Licensing overview

The current FCC rules specify 3 distinct "elements" of amateur radio licensing exams. By passing successive exams, or taking advantage of more arcane "grandfather" rules, you earn Certificates of Successful Completion of Examination (CSCEs) which document that you have credit for the various elements.

• Element 1 USED TO BE the 5 words per minute CW (Morse code) listening exam. As of February 23, 2007 it is no longer required for any class amateur license.
• Element 2, the Technician exam, consists of 35 questions about the basics of amateur radio operation, safety, FCC rules, etc. You need to answer 26 questions correctly to pass. Element 2 credit by itself gives the licensee certain privileges on amateur VHF (and higher) bands, plus limited privileges on some HF bands. Note: due to Element 1 being dropped, current Technician licensees automatically gain the extended privileges of the "Technician Plus" license on February 23, 2007 without having to apply for a license upgrade.
• Element 3, the General exam, also consists of 35 questions, of which 26 have to be answered correctly. It gives additional privileges on HF bands compared with the Technician class.
• Element 4, the Extra exam, consists of 50 questions, some a bit more theoretical than on the other exams, and 37 of them must be answered correctly to pass. Extra licensees gain access to additional spectrum on the HF bands compared to General class amateurs.

Note: current Technician licensees who have passed Element 3 or Elements 3 and 4 in the past do not automatically gain the General or Extra class privileges because of the elimination of Element 1. They have to present unexpired CSCEs at a testing session and pay the fee to apply for a license upgrade.

There is nothing in the FCC rules that says in which order these exams must be taken. Theoretically one could start with Element 4, then 3 and then 2. But this is highly unusual, and won't get you on the air until you've passed them all... The norm is to take Element 2 (and get on the air!), then 3, then 4.

1. First, exams taken "out of order" give you credit for that particular element only for one year. So if you take Element 3 but wait with Element 2 too long, your Element 3 credit will be wasted.
2. Second, you can keep taking exams at a session for the single $14 fee as long as you keep passing. In fact, the Volunteer Examiners will likely encourage you to take Element 3 if you passed your Technician test, even if you didn't plan to go further. It won't cost you anything, other than some extra time spent with us.

Most examiners will also let you immediately retake the exam you failed; however, this counts as a new "exam session" and will require another payment of $14.

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