New to Ham Radio

Helpful Links for Beginners

License levels covering the basics for Technician, General, and Amateur Extra License.

Technician and Exam

Tools, pages, and links I used in my journey to prepare and pass the Technician exam.  The exam consist of 35 questions (from a pool of 100+ questions), with a passing score of 75% or greater.

The Chris Jackson Perspective

1. Memorize - It's a shame, but some of the items covered in the exam don't make sense until you are receiving and transmitting, BUT you can't transmit until you have your license.  For me there are things to just memorize and it will make more sense once you starting operating a station.  This is where a current ham (called an Elmer) can really help out.  A big shout out to my Elmer, AC9HP.
   
   

2. Mobile App - Use and learn with the mobile app "Ham Radio Exam - Technician" on Android and Apple, both by Roy Watson (N1ZTL) all for free... what a great guy!  These apps take all 100+ questions in the Technician pool and gives you a chance to study them, take a section exam, and then take a random 35 question exam over everything.  Offered for the three main exam level.
   
   

3. YouTube - Watch and learn with YouTube ham enthusiasts. My top picks:

   1. Ham Radio Crash Course with Josh, KI6NAZ.  A wide range of ham radio topics and entertaining.  As the name suggest, Josh's channel is geared towards learning and taking the various exams.  His Technician Prep playlist is GREAT and covers many areas of the exam with real world examples.

   2. KM4ACK with Jason, KM4ACK (that's obvious from the YT name).  Also a wide range of topics with a "leaning" toward Linux and software.  Been a huge help to me.

   3. Ham Radio 2.0 with Jason, KC5HWB
      
      

4. Cheap Hardware - Order a low cost ham radio and just listen.  It's only illegal to transmit... not to listen.  My suggestions for a low cost radio:

   1. Baofeng UV-5R Ham Radio, around $20 on Amazon - Super cheap, and sometimes a little RF noisey, but so cheap and 100's of YouTube videos on using, programming, and howto docs.

   2. Retevis RA79 Ham Radio, around $40 on Amazon - Same basic insides, but a little nices case and button placement.  Newer to the low cost radios, but nice to operate.
      
      

5. Talk to other Hams