When I was 5 years old, my dad took a course covering the ham radio technician class exam. (What is ham radio?) I attended the weekly night classes with him and pretended to follow along and stay awake. Recently, I discovered a copy of the technician class manual along with some of my practice exams. I consider scoring 11/35 and 14/35 pretty good for a kid.
One of my coworkers rekindled my interest in ham radio and encouraged me to take the technician exam. To prepare to pass the technician exam (the entry level operator class), I started by visiting the ARRL website to learn more about it. You must pass a 35 question, multiple choice test covering basic regulations, operating practices and electronics theory, with a focus on VHF and UHF applications. Passing the exam gives you the privilege to transmit on certain bands, designated for your operating class (see band plan).
Luckily, I had an Elmer to help me get my license. In ham radio, an Elmer is a friend who provides guidance or assistance to would-be hams. My Elmer’s name is Doug, an extra class operator who’s call sign is WE6Z. Doug, my Elmer, was an invaluable resource while learning the basics of radio operation.
The ARRL uses a 396 question pool to randomly draw the 35 questions for the technician exams. Thankfully, the ARRL makes the question pool with answers available online to everyone. To prepare for the test, I read through several pages of the questions in the pool. What I found to be more helpful was to take online sample tests. The two websites I used were http://aa9pw.com/radio/ and http://www.eham.net/exams/. Both websites grade the exam and show you the correct answers if you answered incorrectly. For someone like me who lacked an electronics background, my Elmer really came in handy to help me understand why my answers were correct or incorrect.
After you decide that you want to take the test, search for an exam location near you. After I chose a date to take the test, this helped me to buckle down and get comfortable with the test questions. I kept taking the practice tests over and over again until I consistently scored around 85%. To pass the technician exam, you must score at least 26 out of 35.
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