How to Become A Ham Radio Operator
As part of the Mount Lemmon Radio Club, Matthew and I are both licensed Ham Radio operators. While being a licensed operator is often be seen as just a hobby, many operators view it as a service to their community, especially in cases of emergency.
Chances are, you may already know a Ham Radio operator. Whether you are 7 years old, or 100 years old, you can also become licensed. The first step is to check out the Amateur Radio Relay League, our national association, at https://arrlexamreview.appspot.com.
On this website, there are instructions on how to sign up for an Exam Review account. That account gives access to question pools for each level of license: technician, general, and extra. From these pools of questions, exams are created with about 30-50 questions, depending the level of license.
For those who like to have the hard copy of the manual, there is information on how to order one. If you prefer to learn with a class, whether online or in-person, go to https://www.arrl.org/find-an-amateur-radio-license-class.
Once you are ready to take an exam, go to https://www.arrl.org/exam-practice to find in in-person location, or take it online. There is a fee, but if you passed the technician exam and still have time to take the general license exam, there is no extra charge during that same session.
When you pass the exam, join a local Ham Radio club. The Radio Society of Tucson offers a “New Ham Net” session for operators who want to cover operating procedures, radio etiquette, and various other tasks. They meet every Thursday at 8:00pm. The Eastern Arizona Amateur Radio Society (EAARS) offers a “Gals Night Net” every Monday at 7:30pm for all females who want to communicate with their Ham Radios and discuss things that are important to them, or just want to share what they did that week. It is very casual, yet technical.
Check out our website for the Ham Radio License link at https://www.klmn-lp.org/index.php/mt-lemmon-community-educational-resources/. For questions, or comments, email me at [email protected].
This article was published in The Mount Lemmon Echoes, Vol. 53, No. 8, September 2026
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