Civilian Skills
Free
Ham radio, also called amateur radio, is a licensed radio service for learning, experimenting, talking with other licensed operators, and helping during emergencies. This course starts at zero and prepares you for the current FCC Technician exam and your first legal radio contact.

What you will be able to do

  • Apply the FCC rules that control a Technician station.
  • Choose a legal band, frequency, mode, power level, and contact procedure.
  • Explain how radio waves, radios, antennas, feed lines, and simple circuits affect a signal.
  • Solve the small set of electricity and radio-math problems on the exam.
  • Find common station problems and choose safe fixes.
  • Recognize electrical, battery, tower, lightning, and radio-frequency hazards.

How the course teaches

Every technical term is defined the first time it appears. Short explanations lead into worked examples, decision practice, and realistic operating situations. Each teaching lesson ends with a low-stakes practice quiz for feedback and a separate graded quiz for proof. Important ideas return later so you remember them instead of cramming them once.

Current source basis

The course follows the NCVEC 2026-2030 Technician Class question pool with the February 19, 2026 errata and current 47 CFR Part 97 rules. The real Element 2 exam has 35 questions and requires 26 correct answers to pass.