Dave Wickert AE7TD and guest instructors teach FCC amateur radio classes (Technician and General Class). 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 Technician class:
Interested in ham radio? Are you looking to use radio as a means of off-grid communications and in the event of an emergency? Ham radio is a good fit for many situations – including that you are just interested in communications and electronics. The Lake Washington Ham Club instructors will be conducting a Spring 2021 Amateur Radio Technician class for the purposes of preparing you to earn your entry-level FCC Technician class ham radio license.
There is no charge for the class itself but there is a cost for the Technician-class study web service located at http://www.hamtestonline.com (~$25). The Lake Washington Ham Club is a reseller of the Technician-class Ham Test Online Technician web service — go here for more information. There is also a $15 exam fee (to take the exam in-person) or a $10 exam fee (if taken online).
Where:
All sessions will be held online via Zoom meetings. Students will be sent Zoom information once registered. Recordings of the class will also be available for review and study after each session.
When:
- Classes run on twelve Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 7pm to 8:15pm.
- Session dates are: Apr 13th 2021, 15th, 20th, 22rd, 27th, 29th, May 4th, 6th, 11th, 13th, 18th, 20th between 7-8:15pm.
- The exam session will be done online via remote VE session on TBD. Alternative dates around that time will be discussed the first day of the class.
- An optional “How to choose a radio” session will be held after the class to help newly licensed hams select a radio for their particular situation. The session will also include tips and tricks for programming your radio.
If done in-person, each of the training sessions include hands-on work with radios, demos and “nets” with students operating the radios. We try to give a comparable experience in our Zoom meetings where possible.
Class size is limited to 40 persons so if interested, please register early. Students are urged to sign up as soon as possible for the study service http://www.hamtestonline.com to become familiar with the exam format.
To enroll, please contact Ron Poole KF7YHQ, email: snwbird1111@gmail.com or via phone at: 425-625-2112
Registration needs:
Full name
Phone number
Email address
Emergency contact Name and phone number
City of residence
There is no age limit to getting a ham radio license. Kids are welcome to take the course along with their family members. Ham radio is a great family activity.
Depending on availability, existing ham radio operators are welcome to audit the class as a refresher. If so, please include your call sign as part of your enrollment information.
Exam resources available:
Regardless of the study approach taken, as a long term resource, we recommend the ARRL “Ham Radio License Manual” (https://www.amazon.com/ARRL-Radio-License-Manual-Spiral/dp/1625950829/ ) as reference material.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Make sure that you get the 4th Edition of the book. Earlier editions are obsolete. Likewise, when purchasing the resources below (or using them as study aids), please make sure that it covers the latest question pool, i.e. Technician 2018 to 2022. Every four years the exam question pool changes. Some resources are not updated in a timely fashion.
Good general information about ham radio 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?
Other study aids, in addition to our recommended Ham Test Online web service, are:
- HamStudy.org is a great free alternative use as a study aid. Go to: https://hamstudy.org/
- Ham Radio Prep web service is a commercial study aid resource at: https://www.hamradioprep.com//
although it is not our recommended service - “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) — NOTE: Ham Radio Online is our recommended study aid for our Technician classes. It is by far the most successful study aid that we have seen so far and all of our classes use it for drill and practice.
- 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 (this is not recommended — we advise a drill and practice approach of Ham Test Online), are publically available here.
- The current Technician Class exam (valid until 30-Jun-2022) draws 35 questions from a pool of 424 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.
- QRZ.COM practice exams (you must first get a free account)
- eham.net practice exams
- AA9PW practice exams
- hamexam.org
Please check back for updates!
Additional training slides here: