FCC Amateur Radio Licenses
Study Guides & Video Courses
Technician, General, and Amateur Extra Class
Amateur radio (most people call it ham radio) is a federally licensed radio service that lets you communicate person-to-person using nothing but a radio and an antenna. No internet. No cell towers. No monthly bill.
There are three license levels: Technician, General, and Amateur Extra Class. Each one opens up more of the radio spectrum and more of what you can do on the air. You can stop at any level. Most people start with Technician, get on the air, and decide from there whether they want to go further.
Why Amateur Radio?
Not sure which license fits your situation?
Call Charlie at (310) 704-8373. He’ll tell you exactly what you need.
It works when everything else doesn’t. Cell phones run on towers. The internet runs on cables and data centers. When a hurricane, wildfire, earthquake, or flood knocks out the infrastructure those systems depend on, they go down, sometimes for days, sometimes for weeks. Amateur radio doesn’t depend on any of that. A licensed operator with a radio and a power source can communicate across town or across the country when every other option has failed.
It connects you to a community of people who take radio seriously. As of early 2024, there are approximately 775,000 active licensed amateur radio operators in the United States. There are over 2,800 active clubs across the country. On any given day, operators are making contact with each other across states, across continents, and through satellites.
It puts a real skill in your hands. Understanding how radio signals travel, how antennas work, how to operate equipment under pressure — these aren’t just exam topics. They’re practical skills. Licensed operators volunteer at public safety events, support search and rescue operations, and serve as the communications backbone for marathons, bike races, and disaster response teams. FEMA’s CERT program actively encourages members to get licensed. ARES and RACES, the two main organized emergency communications groups, only accept licensed operators. If you want to participate in organized emergency response rather than just watch it happen, the license is your entry point.
And it’s more accessible than most people think. The Technician exam is 35 multiple-choice questions. You need 26 correct to pass. The FCC publishes every question that might be on the test in advance. There is no age minimum. There is no U.S. citizenship requirement. The FCC application fee is $35, and most exam sessions charge a small additional fee. The license is valid for 10 years and renewable.
Emergency Communications: The Practical Case for Getting Licensed
When everything else goes down, amateur radio still works.
Cell networks go down in major disasters. They get overloaded within minutes of a significant earthquake or storm. Internet infrastructure follows. Power goes out. The systems most Americans rely on to communicate suddenly don’t work — sometimes for hours, sometimes for days.
Amateur radio is independent of all of it. No cell towers. No internet connections. No fiber cables. Just radio waves and operators who know how to use them.
During the July 2025 Texas floods, ARES teams embedded with search-and-rescue squads, passed health-and-welfare messages to anxious families, and supported Red Cross shelter operations. Every one of those operators was a licensed amateur — a volunteer who had studied for an exam, passed it, and showed up when it mattered.
FEMA’s CERT program actively encourages members to get licensed. ARES and RACES only accept licensed operators. To participate in organized emergency response you need your license.
Getting your Technician license makes you someone who can help. Your General license expands the range of that help to cover wider geographic areas using HF frequencies. Both licenses together make you a meaningful asset to your local emergency management organization, your neighborhood, and your family.
How the Three Licenses Work
Amateur radio licensing is a ladder. You start at Technician, and each level up gives you access to more of the radio spectrum and more operating modes. You take the exams in order — Technician first, then General, then Amateur Extra — but there’s no requirement to keep going. Plenty of operators spend years at Technician and are perfectly happy there. Others pass all three in the same session.
Here’s what each level means.
Technician Class License
The entry point. Where almost everyone starts.
What it is: The Technician Class license is the first step in amateur radio licensing. The privileges of a Technician Class operator license include operating an amateur station that may transmit on channels in any of 17 frequency bands above 50 MHz with up to 1,500 watts of power. That covers the VHF and UHF bands — the frequencies most commonly used for local and regional communication through repeaters, which are radio relay stations that extend your range significantly.
Technician operators also have some HF privileges — specifically on portions of the 10-meter, 15-meter, 40-meter, and 80-meter bands — which gives beginning operators a taste of longer-distance communication while they learn the ropes.
What you can do with a Technician license:
- Communicate locally and regionally through VHF and UHF repeaters
- Talk to other operators in your area using a handheld radio the size of a walkie-talkie
- Participate in emergency communications groups like ARES and RACES
- Support public service events — marathons, parades, disaster drills
- Get on the air and start building your skills before deciding whether to upgrade
- Communicate through amateur satellites in orbit
Who gets a Technician license: Most new amateur radio operators start here. It’s the right license if you want to get on the air locally, get involved in emergency preparedness, or simply start learning radio from the ground up. There’s no prior experience required, and no electronics background needed.
The exam: Element 2. 35 multiple-choice questions. You need 26 correct to pass — that means you can miss 9 questions and still earn your license. The question pool is published by the NCVEC (National Council of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators) and is publicly available. The current pool is valid through June 30, 2026, with a new pool taking effect July 1, 2026.
Topics covered include basic radio law and FCC regulations, operating procedures, radio wave characteristics, electrical principles, station equipment, antennas, and safety. The exam does not require math beyond basic concepts, and nothing on the test goes beyond what’s in the study material.
General Class License
The upgrade that opens up the world.
What it is: The General Class license is the second level of amateur radio licensing, and it’s the one that changes everything in terms of range. The General Class operator license authorizes privileges in all 29 amateur service bands. Most importantly, it opens up substantial portions of the HF bands — the frequencies below 30 MHz that allow you to communicate across hundreds or thousands of miles using skywave propagation, where your signal bounces off the ionosphere and comes back down on the other side of a continent.
If Technician gets you talking across town, General gets you talking across the world.
What General class adds over Technician:
- HF phone (voice) and digital privileges on the 160, 80, 40, 20, 17, 15, 12, 10, and other meter bands
- Access to frequencies used for cross-country and international communication
- Ability to participate in HF nets and emergency communications across wide geographic areas
- Full privileges on several bands that Technicians can’t use for voice
The only portions of the HF bands not available to General class operators are small segments on 80, 40, 20, and 15 meters — those are reserved for Amateur Extra Class holders.
Who gets a General license: Technicians who want to reach further. Operators interested in talking to people in other states, other countries, or participating in long-range emergency communications networks. Anyone who wants to explore the most interesting part of the amateur radio spectrum — the HF bands, where propagation is unpredictable, fascinating, and capable of carrying your signal to places you wouldn’t expect.
The exam: Element 3, in addition to Element 2 (Technician). You must hold or pass the Technician exam before earning the General. Element 3 is another 35 multiple-choice questions — same format, same pass score of 26 correct. The current General question pool has approximately 429 questions across 10 subject areas and is valid through June 30, 2027.
Topics covered include FCC regulations and commission rules at the General level, operating procedures for HF, radio wave propagation, amateur radio practices, electrical principles, circuit components, practical circuits, signals and emissions, antennas and feed lines, and electrical and RF safety. The exam is more technical than Technician, but the entire question pool is published — nothing will appear on your test that isn’t in the study material.
A note from your instructor: You do not have to receive a perfect score to earn your General license. The FCC allows you to miss 9 questions and still pass. It’s designed to confirm you know the material, not to trip you up.
Amateur Extra Class License
The top of the ladder.
What it is: The Amateur Extra Class license is the highest level of FCC amateur radio licensing. The privileges of an Amateur Extra Class operator license include additional spectrum in the HF bands — specifically, the exclusive segments on 80, 40, 20, and 15 meters that General class operators cannot use. Beyond spectrum access, the Amateur Extra carries a certain weight in the amateur radio community. It’s the credential that qualifies you to administer exams for all three license classes as an accredited Volunteer Examiner.
What Extra Class adds over General:
- Access to all frequency segments exclusive to Amateur Extra — the lower portions of 80, 40, 20, and 15 meters where some of the best HF operating takes place
- Full operating authority across the entire amateur radio spectrum
- Eligibility to serve as a Volunteer Examiner for Technician, General, and Extra Class exams
- Recognition as a fully qualified operator at the highest civilian level in U.S. amateur radio
Who gets an Amateur Extra license: Operators who want complete access to everything amateur radio offers. Those who want to serve as Volunteer Examiners and help administer the exam process that licenses other operators. Serious hobbyists who want to push into the more specialized and technical aspects of the hobby — contesting, DX (long-distance) operating, satellite operation, digital modes, antenna experimentation, and operating from rare or remote locations.
It’s not a license most beginners start thinking about right away. But once you’re on the air and getting into it, the Extra becomes a natural goal.
The exam: Element 4, in addition to Elements 2 and 3. You must hold or have passed both Technician and General exams to qualify. The Ham Radio Extra Class exam contains 50 multiple-choice questions. To pass, you must answer 37 out of 50 correctly. That’s still a 74% pass score — the same threshold as the other two levels, just applied to a larger and more technically demanding question pool. The Extra question pool covers advanced regulations, operating procedures, radio wave propagation, amateur radio practices, electrical principles, circuit components, practical circuits, signals and emissions, antennas, and RF safety at a deeper technical level than the General exam.
Charlie Pascal holds the Amateur Extra Class license. When he says the material is learnable, it’s from experience on both sides of the exam table.
How the Exam Process Works
Here’s exactly what happens from studying to getting licensed.
Key facts:
- No age minimum — anyone can be licensed, including children
- No U.S. citizenship required
- No prior radio experience required
- FCC application fee: $35 (paid to the FCC when your license is processed)
- VEC exam session fee: varies by location, typically $15 or less
- License is valid for 10 years, renewable
- You can retake the exam the same day if you don’t pass the first time
Step 1: Get your FCC Registration Number (FRN)
Before you can take an exam, you need an FRN from the FCC’s Universal Licensing System. It’s a free registration online and you’ll use this number when you apply for your license.
Step 3: Find an exam session
Amateur radio exams are administered by Volunteer Examiners (VEs), who are licensed operators accredited through a Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC). The largest VEC in the country is the ARRL. You can find sessions near you through the ARRL’s exam session search tool. GLAARG.org also offers a strong network of exam sessions, including online testing.
Step 5: Your license is issued
Your results are submitted to the FCC by the VEC. When the FCC processes your application, your license grant appears in the Universal Licensing System database. Note that the FCC no longer mails paper licenses. Your official license is available electronically. Most operators appear in the database within a few days to a few weeks.
Step 2: Study
Use our study manual, take our video course, or work with Charlie one-on-one. The FCC-published question pool is the same one your actual exam draws from. There are no hidden questions, no topics outside the study material. You study the published questions, understand the answers, take practice tests until your scores are solid, and then you’re ready.
Step 4: Take the exam
Three VEs must be present at any exam session. You’ll bring a valid photo ID and your FRN. The exam is multiple-choice and graded immediately, so you’ll know your results before you leave the session. If you pass, you receive a Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination, which is valid for 365 days and authorizes you to operate using the privileges of your new license class while your license is being processed.
Step 6: Get on the air
Once you’re in the FCC database, you’re licensed. You’ll have a call sign assigned, a unique identifier you use to identify yourself on the air. That call sign is yours.
How We Help You Pass
Every question pool is public. Every exam is multiple choice. There is no good reason to walk into your exam session without being prepared, and there’s no secret to being prepared beyond working through the material systematically.
Here’s what we offer.
Study Manuals
Starting at $19.99 on Amazon, every manual covers the complete current published question pool for its exam element, with plain-English explanations for each answer. Every explanation is crafted to help you understand what the question is actually asking, because understanding the material is what gets you through the tough questions on test day.
Video Courses
An average of six hours of instructor-led video lessons per license course, covering every element and explaining every topic. Study guide materials are included with all our video courses, so you can follow the textual materials with the video lessons.
1-on-1 Tutoring with Charlie
Sometimes a book or a video isn't enough. Charlie takes tutoring calls and emails — reply time is usually within one business day. This is the same instructor who wrote the manuals and built the courses. When he explains something, it's because he's done it.
About Me
About Your Instructor
Charlie Pascal — call sign WB6CIY — has held his FCC license since 1962. He holds the Amateur Extra Class license, the highest level in amateur radio, and spent more than 40 years teaching both commercial and amateur radio exam preparation. His learning system has helped over 10,000 students earn their licenses.
He wrote the manuals on this site. He built the courses. And when you call the number on this page, he’s the one who picks up. If you have questions about which license to pursue, how long to study, or how the exam process works in your area, call him. That’s what first consultations are for.
