Now You're Talking was a very early version of the current ARRL Technician's License manual. I'd stick with something current. Not saying the ARRL or W5YI/Gordon West books arn't useful, but they are a little deep considering the material covered on the test. I'd try the KB6NU guides and practice tests and flashcards on hamstudy.org. I think the ARRL Operating Manual is a better refference for new hams and would be just as useful after passing the test as before passing the test. Hold off on buying it right away thought. Odds are a couple of weeks after passing the tech exam the ARRL will send you a coupon for a free copy if you join for a year. The book on it's own is ~$25-30 and a year of ARRL membership is $39 plus you'd get a year of QST and access to the back catalog.
HAM study guide
- Thread starter BurbanAZ
- Start date
Now You're Talking was a very early version of the current ARRL Technician's License manual. I'd stick with something current. Not saying the ARRL or W5YI/Gordon West books arn't useful, but they are a little deep considering the material covered on the test. I'd try the KB6NU guides and practice tests and flashcards on hamstudy.org. I think the ARRL Operating Manual is a better refference for new hams and would be just as useful after passing the test as before passing the test. Hold off on buying it right away thought. Odds are a couple of weeks after passing the tech exam the ARRL will send you a coupon for a free copy if you join for a year. The book on it's own is ~$25-30 and a year of ARRL membership is $39 plus you'd get a year of QST and access to the back catalog.
03rubicon
Adventurer
Flash cards are where its at. I was in a time crunch to get mine done as there isn't another test between now and when I'm doing a big trip but using the flash cards on my cellphone when I got a chance, 20-30 questions at a time, it was great. The Hamstudy.org place was great because it would also recognize the ones you got wrong and give them to you again a few questions later so you knew the answer and could feel confident about it. I took and passed mine yesterday after about a week of flash card studying.
87Warrior
GP'er
I got my Tech just over a month ago and found the test really simple. I read through the ARRL Tech book then went to QRZ.com and took all of the study tests for each concept. If you learn by memorization, you could simply take the online tests over and over to learn what the right answers are. Remember, the study questions are actual test questions. I am a conceptual learner so I had great luck reading the book first then doing the study questions.
expedition4x4
Explorer
I used the ham whisperers tech guide
BurbanAZ
Explorer
So far I've been reading through the material on the ARRL site, then going through the flash cards on HamStudy.org. I only have till the expo to study so I basically just decided to stick with these 2 things. I really like how the HamStudy.org seems to recognize the material that you know well and re ask questions that you missed a little later.
Has anyone gotten their licenses though the overland expo? Or has anyone been in the class? It said to study before so I'm not sure if it's just a test or a little class first or what. Also with the tech test, how many questions about? Or do they just test you on everything and you get the highest level you passed.
Sorry for all the questions but this is like a whole new world for me, I'd like to kind of have some idea of what the test is like.
Has anyone gotten their licenses though the overland expo? Or has anyone been in the class? It said to study before so I'm not sure if it's just a test or a little class first or what. Also with the tech test, how many questions about? Or do they just test you on everything and you get the highest level you passed.
Sorry for all the questions but this is like a whole new world for me, I'd like to kind of have some idea of what the test is like.
mm58
Observer
The exam is 35 multiple choice questions, randomly selected from a pool of around 600. There are 3 - 4-5 or maybe 6 questions each that deal with a specific area. E.g., safety, band privileges, circuitry, antennas, operating discipline, etc.
The exam is not timed, and they will let you know right there if you passed or not.
The exam is not timed, and they will let you know right there if you passed or not.
The Ham Test Prep app is what I used as well. I did a quick skim of the no nonsense guide and then started do the practice exams using the Ham Test Prep app whenever I had a couple minutes to spare like on the toilet and such. I did another skim back through the no nonsense guide before my exam. I didn't have any prior radio experience and I ended up with a perfect score on my tech exam. I almost passed the general exam too. I will most definitely use the same method when I decide to take my general exam again.
Yes, it's the same bank of questions. And unless they added a lot more questions, the pool is ~350-400. General is about the same. The extra has a question pool of 700 or so.
And technically, I think you can mis every technical question and still pass. I read the ARRL study guide cover to cover, and fretted a lot, and two days before the test I realized it wasn't hard, so I dropped studying the tech questions, and studied the general questions for 2 hours for two days, and passed them both. Don't overthink it.
BurbanAZ
Explorer
Yea the technician test was no problem. I just used the HamStudy.org flashcards then took a few practice tests on AA9PW's website. Wasn't a hard test but still glad I was able to study so I didn't worry about it, those 2 sources gave me a lot of good info. Thanks for the help guys, now the fun part of getting a radio set up together for my truck.
BurbanAZ
Explorer
Thanks, I'm excited to get started once whatever they have to process goes through. I'll have to start getting some gear. My plan is to test higher each year at the expo, so next year I'll study and test for general.