Dave Wickert AE7TD, Horace Hamby N7DRW, and guest instructors teach FCC amateur radio classes (Technician and General Class) to students. A Technician class license allows amateurs to use radio frequencies for emergency communications, family communications, personal technology growth, and to make many new friends worldwide. A General license expands upon the Technician license by adding HF frequencies as additional privileges.
Upcoming Sept/Oct 2018 Technician Amateur Radio Class
Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) and Kirkland Emergency Communication Team (KECT) need additional licensed radio operators to work with the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) on a volunteer basis.
There is no charge for the class but there is a cost for the Technician class study service located at http://www.hamtestonline.com (approx. $25.00) and a $15.00 fee for the exam. Classes run for two hours, except Oct 13 which is the exam session (there is no time limit for taking an exam).
Please arrive 30 minutes early for the first class. All classes will be held at the City of Kirkland Maintenance Center (at 915 8th Street, Kirkland WA 98033).
The class schedule is:
Tuesday, Sept 25: 7-9 pm
Thursday, Sept 27: 7-9 pm
Tuesday, Oct 2: 7-9 pm
Thursday, Oct 4: 7-9 pm
Tuesday, Oct 9: 7-9 pm
Thursday, Oct 11: 7-9 pm
Saturday, Oct 13 (Exam): 11 am (there is no time limit for the exam session)
Class size is limited to 30 persons so if interested, please register early. Students are urged to sign up as soon as possible for the study service to become familiar with the format. Please send your information to Ron Poole, snwbird1111@gmail.com or call him at to 425-625-2112. The following information is necessary for enrollment:
(1) your full name,
(2) your email address,
(3) your phone number,
(4) a name for emergency contact and their phone number,
(5) city of residence (you do not need to live in Kirkland to take this class).
While the class is open to anyone interested in acquiring a FCC Amateur Radio Service Technician license, this is a City of Kirkland program.
Exam resources available:
Regardless of the study approach taken, we recommend the ARRL “Ham Radio License Manual” (https://www.amazon.com/ARRL-Radio-License-Manual-Spiral/dp/1625950829/ ) as reference material. Feel free to purchase and study beforehand if you like.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Make sure that you get the 4th Edition of the book. Earlier editions are obsolete. Likewise, when purchasing the resources below, make sure that it covers the latest question pool, i.e. 2018 to 2022. Some resources are not updated in a timely fashion.
(Note: without any commercial endorsements, everyone learns differently)
- “No-Nonsense Study Guides” http://www.kb6nu.com/study-guides/
- Ron Hashiro’s web site provides: (1) Excellent cheat sheet study guides, (2) Pointers to the full set of videos from the Hermosa Beach Valley Ham School (8 sessions with multiple parts in each) http://www.qsl.net/ah6rh/am-radio/license-tech/
- Dave Casler’s set of 38 well-produced videos that cover the entire ARRL Technician Book — this is a great additional resource if you are going to use the ARRL material.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaBtYooQdmNzq63eID8RaLQ - ARRL materials: http://www.arrl.org/courses-training (both free and commercial products)
- Gordon West Radio School: http://www.gordonwestradioschool.com/ (book available on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/2018-2022-Technician-Class-Gordon-West/dp/0945053908/ + online resources with drill and practice software and audio course: http://www.w5yi.org/ “Technician Value Package
- Ham Radio School: http://www.hamradioschool.com/ (book available on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/HamRadioSchool-com-Technician-License-Course-Turner/dp/1477595457/ + online resources); again, make sure you order the 2018-2022 edition of the book for the latest question pool information. If you are going to use the book, purchasing the app for $5 is a good investment as the app’s practice tests point to the book page number.
- Ham Test Online: http://www.hamtestonline.com (commercial product), or
a similar non-commercial version is available at: http://hamexam.org - Ham University: http://www.hamuniversity.com (commercial product)
- Podcast w/ technician class exam material: (audio, non-commercial)
http://myamateurradio.com/become-a-ham/2010-2014-us-technician-class-amateur-radio-exam-audio-review/ - QRZ Online practice tests: http://www.qrz.com/ht/ (free)
- W5YI Ham Instructor resources: http://www.haminstructor.com/ (sample instructor materials)
If you want to bypass the training and go to the actual exam questions, which are publically available:
- The current Technician Class exam (valid until 31-Jun-2018) draws 35 questions from a pool of 426 possible questions, available here:
http://ncvec.org/page.php?id=362 - For pointers to all of the available ham exams, and more information on the Volunteer Examiner program, look here: http://www.arrl.org/question-pools
Amateur License Practice Testing Sites
ARRL now features a web site with free practice tests for the amateur radio license exams. Check out this article. 
These sites feature free practice tests for the amateur radio license exams.
- Hamilton KD0FNR practice exams
- QRZ.COM practice exams (you must first get a free account)
- eham.net practice exams
- AA9PW practice exams
- hamexam.org
Good information about ham radio, in general, is available at:
- Ham Radio for Dummies, 3nd Edition (May 2018)(book)
https://www.amazon.com/Ham-Radio-Dummies-Computer-Tech/dp/1119454840/ is an excellent resource to answer the “Why Ham Radio?” question. After you get a license, what can you do with it?
Please check back for updates!
Additional training slides here: