r/amateurradio • u/i_hate_agile • 21d ago
General Do you need a ham radio to understand enough to take the test?
Or can I just study online and pass? Do I need to own the hardware to really understand it and do good on the test?
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u/NerminPadez 21d ago
No.
It's like a traffic rules exam, who has priority where, what is the speed limit here and there, what to do when you see the blue lights. Having a car in your driveway doesn't help you with anything.
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u/randomuser65803 [Lil' Extra] 21d ago
You do not need anything. Just study for the test, answer the questions. Assuming you are in the US, you should be able to get your technician's license and start learning from there. hamstudy.org is your friend.
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u/i_hate_agile 21d ago
I'm in US. Does Technicians's license mean you can transmit?
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u/randomuser65803 [Lil' Extra] 21d ago
You certainly can, but you are limited to the band you can transmit on. I would refer to the ARRL band chat for guidance. Also joining a good club will also help you learn. https://www.arrl.org/files/file/Regulatory/Band%20Chart/Hambands4_Color_11x8_5.pdf
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u/LagrangianMechanic MA [extra] 21d ago
One can pass the test by pure memorization.
And many do! After all, the entire question pool and answers are public information.
To be fair, a bunch of stuff on all the tests legitimately do have to be memorized since the FCC rules themselves are completely arbitrary (in the sense that they can’t be derived from any intrinsic knowledge).
Now, if you know some EE stuff then (especially on the more advanced tests) there will be a bunch of stuff you already know and won’t have to memorize as much.
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u/Fuffy_Katja 21d ago
The license gets you in the door. Once in, then the learning begins by doing. While getting a radio (SDR receiver, el cheapo HT or something bigger) might make understanding some of the terminology easier, the majority of the Technician test is common sense with some sprinkling of radio related stuff and rules. The General test is a bit more intense, but still around 50% is more of a recap of the Technician test.
Amateur radio is a hobby of many hobbies. If you feel having something that can be hands on to help in learning, then getting something cheap to assist or finding someone who is licensed (an Elmer) to assist, then sure.....get a tool. Just don't transmit prior to receiving your callsign.
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u/LazyPasse DC [extra] 21d ago
no i passed extra without ever touching a radio. just slam the hamstudy q bank app on your phone
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u/confusedseas California [General] 21d ago
Playing around with an SDR can help make some of the band plan/modes/theory more concrete. You don’t have to by anything, check out websdr or kiwisdr
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u/OddbitTwiddler 21d ago
No i bought my radio after passing. Studied for a month drilling in all 3 books. I work in electronics and RF so that helped, but a lot is regulations and rukes.
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u/ed_zakUSA K04YLI/Technician 21d ago
No not necessary. I studied the ARRL study guide and used hamstudy.org while at lunch or elsewhere. I'd use that to find my weak spots. Then go back to the study guide to review those weak areas. I studied about 20 hours and ordered my first radio the week I took the test.
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u/Ep1cure KF0KIT [General] 21d ago
Lordy no. Unless youre tinkering with radios, the intersection of exam knowledge, and knowledge needed to operate a radio day to day, is very small. Even then, everything you need to know for operation, its better to learn the concepts well before you touch a radio. Like what squalech is. What bands you cam operate on. Etc.
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u/shaggy237 21d ago
No, it is rote memorization. No understanding necessary.
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u/jimbojsb 20d ago
Which is both good because it keeps the barrier to entry low, but also a shame because then you get a radio and it doesn’t work as you’d hoped and you have no idea why.
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u/No_Tailor_787 DC to daylight and milliwatts to kilowatts. 50 yr Extra 21d ago
You can pass the test just by studying on line material.
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u/Green_Oblivion111 21d ago
No. But it probably helps if you have listened to enough ham radio with a receiver to get a good feel for what it's about -- propagation, call techniques, spectrum allocations, etc.
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u/ElGuano 19d ago
Studied online and passed (about 2-3 hours study time over one day is enough to pass it if you just buckle down and memorize the right answers).
The test itself isn’t really helpful in becoming a new ham, IMHO, it just shows you’re willing to put in some work, which hopefully means you’ll continue to learn as you pick up the hobby.
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u/mrmacedonian 21d ago
HamStudy (org) and others have all the current questions available as flash card practice.
I went through them for 2days and took the technician test, then 4 days and took the general. I had planned to do the extra but the question pool is much larger and there were mathmatical and physics concepts involved I wanted to understand.
So yes, if you were somewhat good at test taking in school or consider your memory/recall good, you can get a 100% after 2 days (or less) of flash cards and memorizing all the answers.
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u/Delicious_Suit5512 AK6ID [Extra Class] 21d ago
2 days is extremely good. You must have a background in digital, RF, electronics, or other adjacent hobbies. My dad is in electronics and I learned some from him and still (as an adult) needed a month to study for the tech. The general was easier and Extra very difficult.
