish they grade it right there on the spot and tell you if you passed before you even leave the room. I didn't know that so I was kind of caught off guard when they just handed me a CSCE like two minutes after I turned it in. Good luck saturday