About these guides
Who I am
I'm Steve, W9AY. I'm a software engineer by trade, and I recently got into ham radio. I actually started studying for the Technician exam on a Friday and passed it on Sunday. Then I began studying for the General exam and passed that on Tuesday. Then I started on Extra and passed it on Thursday, 6 days from zero to full band privileges. I was starting from zero each time and studying after work.
These guides are my notes from that week, cleaned up, along with various tools I find useful. If you spot a mistake in one, just email me and I'll fix it.
What they are
I made PDF study guides for the ham radio exams (Technician, General and Extra) and for the FCC commercial radio exams. Each guide takes the public question pool for its exam, groups the questions by topic, writes a short note on the ideas behind each group, and shows each question with its answer marked.
Where the questions come from
The ham exam questions come from the pools published by the NCVEC, the national volunteer examiner coordinators' group. The commercial exam questions come from the FCC's pools. Each ham guide says which pool it covers and which errata it is current through:
| Guide | Pool | Pool in use until |
|---|---|---|
| Technician Class | 2026–2030 | June 30, 2030 |
| General Class | 2023–2027 | June 30, 2027 |
| Amateur Extra Class | 2024–2028 | June 30, 2028 |
When a pool is replaced I will update the guide.
How a purchase works
You pay through Stripe. When the payment goes through you land on a page with your download button, and I also email you the link. There is no account to make, the link is live so you can download the PDF again later.
Refunds
If a guide does not help you, email me within 30 days of buying and I will refund the full price. There is no form to fill in and no reason needed.
Privacy
This site uses no cookies, no analytics scripts and no ad networks, and its pages load nothing from other sites. Stripe takes your payment and I never see your card. I keep the email address you give Stripe and a record of what you bought, only to send your download link and to answer you if you write.
Contact
Email guides@w9ay.com. I read every message.
Not affiliated with the FCC, the NCVEC, NOAA, or any other organization.