You might have been thinking about getting an amateur radio license. If you are like me, the dread of Morse code might have been holding you back. Good news. That requirement has been gone since 1987.

When you are ready for the test, you might want to consider a few things. First is to know the answers to the answer pool you want to be testing for. You can download the pool with the answers at the National Volunteer Examiner Coordinator web site. Some are in PDF format and others are in Word. This will give you the pool from which the questions for the examination are drawn and the answers. It will not explain what the answers mean, however. I clue you in on how to do that in another article.

After your study, you will be ready to find an examination site. There are 14 Volunteer Examination Coordinator organizations which give the exam. They coordinate with local Ham clubs, usually, or other groups who have created a number of volunteers to administer the exam.

The FCC maintains a list of the Volunteer Exam Coordinators and the regions they cover here. You can contact one of them for an examination cycle in your area .

On examination day you must remember to bring a few things. This information is for the person seeking the Technician class license. If you have already taken the test, you know this already.

1. Two forms of identification; at least one must be a picture identification
2. Your Social Security number. If you are like me, you probably do not like to hand out your SSN to just anyone; particularly one you do not know. I have not heard of any incident of identity theft or the like. In lieu of a SSN you can get an FCC Registration Number (FRN). You are going to be issued one anyway, so you might as well get one before you go. You have to have an FRN to do business on the FCC web site. For this you will have to go to the FCC Universal licensing system here. I previously applied for a GMRS license so I had an FRN. Your SSN will not appear on your license. Only the FRN. This is convenient when you go to upgrade from the Technician class.
3. A calculator. The testing volunteer examiners can refuse certain types of calculators. The mathematics for the Technician examination is fairly simple, so you will not need anything really fancy. As long as it is not the programmable computer type, it will probably get through. I used one of those cheap, three dollar solar powered types that you get at the dollar stores. In fact I used the same one to pass the General and Amateur Extra examinations.
4. Two (I would recommend four) sharpened pencils. Make sure that you completely fill in the answer circle on the answer sheet. No dimpled chads please.

Of course there is the customary advise to get a good night sleep the night before the test—like that’s going to happen. I managed a couple of hours sleep before each test cycle I took. I did, however, steer away from cramming.

Later on I will try to give you some study techniques that I learned along the way that helped me actually learn some of the stuff along the way.