General class
Commission's Rules
5 of 35 exam questionsHF privileges and band slices
Which HF bands and slices a General may use, which modes are barred, and what secondary status means.
Antennas, beacons and permitted signals
Antenna height and PRB-1 limits, beacon rules, what you may transmit or relay, and who sets good practice.
Power limits and 60 m rules
The 1500 W and 200 W power limits and how they are measured, 60 m bandwidth and records, and new digital protocols.
VEs, CSCEs and expired licenses
Who can be a Volunteer Examiner, how a CSCE and the AG suffix work, expired-license credit, and remote operation.
Third party, repeaters and ITU regions
Third-party limits, 10 m repeaters, interference duties, ITU regions, and automatic digital stations.
Operating Procedures
5 of 35 exam questionsPhone operating: SSB and sidebands
Explain why SSB is the HF voice mode, pick LSB or USB by band, break into contacts, and set mic gain.
Operating courtesy, band plans and RACES
Share frequencies politely, space signals correctly, follow band plans, respond to distress, and know the RACES rules.
CW procedures, prosigns and Q signals
Use full break-in, read the common Q signals and prosigns, and answer a CQ at the right speed and frequency.
Volunteer Monitors and HF operating
Explain the Volunteer Monitor Program, aim long-path beams, call CQ on HF, and know logs, contest ID and QRP.
Digital modes: RTTY, FT8 and Winlink
Choose the right sideband and frequency for digital modes, run FT8 properly, and connect through Winlink gateways.
Radio Wave Propagation
3 of 35 exam questionsSunspots, flares and propagation indices
Explain how solar activity changes HF conditions, how fast flares and particles arrive, and what SFI, K and A measure.
MUF, LUF and propagation paths
Explain the usable frequency window between LUF and MUF, how far one hop reaches, and short versus long path.
Ionospheric layers, scatter and NVIS
Explain which layer does what, why the D region blocks low bands by day, and how scatter and NVIS fill the skip zone.
Amateur Radio Practices
5 of 35 exam questionsStation controls and receive tools
Choose the right receiver control for each interference problem and explain what ALC, tuner, TUNE and LOAD do.
Test equipment and measurements
Choose the right meter or scope for each station measurement and explain how a two-tone test and antenna analyzer work.
RFI, grounding and bonding
Explain how RF gets into audio equipment, what each sound means, and why ground wires and bonding matter.
Speech processors, S meters, band edges
Explain what a speech processor changes, how S-meter steps relate to power, and where your SSB signal sits near a band edge.
Mobile, portable and solar stations
Explain what mobile antenna parts do, how to power and quiet a mobile radio, and how solar panels charge a battery safely.
Electrical Principles
3 of 35 exam questionsReactance, impedance and resonance
Explain how coils and capacitors oppose AC, what impedance is, and why XL equals XC at resonance.
Decibels, power and RMS
Use dB ratios, add parallel currents, calculate power, and convert between RMS, peak and peak-to-peak to find PEP.
Transformers, series and parallel
Find voltage and impedance through a transformer, and total R, L and C in series and parallel.
Circuit Components
2 of 35 exam questionsBatteries, diodes, transistors and tubes
Explain what limits real components: battery resistance, diode thresholds, parasitic L and C, transistor regions and tube grids.
ICs, connectors and ferrites
Tell analog, digital and microwave ICs apart, pick the right RF connector, and explain how ferrite chokes and toroids work.
Practical Circuits
3 of 35 exam questionsPower supplies and schematic symbols
Explain what each stage of a power supply does, compare rectifier types, and read the symbols in figure G7-1.
Amplifiers, oscillators and digital logic
Explain amplifier classes and efficiency, how oscillators and neutralizing work, and what basic logic circuits do.
Transceiver design, filters and SDR
Explain how SSB is made and received, what filter terms mean, and how DDS and software-defined radios work.
Signals and Emissions
3 of 35 exam questionsModulation, overmodulation and link budgets
Tell AM, FM, PM, SSB and digital modulation apart, see what overmodulation does, and work out a link budget and margin.
Mixers, deviation and intermodulation
Explain what a mixer outputs, work out FM bandwidth and deviation, and know why odd-order intermodulation products land closest.
Digital modes, ARQ and FEC
Choose the right digital mode, read a waterfall, and explain codes, ARQ and forward error correction.
Antennas and Feed Lines
4 of 35 exam questionsFeed line impedance, loss and SWR
Work out SWR from load and line impedance, and explain how line loss and tuners change what you measure.
Dipoles, verticals and wire antennas
Size a dipole or monopole from frequency, and explain how pattern and feed impedance change with height, feed position and radials.
Yagi beams, gain and matching
Explain Yagi element roles, what raises gain and bandwidth, the dBi and dBd scales, and how hairpin and gamma matches work.
Specialized HF and VHF antennas
Choose antennas for NVIS, multiband, receive-only and loop uses, and explain traps, stacking, log-periodics and end-fed feeds.
Electrical and Rf Safety
2 of 35 exam questionsRF exposure rules and evaluation
Explain how RF affects the body, who must evaluate exposure, and how to bring a station into compliance.
Station electrical and tower safety
Explain where fuses, GFCIs, interlocks and lightning grounds belong, and the precautions for towers, generators and solder.