Guides
Plain-language explanations that go with the exam material. Every guide lists its sources, most of them the FCC rules themselves or long-standing amateur radio organizations.
Getting started
What amateur radio is and how to get your license.
- What is amateur radio?What the Amateur Radio Service is for, what licensed operators do on the air, who can get a license, and the rules that set it apart.
- How to get your licenseThe steps from first study session to a call sign in the FCC database, with the fees and rules that apply in 2026.
- License classes and privilegesWhat the Technician, General and Amateur Extra licenses each let you do, with the exact HF segments, power limits and the 2026 60 m rules.
- Choosing your first radioHow to think through a first station without brand advice, from handheld or mobile and antennas to programming, power, feed line and listening first.
On the air
Making contacts, repeaters, digital modes and public service.
- Making your first contactHow to listen, use FM simplex and repeaters, identify correctly and make your first VHF or UHF contact as a new Technician.
- Rules on the airThe FCC rules every operator uses daily, covering station identification, control operators, prohibited transmissions, third-party traffic, interference and emergencies.
- Operating on HFHF operating habits for General licensees, from sideband conventions, CQ calls and signal reports to logging, DX etiquette and the 2026 60 m rules.
- Digital modesAn overview of FT8, FT4, PSK31, RTTY, JS8, APRS, packet, Winlink and digital voice, the rules for data on HF, and how a computer connects to a radio.
- Learning Morse codeWhy operators still use CW, how to learn Morse code by sound, how code speed is measured, and the prosigns and abbreviations you will hear on the air.
- Emergency communicationsHow ARES, RACES, SKYWARN, the National Traffic System and Winlink work, the training they ask for, and what the FCC rules allow in an emergency.
- Working amateur satellitesHow FM and linear amateur satellites work, how to predict passes and handle Doppler shift, and how to make contacts through satellites and the ISS with a handheld.
How radio works
Waves, propagation, antennas and the electronics behind them.
- Radio waves and the spectrumWhat a radio wave is, how frequency and wavelength relate, how the spectrum is divided into regions, and why wavelength sets the size of your antenna.
- How radio signals travelGround wave, line of sight, the ionosphere, skip and the MUF, the solar cycle and space weather indices, VHF openings, and how to check conditions right now.
- Antennas and feed linesHow dipoles, verticals and beams work, how to calculate their lengths, what gain and SWR really mean, and how to choose coax, tuners and connectors.
- Electronics basicsVoltage, current, resistance and power, Ohm's law with worked examples, metric prefixes, series and parallel circuits, reactance, common components and decibels.
Safety
Electrical, RF exposure and antenna safety.
- Electrical and antenna safetyHow electric shock injures, what fuses, breakers, GFCIs and grounding do, and how to handle lightning, batteries, towers and power lines safely.
- RF exposure and your stationWhat the FCC RF exposure rules require of amateurs since 2021, how the exposure limits work, and how to check that your station complies.