Education : Antenna Seminar | ARRL Forum | Ham Instructor Academy | Kit Building | License Class (Technician) | License Testing | Speaker Abstracts, Biographies

There are no excuses for not getting your first license at Pacificon℠. Rich Harrington KN6FW and Paul Shinn K6FRC will be giving the One-Day Amateur Radio License Class at Pacificon℠. Get your Technician License IN ONE DAY!

A special license test session will be given at the end of the class.

Requirements: 

Registration:
Sign up for the One-Day Technician License Class using the form at the bottom of this page so we can reserve a seat for you. Enrollment is limited to 30 students. If you sign up and later learn that you cannot attend, please notify us as soon as possible so your slot can be used by someone else.  Feel free to use the form below to send in your comments or changes.

You must purchase a Pacificon℠ General Admission ticket to attend this class. This can be in advance or at-the-door. There is no additional charge for the class. Thanks to generous donors to mdarc.org the first ARRL-required $15 fee for taking the license test is covered, if under 18 years old $5 is covered. Additional attempts each require candidate fees.

The FCC will still bill you for $35, which must be paid before the FCC will issue a call sign to you as a Technician. Applicants under 18 can get a $35 refund of the FCC fees from the ARRL.

Morse Code is no longer required to obtain an amateur radio operator's license! See the Ham License Exam page for details.

Class Notes: There is one PDF file this year that you will need to bring with you to class.

Instructions:
1.  Click Here to go to the file for downloading.
    One Day Class Tech Notes for Pacificon

2.  In the navigation bar at the top of the screen, click the down-pointing arrow with a line below it. If there is no down-pointing arrow with a line below it, click the 3-vertical-dot menu icon, then select "Download".

3.  Open or save the file in the window that pops up.

4.  Press the ESC key to return to the screen showing the file.

CLASS NOTES MUST BE BROUGHT WITH YOU TO THE CLASS, IN EITHER PRINTED OR ELECTRONIC FORM!

Testing:
If you plan on taking the license test after the class ends remember the following:

• You will need a government-issued photo ID.

• You must obtain and bring with you a ten digit FRN (Federal Registration Number) from the FCC. (www.fcc.gov) See the mdarc.org Obtain an FRN web page for details.

• Bring your tablet (preferred) or smart phone if you prefer electronic testing. Paper answer sheets will be furnished if you prefer paper.

• examtools.org (aka exam.tools) and hamstudy.org (aka ham.study) web pages are used to administer your exam. No other web pages are allowed during testing. We can use gradecam to score paper answer sheets but a tablet provides the best experience.

• Register before the Sat, October 17, 4:00 PM testing session to get your personal test registration four digit code at https://ham.study/sessions/68648abcab925f1f00c3c9e2/1 or the 4PM option from  https://ham.study/sessions/PACIFICON/all

• During the Sat, October 17, 4:00 PM testing session you will use your four digit code to start your exam. https://exam.tools/portal/applicant/PACIFICON

• You may bring and use a calculator for the exam, but the calculator cannot be programmable.

• If for some reason the FCC site is unavailable you might be able to temporarily use the exam.tools 10 digit FRN of zeros, “0000000000” though this may no longer be a valid workaround. If using paper leave the FRN number blank. This should no longer be needed, but if there are questions ask your VEs to help you. This was only used during a government shutdown in a previous year.

• If you don't pass the license test on Saturday afternoon, retakes will be available on Sunday morning.

• Thanks to generous donors to mdarc.org the first ARRL-required $15 fee for taking the license test is covered, if under 18 years old $5 is covered. Additional attempts each require candidate fees. Please bring exact change if possible. We can't guarantee we'll have change.

Suggested Advance Reading:
For advance reading, optional but recommended in advance, you can buy and read the
Gordon West 2026-2030 Technician Class Manual before the class.

You can purchase the book at Ham Radio Outlet. Call HRO at 1-800-854-6046 or go to their web site.
You can purchase the book from ARRL. Go to their web site.
It is also available at Amazon.com and the Gordon West Training Resources web site.

Make sure you get the latest version of the book which includes the current Technician Class question pool with answer key for use July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2030.

The ARRL Manual, KB6NU Manual (no cost), HamBook.org Manual (no cost) or other manuals (perhaps recent older manuals) may work "well enough" but the Gordon West 2026-2030 Technician Class Manual is preferred by the instructors.

 ** Please note that this class is FREE & the PDF class notes are FREE though you are required to purchase a Pacificon℠ admission ticket to enroll in the class. If you plan to take the license exam after the class, and we encourage you to do so since your short term memory is primed, other costs will include

* FCC license fee $35

* ARRL exam fee (after the first attempt)

** Remember, if you sign up and later learn you cannot attend please notify us ASAP so your seat can be used by someone else **