Amateur Radio Extra

About This Test

Amateur Extra is the last of the three licenses and grants every privilege the amateur service has. The exam is 50 questions with 37 needed to pass, and it is the hardest of the three: circuit analysis, complex impedance, digital modes, antenna design and the finer points of the rules.

You must have passed Technician and General first, though again all three may be taken at one session.

Nothing about the Extra exam requires an engineering background. It requires study, and the questions and answers are published in advance, which is what this course drills.

Amateur exams are not given by the FCC. They are run by Volunteer Examiner teams — licensed amateurs accredited by a Volunteer Examiner Coordinator — and there is no exam season. Sessions run all year, in clubrooms, libraries and hamfests, and a great many are held over video link, so you can usually find one within a week or two wherever you live.

Find a session through ARRL's exam session search, the HamStudy session list which is mostly remote sessions, or a coordinator such as Laurel VEC, whose teams charge no exam fee.

**Before the exam** get an FCC Registration Number from FCC CORES. You cannot be licensed without one, and getting it at the door wastes everybody's time. Bring photo identification.

**Costs.** Most teams charge a modest exam fee, and some charge nothing. Separately the FCC charges an application fee when the license is granted; the current amount is on the FCC fee schedule.

**After you pass** the team files the result, and the FCC issues your call sign — usually within a few days. You may not transmit until it appears in the FCC license database.

The question pool this course drills is the official pool published by the NCVEC, and it is valid through 2028-06-30. Pools are replaced on a four-year cycle, and this course follows them.