Successfully moving from radio neophyte to passing the FCC Technician Class ham exam isn’t a difficult journey, but just like any journey it helps to have a guide. Below is a list of what I think are the best ham radio study guides.

Once upon a time earning a ham radio license was a daunting task. Learning electrical theory, memorizing FCC regulations, understanding radio-wave propagation are hard enough; but the Great Wall of China, the Grand Canyon, the Bridge Too Far for most people was Morse code proficiency. But February 14, 1991 the FCC gave everyone who had ever dreamed of talking around the globe without wires a great big Valentine’s gift, understanding dits and dahs was no longer required for the entry level exam. The flood gates opened and now there are more than 600,000 amateur radio operators in the U.S.

THE BEST HAM RADIO STUDY GUIDES

On October 19, 2009, an Amber Alert was issued for the county where I live. A seven-year-old girl was missing and presumed to have been abducted on her way home from school. My son and I immediately drove to the sheriff’s mobile command center to help search as volunteers. The scene was chaotic, to say the least. Hundreds of well-meaning neighbors congregated outside of the command center trailer waiting for instructions, but none came. As the frustration of waiting mounted several groups began to self-deploy to search the adjacent neighborhoods.

My son and I set out to retrace the route she walked earlier in the day on her way home from school. We searched behind fences, under slides at the park, in culverts, anywhere we thought a seven-year-girl could hide or be trapped. Occasionally we would cross paths with other volunteers and compare notes, hoping to avoid wasting time duplicating each other’s searches. In many cases, we met people with walkie-talkies. They were working in groups that kept in contact by radio. They explained that they were using ham radios which are much more adept at stable communication than CBs or the walkie-talkies you can buy at many big box stores. Their efforts were being coordinated by someone they called “net control.”

Unfortunately, the story doesn’t have a happy ending. But it was that night that I decided to finally earn my ham radio license so that I could be a part of that team. The idea of being a ham had interested me since the golden years of CB, good-buddy, but I had never known an amateur radio operator (the proper name for a ham) or even seen an amateur radio in real-life, until that night.

The next morning, I Googled “ham radio license” and found that the questions and answers for the test were available online. The REAL questions with the REAL answers! And I found practice exams WITH THE REAL QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

Over the next few weeks I spent hours and hours reading through the questions, rote memorizing, and taking the practice tests until I could score 34 out of 35 questions 5 times in a row. I had a bit of an advantage, though. I had taken electronics in high school, so I knew Ohm’s law and could read basic schematics. But even so, I wasted hour after hour memorizing answers to questions about FCC regulations. Don’t do what I did. There are much easier ways that also build a good foundation for you to enjoy the hobby.

The good news is that the experience led to my development of the Zero to Licensed Ham Cram, but more about that later.

If I had read down the Google page just a little more I would have seen the myriad of ham exam study guides. Some of them expensive and good, some reasonably priced and good, even some free and good, and then the others. Drawing on my ten years plus as an amateur radio operator I’m going to share with you the ones I think are the best. Actually, I think the Zero to Sixty Ham Cram is the best way to prepare for the ham radio exam, but it would be foolish of me to think that everyone learns the way that I teach or to think that some people taking my Ham Cram course wouldn’t benefit from a resource, reference, or study guide written from a different perspective.

Here are the ground rules. Any of the guides I list below are guides I have in my library and would recommend to anyone preparing for the ham radio exam. Essentially, I’m listing the best study guides for the ham radio exam. I think that they all are at least 4 out of 5 stars. This list isn’t to decide which one is the best. It’s to help you decide what is the best ham radio study guide for you.

My goal is to tell you what I like about them, not to slam them. Each of them is written by excellent ham radio operators and experienced educators.

And in full disclosure, I’ll include my own Zero to Licensed Ham Cram in the discussion. And I’ll do my best to be non-biased, because there are somethings missing from my course that are included in the guides listed below. Of course, the Ham Cram isn’t really a study guide, which is why I’m making this list. Any of the guides listed below would make an excellent supplement to my course.

Finally, all of these guides for the ham radio exam are for the Technician Class Exam. That’s the entry level license. Some of the best study guides for the ham radio exam also offer guides for the General and Amateur Extra exams. I’ll mention that where appropriate because that’s a big plus for some people. It helps to have consistency throughout the exams.

(Links to purchase these guides via Amazon are included. I don’t receive any compensation from the authors or publishers, just the compensation from the Amazon Associate program.)

With that being said, here’s my list of the Best Study Guides for the Ham Radio Exam.

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THE ARRL
HAM RADIO LICENSE MANUAL

This is the elephant in the room. The ARRL (American Radio Relay League) is the lobbying body for amateur radio. They have the most resources to throw at a study guide and this book proves it. It’s comprehensive, but written in bite-size chunks. If you’re a bookworm learner, this one is for you. The ARRL Ham Radio License Manual goes pretty far afield from what you need to know for the Technician Class license. And for many people that’s a good thing.

It may be a bit dry for some and reads like a reference manual. In fact, it will serve you well after you earn your license. Most hams that I know have it in their library for years after they earn their license. It’s not really a reference book, though, because it’s missing an index.

The graphics are good and additional material can be found through URL splattered through the book. Some people have complained that it’s cumbersome to have to “leave” the book to access the more in-depth material off-line, but adding that material to the existing 280+ pages in the book would have made Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire read like a graphic novel.

