Most of you who check the “Ham Radio” section of this website are probably already involved in amateur radio in one way or another. However, since this site is not purely about ham radio, we may get some visitors who are not involved, but may like to be. For them, I would like to take some time to explain how to get started in this hobby.

All of the official rules and regulations can be found at the FCC website, or at least the portion of it dedicated to amateur radio.

The first step down the road to getting your license is to do some learning. There are many print materials available that explain the how’s and why’s and can give the reader a very good understanding of the hobby. I could link to some of those right now, but I don’t want to sell you anything in this post and/or give the impression of recommending any one book.

After learning the material (or to find out what you need to google for if you didn’t buy a book) it would be a good idea to make sure you know what you need to know to pass the test (oh, didn’t I tell you, you have to take a test). Luckily, the FCC publishes the question pool and makes it freely available from their website, but don’t think you can just memorize it. For the entry level (technician) exam there are over 300 questions in the question pool and only 35 on the actual written test.

Aside from downloading the text document containing the questions, there are some popular sites that have interactive practice tests that are somewhat similar to the paper and pencil test you will take to get the license:

QRZ Ham Radio Practice Tests - this one is my personal favorite
eHam.net Ham Radio Practice Exams
AA9PW.com FAA and FCC Exam Practice

Once you are confident that you know the material you must locate an exam session. A session can be located either through an online search or by calling a ham in your area who would be more than happy to help you find out when the next testing session is going to be (use the license search on the FCC website to find a ham in your area).

Show up to the session, pay the fee (varies from place to place but generally less than $20), pass the test, and wait for your call sign to show up in the FCC database.

See, that wasn’t so hard. Now that you are officially a ham radio operator, you need to acquire your first radio.