Common questions

Amateur radio - "ham radio" - is a hobby where licensed operators use radio equipment to talk to other operators, from across town to the other side of the world, without relying on the phone network or the internet.

Pass a multiple-choice exam covering basic radio theory, the regulations and good operating practice. The FCC then issues your license and callsign, and you are on the air. The four steps are here.

The license shows you understand the technical side, the legal side and how to avoid interfering with other services. Transmitting without one is illegal, and it can be unsafe: once you are working with higher power, coax and antennas, knowing how the three fit together protects both you and your equipment.

Your name, mailing address, callsign, license class and FRN are all public in the FCC database, and lookup sites copy them. Your Social Security number, email address and phone number are not. You are free to file a PO box or work address instead of your home address - here is exactly what gets published.

A transceiver and an antenna. Most people begin with an inexpensive handheld radio and its supplied antenna; larger stations come later, if you want them at all.

No. Plenty of operators are here for the experimenting - digital modes, building antennas, bouncing signals off satellites, the ionosphere or even the moon, and seeing how far a few watts will go.

Yes, and it is one of the reasons the service exists. When phones, power and internet fail, amateur operators provide backup communication for first responders, hospitals and relief agencies.

No. The Morse code requirement was removed in 2007 and no US license class requires it. Plenty of operators still learn it because they enjoy it, but it is entirely optional.

The Technician exam is 35 multiple-choice questions and you need 26 correct. The complete question pool is published in advance, so you can practice on the exact questions. Most people pass after two to four weeks of casual study.

None at either end. Children as young as five have passed the exam, and people take it for the first time in their eighties.

Study materials can be free. There is a modest exam session fee and a separate FCC application fee for a new license. A usable handheld radio is inexpensive. The license then lasts ten years, and renewing carries the FCC application fee again.

No. Many people pass first and buy a radio afterwards - and local clubs will usually let you try their equipment before you spend anything.

Yes. Many volunteer examiner teams run remote sessions over video as well as in-person ones. Both appear in the session listings.

An FRN is your FCC Registration Number - the identifier the FCC uses for you. Register for free in the FCC's CORES system before exam day and bring the number with you, because the exam team needs it to file your license.

Not to start. A handheld radio with its own antenna will get you onto local repeaters. If you later want worldwide contacts, even a simple wire strung up in an attic can work, and there are discreet options for people with restrictions on outdoor antennas.

Yes. Your callsign, name and the address you registered are part of the public FCC license database. Many operators use a PO box or a business address if they would rather not publish a home address.

You can talk to other licensed amateurs worldwide, subject to the rules of both countries. Amateur radio is not for business use, and you cannot use it to talk to unlicensed people on ordinary phones or radios except in an emergency.

Nothing happens. Many teams let you retake it the same day, usually for another fee, and you can retake it as many times as you need.

Local clubs are the fastest route - most run a weekly on-air get-together and welcome brand new operators. USNARA can point you at activity in your area.

Contacts all over the world, a license to experiment with electronics and antennas, a useful skill when the normal networks fail, and a community that is unusually happy to teach a newcomer.