[I'm reposting this to the top because we have a number of people who still need to get their ham license!]

For anyone near Tucson who hasn't already gotten your Ham license or is interested in upgrading what you already have, here is some info based on my experience of getting my Technician and General licenses recently:

• Free testing is available monthly in Tucson. Next event is March 8th @ 7PM . https://k7rst.org/testing.html

-- There is no preregistering. You just show up, but I highly recommend being there a half hour early to get in line. I was there 15 minutes early and waited a little more than an hour before it was my turn to take the test, and then there's more waiting in between exams if you take more than one.

• There is also an online testing option available now. It generally costs ~$15 and you need fairly decent internet, a computer with a webcam, and a phone with a camera. (Thanks to @freebirdie for sending me the info on this).
  -- Look here to find a session that's open: https://hamstudy.org/sessions
  -- There is more info on the process here: https://blog.hamstudy.org/2020/06/so-you-want-to-take-a-remote-exam/

• Studying for Technician is fairly easy. You only need a 74% on the exam to pass. I read through this PDF first: https://www.kb6nu.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2018-no-nonsense-tech-study-guide-v1-1.pdf

-- I also went through some flashcards using the (free and open source) Anki app. Runs on any phone or desktop OS: https://apps.ankiweb.net/

-- And here are the cards I downloaded: https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/2113417210

-- You can take practice exams by registering on QRZ.com and using this link: https://www.qrz.com/hamtest/

-- You can also download the full question pool itself from the ARRL website as a PDF: http://www.arrl.org/question-pools

• Once you're consistently above 85% on the Technician practice exams I would recommend switching to studying for General. If you want to do anything more than chatting on local repeaters you will want to go for the General license. However, local communication will go a long way in helping to keep you informed and connected during an emergency, so don't feel like you have to try to get the General license for it to be useful!

-- Studying for General will take a bit more time. I mainly just used more flash cards: https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1150291819

-- For those not familiar with the electrical portion, or just wanting a refresher, I found a guide that covers the basics. It's for the previous version of the exam but the math you need to know hasn't changed: https://www.medo64.com/content/EasierHamElectrical-General-2015.pdf

-- If you run into a topic you don't know anything about (like specific antenna types), a quick internet search usually gives plenty of material. For antenna background I read this: https://wparc.us/hints-sub/hints-pdf/antennae.pdf

-- Remember, you only need to score a 74% to pass and you'll only get one or two questions from any given topic, so you can easily still pass even if you don't know anything about an entire section of the exam. Also, you can often use logic or basic physics knowledge to answer quite a few of the questions.

• Your callsign is public and will list your name and home address by default. You can change that address to a PO box after the fact using this link: https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/support/common-amateur-filing-tasks/common-amateur-filing-task-changing-address
  -- PO boxes are something like $115 a year for the small ones. You can find and reserve one here: https://www.usps.com/manage/po-boxes.htm

-- It's also perfectly legal to share PO boxes, which I am doing with another guy to bring the cost down. If 10 people went in on one the cost would be very low.

If you are planning to take the Technician test for the first time I can also post the links and info for getting your FRN from the FCC prior to taking the test, which will speed up the process of getting your callsign assigned after testing. Leave a comment on this post if you'd like that info.

Good luck!