Executive summary: The technician test is simple. A 14 year old can study for it and pass it in a day.
Discussion:
All ham licenses (Tech, General, Extra) are multiple choice tests. The question pools are available for study. The actual tests are given by Volunteer Examiners (VECs). The only thing the VEC can do is select questions and answers, verbatim, from the question pool. There are a number of categories, and each exam must have a certain number of questions from each category. Multiple websites present you with randomly generated tests you can use to study.
The Technician test is 35 multiple choice questions.
There are at least two ways to study for this (and other) amateur radio tests.
For any approach, get the question pool -- they are available for free, on line.
One approach is to read each question, study it, and study the answers so that you understand the material.
The rational approach is to bookmark one of the many web sites that let you take practice exams (35 questions chosen at random, like in a real test) online. Start doing practice exams. Go through the questions as quickly as you can. You are developing memory, short-term memory. When you get to the point that you can go through a practice test quickly with an 85% or better score on a regular basis, you're ready to find a local VEC and take your test for real.
Some of the questions have common-sense answers. When can I transmit music? Never. Should I stick the antenna of my handheld radio in my ear? No.
Then there are picky questions, like: What is the FCC Part 97 definition of a space station? The first time you see this question, you'll look at the answers, guess at one, and maybe get it right. The second or third time you see this question pop up, you'll probably get it right.
And if you're worried you'll never get all the picky definitional kind of questions, don't worry -- look at how the test is put together. Out of the 35 questions you'll see on your test, -n- will come from a particular section, where n is a small number. You'll either recognize those, or figure that since there will only be, say 2 of those on the exam, you'll make it up in other sections.
One VEC group does single-day test sessions for the Technician test. We divide the question pool into sections. Start in the morning with section 1. Read the first question. Take a highlighter and highlight the correct answer. Move on to the next question in that section and repeat. When you get to the end of the section, go back to the start of that section. Read the question and the correct answer. Move to the next question and repeat. Take a break every 40 - 50 minutes and a break for lunch. Midafternoon do the test. This is developing short-term memory, and it works. I've seen pass rates above 90% in a group of 100 or so. I've seen families come in and mom and the two teenagers (boy and girl) pass. Dad doesn't because he was trying to understand each and every question.
Some may grumble that you're not really learning anything that way. And they may be right, but if you want mastery of all the subject matter involved, it's going to take you a long time. As an example, the silly stick the antenna in your ear question? The theory behind RF effects on tissues and SAR limits and how those limits change with frequency is very complex, but can be boiled down to: don't do it; it's not a smart thing to do. You are learning enough to pass the test. Once you get your license, then you start learning.
To a great extent, driver's licenses are the same way. When my daughter (finally) gets her driver's license that doesn't mean I trust her to handle everything that the road and the idiots thereon will throw at her -- it takes time.
My son got his Tech license when he was 12 or so. He talked a bunch of friends into getting theirs in high schoolr so they could use the ham bands (2 meters, 144 MHz) for telemetry for their high-altitude balloon projects. He also surprised me by getting his Extra class license a couple years ago.
This rant is getting long, but I'll mention in closing that in case of an emergency, your cell phone will be useless. The ones that will be able to communicate will be the hams, who have the equipment and the training.
Bug me off-list if you'd like to explore more on this.
Bob K6RTM
