About and sources
Ham Radio Guide is an independent study site for the US Amateur Radio Service. It is not affiliated with the FCC, the NCVEC, the ARRL, or any Volunteer Examiner Coordinator.
Exam questions
Questions come from the question pools published by the NCVEC Question Pool Committee, which releases them into the public domain. The site is built from the committee's own Word documents, with every published erratum and withdrawn question applied, and the build checks each document's checksum so a changed file cannot slip in unnoticed.
- 2026-2030 Technician Class (Element 2): released December 18, 2025, retrieved October 12, 2026, 1 errata applied, 0 questions withdrawn.
- 2023-2027 General Class (Element 3): released December 1, 2022, retrieved October 12, 2026, 6 errata applied, 9 questions withdrawn.
- 2024-2028 Amateur Extra Class (Element 4): released December 7, 2023, retrieved October 12, 2026, 4 errata applied, 4 questions withdrawn.
Diagrams used by questions are the committee's own figures. FCC rule citations printed with questions link to the current eCFR text.
Band privileges
The band chart summarizes 47 CFR Part 97 as published in the eCFR on October 8, 2026, cross-checked against the ARRL band chart. It includes the 60 m changes that took effect February 13, 2026. Summaries can lag behind rule changes; the eCFR is authoritative. Band plan conventions such as calling frequencies are voluntary and labeled as such.
Explanations
Every question has an explanation of why the official answer is right and why each other choice is wrong. They are checked mechanically on every build: each explanation must name the same answer as the official key, must match the current wording of its question (so an erratum that rewords a question flags its explanation), and must give a reason for every wrong choice. Rule statements were checked against the eCFR text of 47 CFR Part 97 as of October 8, 2026, and rule references in explanations link to that text. Calculations were recomputed. An independent review of a random sample found no rule or calculation errors.
Explanations teach the official answer. Where a pool's printed rule citation is out of date, or a later rule change affects a question, the explanation says so and cites the current rule.
Citations
Facts on this site link to their sources: FCC rules in the eCFR, Federal Register documents, NCVEC, NIST, NOAA, the ITU, OSHA, ARRL and IARU publications, and the official documentation of software projects. Guides also cite specific questions from the official NCVEC pools, whose answers are verified against the published pool documents. Band descriptions follow the ITU-R Handbook on Amateur and Amateur-Satellite Services (2026). Statements that could not be traced to a published source were removed.
Guides and resources
Guides cite their sources inline and list them at the end, and each shows the date it was last checked. Resource links were each opened and checked before being listed.
Your data
There are no accounts, analytics, or tracking. Study progress and settings are saved in your browser's local storage and never leave your device unless you download a backup. The grid square tool reads your location only when you press its button, and uses it only on that page.
Not legal advice
Explanations of the rules are summaries to help you study. When it matters, read the rule itself in the eCFR, and follow the instructions of your Volunteer Examiner team on exam day.