Ham

From LUNARwiki

Why Rocketeers need a Ham License...

How to get a Ham License

If you have a very basic understanding of electricity and electronics, you can easily pass the “Technician Class” Amateur Radio License test. It consists of 35 multiple choice questions covering basic theory, operation, safety and regulation. You only need to get 26 correct (74%) to pass. You can take practice tests online. See below for one of the URLs.

The questions are taken from a pool of 510 questions that are published by the FCC (NOTE: the pool is scheduled to change June 30, 2006, so if you are going to take the test after that date make sure your study book contains the new question pool!). All the books listed below contain all the questions and answers. They are organized differently, so you might want to look them over and see which one seems best for you. The Ham Radio Outlet stores in Sunnyvale and Oakland have them in stock.

Web Resources

http://www.radioexam.org/ - practice tests (provided by the folks from Stratofox)

http://www.qrz.com/testing.html - practice tests

http://www.arrl.org – Amateur Radio Relay League, national radio club, publisher of QST Magazine. http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/examsearch.phtml - exam search page on the ARRL website for examiners under the ARRL VEC.

http://www.amateur-radio.org – Sunnyvale VEC and radio club – monthly tests in Fremont, Redwood City, and Sunnyvale

http://www.livermoreark.org – Livermore Amateur Radio Klub, runs the monthly swap meet at Robertson Park and provides examinations

http://wireless.fcc.gov – FCC wireless page http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/index.htm?job=service_home&id=amateur – FCC amateur radio page

http://www.hamradiooutlet.com – Ham Radio Outlet web store, has location and phone numbers of local stores.

Books

Technician Class, Gordon West – All the test questions and answers organized by question. Question, correct answer, and explanation, then on to the next question.

Now You’re Talking, ARRL press – Theory and regulations presented in traditional chapter format, questions, answers, and reference to page where it was discussed listed at the end of the book.

Tech Q&A, ARRL press – Much more terse than “Now You’re Talking”, this book is more closely akin to the Gordon West book above.