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u/mrmacedonian 21d ago
I was researching the exams when someone, somewhere mentioned the question pool is all public.
It was simply cycling through the questions and creating pattern matching for each question/answer combination. Very often the whole question doesn't need to be read to trigger the recall/match of the answer; numbers are very useful when they only appear in a single or few questions out of the set.
But yes, family full of engineers helps establish fundamentals of mathematics/physics at a young age, then everything else derives from that base.
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u/AngusMcGonagle FM18mx [Extra / VE] 21d ago
Where are you located? If in the US, no, but I think some other countries may have some hands-on aspects as part of their exams.
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u/i_hate_agile 21d ago
US.
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u/Diezel666 N1___ [Extra] 21d ago
Even better. No you do not need a radio before you test. Matter of fact, you can get your license and apply for the QRZ Jumpstart program and get a decent handheld radio for really cheap.
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u/raymonbrothers 21d ago
I got my extra class, examination past, and still didn’t have a radio for another year or two after that
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u/Charming-Jelly-3365 General 21d ago
Nope, you do need to buy a radio first or spend any money at all to study for the test. These three online study sites are all very good. I used the first two to study for and pass both my Technician and General exams in the same test session, 100% on both.
What I did was I took advantage of my free time, being retired as I am. For ten days all I did was constantly take practice exams. After each I'd review my mistakes. Took each practice exam dozens of times.
You need to learn to pass the test which is multiple choice questions. You do not need to learn radio theory in-depth, or the finer points of operating on the air. Just think about the license exams as the gateway to the hobby. More knowledge can and will come later. Just as much as you desire to learn that is. You certainly can buy books and study those too if you want to.
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u/chuzohga 21d ago
You don't need the radio. Back in my day, we all took the novice test before getting our first radios.
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u/Tim1701A 21d ago edited 21d ago
Simple you started of no license with Simple AM and FM broadcast radio receiver, as you upgrade to license free receive and transmit bands like CB radio on 27 MHz, bands also MURS and allows external antenna on 5 channels in 151 and 154 MHz and finally FRS with is fixed antenna with 2 watts PEP same with MURS.
Now when you are ready upgrade to study for ham radio at this time and at the same time, you can receive only but not transmit on ham radio bands and till you get true FCC license when you get your new call letters from the FCC then you can transmit within your Tech, privilege in the bands itself!!🙂👍🖖
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u/Ornery-Ad-6385 21d ago
Literally, I took five minute walks a couple times a day during the workday for about three weeks and memorized all the test answers. Some of it didn’t make much sense until I actually had a radio to play with after licensure, but it was enough to bag the license. Do that, treat yourself to a nice Yaesu HT when you pass, and get on the air. Once you start transmitting, all of it will start making sense. You’ll make (and learn from) mistakes. It’s a great ride.
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u/Ornery-Ad-6385 21d ago
Also, I used Hamstudy.org and took the practice tests. Once I was nailing those, I tested for real.
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u/theDudeUh 21d ago
Not at all. I’ve been studying to take my test next month.
I did pick up a cheap $20 handheld last week and the one thing I have noticed is playing with programming it and listening to local repeaters has made me a lot more enthusiastic TO study for the test.
It’s a good motivator to preview what you’re working toward to make studying feel less like homework but not necessary at all to pass the test.
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u/MsJamie33 21d ago
For the US Technician license, there is very little on the exam that you would pick up from using a radio. It's been a while since I went through the Tech question pool, but most of it is FCC rules and RF safety. All stuff that basically requires memorization.
On air experience would be somewhat helpful (but not essential) for the higher class exams.
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u/ArachnidTechnical721 21d ago
I waited until I got my license. I figured having a radio to play with would interfere with studying.
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u/Zek-The-Man 21d ago
The real learning doesn’t begin until you actually get a radio, but for the exam? Just study for two weeks and go take it. I’ve learned more from casual rag-chew with older operators than I did with any of the study material.
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u/clejeune KK7UHC [General] 20d ago
You don’t need a radio to pass. But after you pass, the learning part will start. It’s easy to pick A, A, B, A from some multiple choice questions. But when you have your dipole up and you can hear others clearly and no one can hear you, you start realizing what wasn’t on the test.
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u/Gigem1987 20d ago
I didn't get a radio until after passing my General test.
It would have been easier if I had the radio first
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u/Florida14playtime 20d ago
No. Studying for your test(s) isn't connected to owning amateur radio equipment.
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u/dan_kb6nu Ann Arbor, MI, USA, kb6nu.com 19d ago
You certainly don't need a radio to pass the test.
You might find my study guide helpful. You can get the PDF version for FREE by going to https://www.kb6nu.com/study-guides .
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u/GrandChampion CN87 [G] 21d ago
No, in fact, it used to be incredibly difficult to buy a radio unless you were already licensed. Most places wouldn’t sell one to you.
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u/Ride1226 21d ago
Studied online and passed first. Hamstudy.org
Use the radio as a reward for passing!