Lesson Three
What you need for these lessons
Lesson Three
Things you need for this:
1) You will need a basic scientific calculator. You will need to be familiar with operating normal math functions, square roots, trigonometry and Base 10 Log functions (basic scientific calculators have these functions). A programmable calculator is not acceptable for testing purposes. So, stick with the scientific calculators.
2) A copy of the FCC regulations for Part 97. Previous posts have provided links for that information. (http://www.arrl.org/part-97-amateur-radio)
You may also interactively read the regulations subsections here: http://www.ncvec.org/page.php?id=320
3) You will absolutely REQUIRE to have a desire to learn, ask questions, understand some basic concepts about rules, regulations, antennas, radio theory, electrical theory and other topics related to passing the Technician Class test.
4) You must take and pass the Technician Class written exam (element 2):
• There are 35 questions on the exam. All questions are multiple choice (4 choices).
• Questions only come from the published Question Pool (all possible questions are covered in the pool).
• The number of possible questions for each topic area is fixed and shown for each question group in the test.
• You must have 26 correct answers to pass the exam (no more than 9 incorrect answers).
There are multiple online practice sites with the real test questions previously listed where you can take practice exams. Listed below are a few sites where you can find practice exams:
http://www.arrl.org/exam-practice
https://hamradioprep.com/free-ham-radio-practice-tests/
5) You SHOULD NOT:
• Be intimidated
• think that this is "too difficult" (it's really not)
• think that "ham radio is for geeks or nerds" (it is, but it's also for everyone else!)
6) You shouldn't need a study guide going through these lessons, however, I highly recommend you buy one of the ARRL for the license class you're working on (Tech, General or Extra) as there is information in the books that will be up-to-date for the current question pool (for the most part). The reason I recommend a study guide is that writing these lessons is not simple, and it is time consuming and I might not be able to get one out every day or in a timely manner. In fact, it might be best for anyone just starting to read here to actually study along but feel free to jump ahead as you need too. And you can ALWAYS ASK ME QUESTIONS even if I haven't covered something. Those who find this site AFTER I've finished the lessons for Technician, you likely won't need that guide except as a reference.
7) You should get a copy of the question pool, new as of 1 July 2022.
Technician: http://www.ncvec.org/page.php?id=373
General: http://www.ncvec.org/page.php?id=364
Extra: http://www.ncvec.org/page.php?id=356
All of these question pool links maybe obtained from ARRL as well. The above link is for the body that maintains the question pools however.