How to study for the Technician exam in two weeks
A day-by-day, 14-day study plan for the 2026–2030 ham radio Technician exam: what to learn each day, the math you need, and how to know you're ready to pass.
By Jared, KG5OSL, licensed ham and creator of My HAM Hub · November 3, 2026
Two weeks is plenty of time to pass the Technician exam if you study a little every day. The exam is 35 multiple-choice questions, each drawn from a public pool of 409, and you need 26 right. Here's a day-by-day plan for the 2026–2030 question pool, about 30 to 45 minutes a day.
The plan in a nutshell
- Days 1–11: learn the 35 question groups, a few a day: read a short lesson, then answer its questions.
- Every day: start with 10 minutes of reviewing what you missed before.
- Days 7, 12 and 13: full practice exams.
- Day 14: take the exam, once you're scoring 30 or more out of 35 on practice exams.
How to study each day
- Warm up with your misses (10 minutes). Go back over the questions you got wrong in earlier days. Spaced review like this is what moves answers into long-term memory.
- Learn the day's groups (20 to 30 minutes). Read a short explanation of each topic, then answer its questions right away, while it's fresh.
- Read why, not just what. After each question, read why the right answer is right. It's what gets you through a reworded question on exam day.
- Stop while it's still working. A focused half hour beats a tired two hours.
The My HAM Hub Technician course is built around this: a short lesson page, then its questions, an explanation for every answer, and a Smart Drill that brings back the questions you miss most.
The 14-day plan
Each day lists the question groups to learn. Tap a group's name to open its lesson.
| Day | Learn | Also |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | FCC rules part 1: who makes the rules, your frequencies and power, licenses and call signs | Get your FRN in FCC CORES. |
| 2 | FCC rules part 2: what you can transmit, control operators, identification and repeaters | Review Day 1 misses. |
| 3 | Operating: repeaters and band plans, tones and digital voice, nets and emergencies | Look up exam sessions near you. |
| 4 | How signals travel, wavelength and frequency, beyond the horizon, station setup, operating controls | A lighter day: these groups are short. |
| 5 | Electrical basics: current, voltage and power, metric prefixes and decibels | Write the prefixes on a card. |
| 6 | The math: capacitance, inductance and power, Ohm's law | Give this day an extra 15 minutes. |
| 7 | Review day | Drill all your misses, then take your first full practice exam. Don't worry about the score yet. |
| 8 | Components: parts and batteries, diodes and transistors, schematics, common circuits | |
| 9 | Equipment: inside a transceiver, interference, SWR and coax, meters and soldering | |
| 10 | Signals and modes: modulation, satellites, contests and internet linking, digital modes | Book your exam session for Day 14 or soon after. |
| 11 | Antennas, feed lines, and safety: electrical, towers, RF exposure | That's all 35 groups. |
| 12 | Drill your misses | Take one or two full practice exams. |
| 13 | Practice exams | Keep going until you score 30+ three times in a row. Review your weakest groups. |
| 14 | Exam day | A quick warm-up drill, then go pass it. |
Falling behind is fine. Push the exam back a few days rather than cramming: the plan works because of the daily review, not the deadline.
The math (it's less than you think)
Only a handful of questions involve math, and they use a few simple formulas:
- Ohm's law: voltage = current × resistance (E = I × R). If you know two, you can find the third.
- Power: power = voltage × current (P = E × I).
- Wavelength: wavelength in meters = 300 ÷ frequency in MHz. That's why 146 MHz is called the "2 meter" band.
- Metric prefixes: kilo (1,000), mega (1,000,000), milli (1/1,000) and micro (1/1,000,000). Most "convert this" questions are just moving the decimal point.
The Ohm's law lesson and the metric prefixes lesson walk through them with the real exam questions.
How to know you're ready
- Practice scores: 30 or more out of 35 on three full practice exams in a row. The pass mark is 26, so that gives you a cushion for nerves.
- Coverage: you've seen every question group at least once, not just the easy ones.
- Chance of passing: the My HAM Hub course estimates your chance of passing from how well you know each group. When it's 80% or higher, you're in good shape.
The day of the exam
It's less stressful than you'd think. When I took mine, the examiners were friendly and welcoming, and after I finished the Technician exam they encouraged me to go ahead and take General the same day. While I did not pass the General exam, I was surprised at how close I was able to come without studying for it. If you're scoring well on General practice questions too, it's worth asking about.
- Do a short warm-up drill in the morning, not a cram session.
- Bring a photo ID, your FRN, the session fee and a pencil (and a basic calculator if allowed).
- Read every answer choice before choosing. The exam shuffles the order, so don't go by the letter you remember.
- Skip a question you're stuck on and come back to it.
After you pass, the FCC emails you about the $35 fee. Here's the whole licensing process, step by step, and what it all costs.
Ready for Day 1?Start the first Technician lessons free. No account needed. Try it freeQuestions people ask
Can you really pass the Technician exam in two weeks?
Yes. Thirty to forty-five minutes a day for two weeks is enough for most people, because every question comes from a public pool and the exam only asks one question from each of 35 groups. Some people take longer, and that's fine: book your exam once your practice scores say you're ready.
Should I just memorize the answers?
Memorizing alone is fragile: the answer choices are shuffled on the real exam and a question can look different than you remember. Learning why each answer is right takes about the same time and holds up much better.
What's the hardest part of the Technician exam?
For most people it's the electrical math and components (Ohm's law, power, metric prefixes and schematic symbols) and the exact band edges in the FCC rules. They're a small share of the exam, so give them extra practice but don't let them stall you.
What score do I need?
26 correct out of 35, which is 74%. Aim for 30 or more on practice exams before your real one.
Is a calculator allowed?
Usually, yes, a basic calculator with its memory cleared, but check with your exam team. The Technician math is simple enough to do on paper.