With what is going on in the world today, it may have sparked your interest in amateur radio. With the appropriate license, equipment and propagation, you may be able to contact areas hard-hit by the coronavirus and get on the scene reports. You may realize that it helps in emergency communications locally. You may just want to chat or use it just for communications while camping or hunting. What ever your reason, if you have an interest in an amateur radio license, you can still study for it. There are several resources that may help you prepare for an upcoming exam in your area (if they have not been cancelled).

Let me first explain the licenses. There are three levels. From lowest-to-highest they are Technician, General and Amateur Extra. Most people that have taken our Coconino Amateur Radio Club sponsored classes have been able to get the General license. The Amateur Extra is much more difficult to get and only gives you a few more frequency privileges. The Amateur Extra, however, give you the ability to assist amateur radio in other administrative ways.

There is a separate exam for all three levels of license. The exam fee is $15. This does not pay the people giving the exam. The examiners are all unpaid volunteers. The classes (if held) are also free and run by volunteers. The exam fee pays for the administration of the exam (printing the exam, postage, etc.). When you go in, you must take the Technician exam first. You must bring in a valid picture ID, also. We recommend that you bring a FCC Registration Number (FRN) to the exam. You need this to deal with the FCC and you can obtain it at their web site. If you plan to get a General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) license, you need to get an FRN also. It only takes about an hour to get the FRN, so I always recommend people do it a couple of days before the exam in case you decide not to take the exam. If you do not get an FRN, you must bring your social security number. We prefer the FRN for your security.

When you pass the Technician exam, you can take the General exam free. If you pass that, you may take the Amateur Extra exam free. If you fail an exam, however, you must pay the $15 exam fee to take it again. For example, if you pass the Technician and fail the General, maybe you feel you can pass the General if you had another shot. You have to pay the $15 to retake the exam.

Another point is that once you are licensed, you are under no obligation to join any group or organization to use that license. You may go merrily along calling out on the radio and QSOing. (You will learn what that means when you study) There are obvious advantages, of course, to supporting the ARRL and joining a local Ham club.

By the way, I gave you the information to answer about three exam questions in the above paragraphs.

As of this writing, the Coconino Amateur Radio Club has an exam scheduled for April 18 and Saturday classes starting April 25. This may change depending on current conditions. The Bill Williams Mountain Radio Club sponsors periodic classes in Williams when there is enough interest.

The American Radio Relay League has information on becoming licensed. They also offer books. These books and other resources are available on Amazon, as well.

Another source of information is your smart phone. If you have an Android phone you can search for ARRL Ham Test Prep. That app contains all of the questions and answers (including distracters) for every exam level. There is also an app for Ham Bands that is useful. There are also free apps on Apple. The Ham Test Prep app allows you to take sample exams. However the “STUDY” button is a little misleading. The STUDY button allows you to go through each section of the exam pool and memorize answers. It does not explain the answers. That is where the books and videos mentioned above are useful.

There are web sites on line which offer practice exams, also.

I recommend the videos at http://www.hamwhisperer.com/p/ham-courses.html. The videos cover an outdated question pools, but most of the information is still valid. The updated pools ask some new questions about digital radio and ask some questions a little different, but overall the information is still good. The videos go through each question of the old exam pool give a very basic explanation of the information. The videos on electronics and radio wave propagation, for example, will give you valid information even though the questions have changed. There are some updated questions in the area of radio equipment, but those are minor.

With the plethora of resources available, we still have an uncertain future concerning actual exams. We are hopeful that this situation is resolved by April 18. If it is, you will be ready without the need for classes.