Area clubs are delighted to offer testing to anyone interested in obtaining an amateur (Ham) radio license for the first time or upgrading to a General or Extra Class license. This is sometimes called ‘VE Testing’ as it is conducted by approved, Voluntary Examiners. It often requires advanced registration for the testing event so look closely using the links provided below. Details about each license level (or ‘Class’) may be found here.

Bring a photo ID, a license application number containing your FCC Registration number (FRN) which is available here, and expect to pay a $15 testing fee on-site. Upon passing, you will receive an email from the FCC with instructions for making your $35 application fee payment within 10 calendar days. Soon after, you will receive a follow-up email from the FCC with a link to your new license and you may begin transmitting on the frequencies appropriate for your license.

Many sources suggest that you study 10-20 hours each for the Technician Class license and the General Class license. Both involve a 35 question, multiple choice test which is passed with 26 or more correctly answers. The Extra Class license will require even more time to properly prepare for the 50 question test and many operators choose to get a fair amount of operating experience before pursuing this license. The pool of hundreds of possible questions for each test is available online. See our Test Prep Events page for resources on preparing to take your test