The Technician exam: one paper, thirty-five questions
[HAMTECH-F##] tag that resolves to a fact in our store. Each fact holds a pinpoint citation into 47 CFR Part 97 or the published question pool. Both sources are public domain, so you can read every word of them yourself. This is study guidance, not a ruling on your own licence.Start here
One written paper stands between you and a Technician licence [HAMTECH-F01]. The rules call it element 2 [HAMTECH-F01].
It runs to thirty-five questions [HAMTECH-F02]. Twenty-six correct answers is a pass [HAMTECH-F02].
That is a pass mark of about 74 percent. You can miss nine and still walk out licensed [HAMTECH-F02].
The questions are not a secret
The pool is published before anyone builds a paper from it [HAMTECH-F04]. Your paper comes from that pool [HAMTECH-F05].
The bank holds at least ten times the questions one paper needs [HAMTECH-F04]. Your paper is built from questions taken out of that bank [HAMTECH-F05].
This is unusual, and it is the whole shape of the exam. Between those two rules, the questions reaching you come from a bank published in advance [HAMTECH-F04][HAMTECH-F05].
The bank in force now took effect on 1 July 2026 [HAMTECH-F21]. It holds until the middle of 2030 [HAMTECH-F21].
Check the edition before you study anything. Older banks still circulate. Their questions are no longer the ones you will sit [HAMTECH-F21].
Where the questions come from
The pool is split into ten subelements. Each supplies a fixed count of the thirty-five questions.
Rules supply six [HAMTECH-F22]. Electrical principles, components, practical circuits, and signals and emissions supply four apiece [HAMTECH-F26][HAMTECH-F27][HAMTECH-F28][HAMTECH-F29].
Operating procedures, propagation and safety supply three each [HAMTECH-F23][HAMTECH-F24][HAMTECH-F31]. Practices, and antennas with the lines feeding them, supply two each [HAMTECH-F25][HAMTECH-F30].
Add those ten counts and you get exactly thirty-five [HAMTECH-F02]. Nothing is left over, and nothing is estimated.
Rules is therefore the largest single block on the paper [HAMTECH-F22][HAMTECH-F23][HAMTECH-F24][HAMTECH-F25][HAMTECH-F26][HAMTECH-F27][HAMTECH-F28][HAMTECH-F29][HAMTECH-F30][HAMTECH-F31]. It is regulation rather than radio, and it is learnable by reading.
Those counts are published outright, as questions per subelement [HAMTECH-F30]. Most certification blueprints publish percentages that someone had to estimate [HAMTECH-F30].
Who runs the session
A team of at least three volunteer examiners administers the paper [HAMTECH-F06]. A coordinator organises the session they run [HAMTECH-F06].
Each examiner is accredited by that coordinator, and each is an adult [HAMTECH-F13]. To administer a Technician paper, an examiner holds a General licence or higher [HAMTECH-F07].
No examiner may test their own family [HAMTECH-F08]. The rule names a list running from spouses and children out to in-laws [HAMTECH-F08].
Your paper is marked at the session, not posted away [HAMTECH-F09]. The team that ran it is answerable for the result [HAMTECH-F09].
A session may charge you for what it actually spent [HAMTECH-F10]. Preparing, processing, administering and coordinating are the costs the rule names [HAMTECH-F10].
What to do next
Find the current pool before you find a study guide, and check the guide is built on it.
Then work the questions themselves. The bank is the syllabus, and every item on your paper is in it.
Check yourself
Answer before you open each one. Retrieving an answer from memory is what makes it stick.
How many questions are on the Technician paper, and how many must you answer correctly?
Thirty-five questions, and twenty-six correct [HAMTECH-F02].
Could a question appear that was never published?
No. Every paper is built from the published pool [HAMTECH-F05], and the pool has to be public before it is used [HAMTECH-F04].
Which subelement carries the most questions, and how would you check?
Rules, at six of the thirty-five [HAMTECH-F22]. You check by reading all ten counts and adding them — they come to exactly thirty-five [HAMTECH-F02][HAMTECH-F26][HAMTECH-F31].
How many people must administer your exam session?
At least three accredited volunteer examiners [HAMTECH-F06], working under a coordinator [HAMTECH-F06].
Why does the edition of the pool matter so much?
The current bank took effect on 1 July 2026 [HAMTECH-F21], and the superseded one is still widely circulated [HAMTECH-F21].
Evidence for this lesson
Every tag above resolves here. Each entry names the section and page to check in your own copy, with the short quote we relied on — we link the source and never reproduce it.
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.”
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.”
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;”
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”