Easy way to pass FCC Amateur Radio licenses

Licenses classes

Technician is intro license, you get a little of everything but it’s pretty limited. General gives you basically everything. Extra gives you everything in general plus a couple of extra frequencies. Biggest gain is being able to be an examiner for all licenses and a short callsign.

The questions are known due to FOIA requests. There are no surprise questions.

Technician has 412 total questions and 35 categories, 26 needed to pass, good until 2026. General has 432 total questions and 35 categories, 26 needed to pass, good until 2027. Extra has 600 total questions and 50 categories, 37 needed to pass, good until 2028.

Only one question is asked per category. For Tech and General, you can get 9 answers wrong and still pass. Which means you can get 9 categories wrong.

Passing the exam

Knowing this, it’s pretty easy to min/max the test pretty easily. I recommend the Hamstudy.org app, which is $5. You can just use the web site but the mobile app is pretty decent. You can buy the book, but I honestly don’t recommend using it to study.

Register on the site, buy the app, install it, open it.

Click on Technician. Click on Study. Click on the gear icon in upper right hand corner. Hit Customization. Check ONE chapter and ONE subsection, and then hit apply. While on the Customization screen, I do recommend Auto Advance, Randomize Questions and Show Answer History. I do NOT recommend checking Randomize Answers. You’ll see the available number of questions.

The Min/Max Process

Start the questions. If you don’t know, hit “Don’t Know” rather than guessing. Guessing blindly can reinforce memory of wrong answers.

If you don’t understand the question, use the “Explain” in the upper right corner. They’re pretty handy and walk you through the thought process. You can also google individual questions. Normally I don’t recommend AI for much, but asking ChatGPT or other AI to explain the question and why the answer is the answer can be useful.

Here’s the trick. Repeat the individual chapter not until you get every question right, but rather until you can’t get any answer wrong. Multiple times in a row. Once I get every question right 3 or 4 times in a row, I move onto the subsection. Once you have all the sub-sections done, do the tests for the entire chapter. If you can do all the questions in the chapter two times in a row with perfect or near perfect score, move onto next chapter.

Now, remember, you can get up to 9 questions wrong and it’s 1 question per subsection. NOT every subsection will be on the test. If a section just won’t stick and you’re limited on time, SKIP IT. I wouldn’t skip more than a few subsections. Skipping 9 subsections is a bad idea. 2 or 3 isn’t. The test is pass/fail, your score doesn’t matter.

When you’re ready

Schedule your test once you consistantly score 80% on a couple practice exams. Once you routinely score over 90%, you’re pretty much guaranteed to pass.

If you’re going for your Tech license, go through the General questions. You don’t have to memorize them or do the same level of prep if you don’t wish to. But you can take all of the exams in one sitting, and it’s the same $15 cost whether you take just the Technian or Technician and General. If you’re scoring a 25% on general practice test, you’re not going to pass the General. If you get around or over 50%, it might be worth putting in a bit of work and trying to pass both. If you don’t pass the General, you’re not out of anything. You can just take it later.

Scheduling the test

You’ll want your FRN from the FCC. If you don’t have it, register for it. Bring it with you on testing day as well. Bring a pen and blank paper with you.

While you’re on the FCC site, register for your GMRS license. No test is required.

Go to hamstudy.org and login

Click on “Find a Session” button in upper right corner of the web site

Put in your zip code next to Located.

Find a location that works for you. Click on it, read any notes about the testing location. Answer any questions.

If given the choice between laptop and tablet, pick laptop.

Random Tips and Tricks

Memorize ohm’s law, and sketch it on your blank paper. Include the terms and units of measure.

Light moves at 300,000,000 miles per second. So to move from frequency to short name, just divide the frequency by 300. 150Mhz is 2m, 30Mhz is 10m.