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TECHNICIAN CLASS FCC ELEMENT 2 RADIO LICENSE PREPARATION
BY GORDON WEST

The ARRL might be the biggest player, but Gordon West is largely considered the gold standard of ham radio instruction. “Gordo” is a big personality and a bit over the top for some tastes and it comes across in the book. But there’s no denying his enthusiasm for the hobby. This suits many people just fine because his love of amateur radio is infectious. The text provides plenty of insight into the questions and answers without getting bogged down in the esoteric.

There’s a lot of ham radio jargon throughout the book that might make your head swim, but sometimes it’s best to be thrown into the deep end of a culture and Gordo’s style is definitely ham radio-centric. The good news is that the jargon is understandable in the context and you’ll get a taste of what it’s like to talk with hams in real-life. In that same vein, Gordo’s humor is a bit cheesy, but it represents ham sensibilities pretty well.

As with the ARRL study guide the graphics in this book are good and the graphs and charts are helpful for the visual learner.

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PASS YOUR AMATEUR RADIO TECHNICIAN CLASS TEST
THE EASY WAY
BY CRAIG “BUCK” K4IA

This one is a bit of a dark horse. It’s unique in that it only addresses the CORRECT answer for each question. The premise is that in a four-answer multiple choice exam three out of four answers are wrong and you can reduce your study time by 75% if you only study the correct answers.  Of course, this ignores the fact that understanding the value of non-answers is foundational in education (the teacher in me bristles at that) but the “look at the bright side of life” aspect is intriguing. It’s no surprise that along with the positivity of the teaching approach is the homespun prose of The Easy Way series of books. Some might find the anecdotes distracting from the material but it makes for some entertaining reading.

At first glance it might appear this method is just about memorizing the answers, but the narrative of the first half sets you up for the why behind the what.

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CRACKING THE TECHNICIAN LICENSE EXAM
BY HAM RADIO PREP

Cracking the Technician License Exam is the least well-known in this list, but is included for two reasons.

First, access to their online course is included with the price of the book making it the most interactive of all guides on the best ham radio study guide list. This is a huge bonus. My Zero to Licensed online course at outdoorcore.com is in direct competition with Ham Radio Prep, but I promised to list what I think are the best printed study guides. Our approaches are vastly different, but I’ve got to give props to their approach because several of our students have supplemented their Zero to Licensed experience with “Cracking” and had success, so I have to give them props.

Second, the chapter quizzes are a great way to affirm mastery of the concepts.

I promised that I wouldn’t “ding” any of the guides, but there are numerous typos in “Cracking.” The typos don’t discount the information, but you’ll need to reread a few passages.

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THE NO-NONSENSE TECHNICIAN-CLASS LICENSE STUDY GUIDE
BY DAN ROMANCHIK

Just like Cracking the Technician guide is included in the best study guide for ham radio list for two reasons The No-Nonsense study guide is also here for two, but different, reasons.

First, it covers everything you need to know for the exam, but only what you need for the exam. After all, it’s no-nonsense. The diagrams are clean and understandable and the questions are addressed with the answer and a straightforward explanation. It’s no frills. Which brings me to…

Second, IT’S FREE! And who doesn’t love free stuff? Actually, the printed book isn’t free, but there’s a free pdf version available at the author’s website. Please don’t think of this as a “you get what you pay for” kind of thing. As I said, all of the information you need is included in the guide.

With no regrets, I’ve recommended it as supplemental information for several Zero to Licensed students who wanted an additional study guide on a budget.

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WHY WOULD I LIST THE BEST STUDY GUIDES FOR HAM RADIO WHEN I OFFER MY OWN EXAM PREP CLASS?

Because I haven’t written one, yet. Once I’ve authored the best study guide for ham radio this list will disappear and I’ll disavow any knowledge of ever having mentioned any of them. In fact, I’ll wave a Men in Black memory wiping thingy and no one will have any memory of these, at all.

I’m kidding, of course. There’s no such thing as the memory wiping thingy.

No, really. Now I’m serious. My goal in teaching people to pass the ham radio exam is because I enjoy this hobby and believe in its ability to provide a valuable service in times of disaster. Essentially, the more the merrier. I want anyone that wants to join the more than 600,000 ham radio operators in the U.S. to be successful in passing the exam.

In that regard, it’s absurd for me to think that the Zero to License way is the best way for everyone. Some people learn best by hearing and interacting. That’s the Zero to Licensed approach. I think that Zero to Licensed works best in-person where learners interact with the instructor and each other in real-time. For the on-line version at outdoorcore.com the interaction isn’t real-time, but each lesson includes the direct email address of the instructor to encourage personal contact.

But some people learn best by reading, they’re book learners. Ideally, at Zero to Licensed we suggest study guides to supplement our course. Because we’ve designed Zero to Licensed to be quick (our in-person classes take students from start to passing the exam in less than 24 hours) some of the questions in the pool aren’t directly addressed in the classes. There’s more than enough information in the class to pass the exam, but students can “gild the lily” with a study guide plus add a reference book to their library.

Finally, I respect the work put into each of these study guides. I admire their excellence and I’ve learned that people at the top of their craft aren’t intimidated by the excellence of others. Excellence attracts excellence. I simply ask that you consider Zero to Licensed, either in-person or at outdoorcore.com, in your plans to pass the ham radio exam. But if you choose one of these guides I know you that you won’t be disappointed.

Remember, survival is more than staying alive.

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