Every claim below was retrieved from its source, independently re-checked, and stamped with the date we last verified it. The short quote and the pinpoint reference let you check any claim against your own copy — that is the point.
Only one written element stands between a newcomer and a Technician licence: element 2.
“Technician Class operator: Element 2.”
That paper runs to 35 items, and 26 right answers is the floor for a pass.
“Element 2: 35 questions concerning the privileges of a Technician Class operator license. The minimum passing score is 26 questions answered correctly.”
A fresh sitting is owed for the first licence and again at every upgrade in class.
“Each applicant must pass an examination for a new amateur operator license grant and for each change in operator class.”
Published pools run to at least ten times one paper, and the pool is public before any paper is built from it.
“Each question pool must contain at least 10 times the number of questions required for a single examination. Each question pool must be published and made available to the public prior to its use for making a question set.”
A candidate’s paper is drawn from the applicable published pool.
“Each question set administered to an examinee must utilize questions taken from the applicable question pool.”
Sessions run under a coordinator, staffed by no fewer than three volunteers.
“Each examination for an amateur operator license must be administered by a team of at least 3 VEs at an examination session coordinated by a VEC.”
Sitting on that team for a Technician paper takes a General ticket or better.
“Amateur Extra, Advanced or General Class in order to administer a Technician Class operator license examination;”
A VE may not examine their own family, and the rule’s list runs from spouse and children out to in-laws.
“No VE may administer an examination to his or her spouse, children, grandchildren, stepchildren, parents, grandparents, stepparents, brothers, sisters, stepbrothers, stepsisters, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and in-laws.”
Marking happens on the spot: the administering VEs grade each element as soon as it is finished.
“Upon completion of each examination element, the administering VEs must immediately grade the examinee's answers.”
A session may recover what it spent from those who sit it, and no more.
“VEs and VECs may be reimbursed by examinees for out-of-pocket expenses incurred in preparing, processing, administering, or coordinating an examination for an amateur operator license.”
A licence normally runs a decade before renewal falls due.
“An amateur service license is normally granted for a 10-year term.”
Five classes exist on paper, and a grant fixes which privileges its holder may use at the key.
“The classes of amateur operator license grants are: Novice, Technician, General, Advanced, and Amateur Extra.”
Examiners must carry the coordinating body accreditation, and must be adults.
“Be accredited by the coordinating VEC; (2) Be at least 18 years of age;”
Passing an upgrade buys the higher privileges immediately, on the certificate alone, for up to a year.
“who holds a CSCE indicating that the person has completed the necessary examinations within the previous 365 days, is authorized to exercise the rights and privileges of the higher operator class until final disposition of the application or until 365 days following the passing of the examination, whichever comes first.”
A certificate from one session earns credit for the elements it names, for 365 days.
“The administering VEs must give credit to an examinee holding a CSCE for each element the CSCE indicates the examinee passed within the previous 365 days.”
Two classes are shut to newcomers — neither is granted afresh.
“No new license grant will be issued for a Novice or Advanced Class operator/primary station.”
Each person holds exactly one operator/primary grant, and it arrives with the operator licence itself.
“One, but only one, operator/primary station license grant may be held by any one person. The primary station license is granted together with the amateur operator license.”
Callsigns go out as an exchange closes, and at ten-minute intervals while it runs.
“must transmit its assigned call sign on its transmitting channel at the end of each communication, and at least every 10 minutes during a communication”
No amateur station may go on the air without somebody serving as its control operator.
“When transmitting, each amateur station must have a control operator.”
Where the person at the key is not the licensee, the duty of lawful operation binds them both.
“When the control operator is a different amateur operator than the station licensee, both persons are equally responsible for proper operation of the station.”
The bank now in force is the 2026-2030 edition, which took over on the first of July 2026 and holds for four years.
“Effective 7/01/2026 – 6/30/2030”
Rules carry six of the exam’s items, drawn from a bank of sixty-eight.
“SUBELEMENT T1 - COMMISSION’S RULES [6 Exam Questions - 6 Groups] 68 Questions”
Operating procedures are worth three items, from a bank of thirty-seven.
“SUBELEMENT T2 - OPERATING PROCEDURES [3 Exam Questions - 3 Groups] 37 Questions”
Radio wave propagation supplies three items, from a bank of thirty-five.
“SUBELEMENT T3 - RADIO WAVE PROPAGATION [3 Exam Questions - 3 Groups] 35 Questions”
Amateur radio practices supply two items, from a bank of twenty-three.
“SUBELEMENT T4 - AMATEUR RADIO PRACTICES [2 Exam Questions - 2 Groups] 23 Questions”
Electrical principles are worth four items, drawn from a bank of fifty.
“SUBELEMENT T5 - ELECTRICAL PRINCIPLES [4 Exam Questions - 4 Groups] 50 Questions”
Components carry four items, from a bank of forty-six.
“SUBELEMENT T6 - ELECTRONIC AND ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS [4 Exam Questions - 4 Groups] 46 Questions”
Practical circuits carry four items, from a bank of forty-four.
“SUBELEMENT T7 - PRACTICAL CIRCUITS [4 Exam Questions - 4 Groups] 44 Questions”
Signals and emissions carry four items, from a bank of forty-seven.
“SUBELEMENT T8 - SIGNALS AND EMISSIONS [4 Exam Questions - 4 Groups] 47 Questions”
Antennas and the lines feeding them supply two items, from a bank of twenty-three.
“SUBELEMENT T9 - ANTENNAS AND FEED LINES [2 Exam Questions - 2 Groups] 23 Questions”
Safety accounts for three of the items you will face, from a bank of thirty-six.
“SUBELEMENT T0 - SAFETY [3 Exam Questions - 3 Groups] 36 Questions”
The ladder is built from elements: General adds a second paper on top of the Technician one, and Amateur Extra adds a third.
“Amateur Extra Class operator: Elements 2, 3, and 4; (b) General Class operator: Elements 2 and 3;”