ARRL-accredited Volunteer Examiners conduct amateur radio license and upgrade tests in Fayette County at the Peachtree City Recreation Administration Building located in the Fredrick Brown Recreation Administration Gathering Place, 191 McIntosh Trail in Peachtree City; or in Coweta County at the Coweta Public Safety Training Facility, on Greison Trail in Newnan. At each of the preceding links you will find directions to the site and an e-mail link for the leader of the VE team.

If neither team's dates and locations are convenient for you, any of these links may help you find one that will meet your needs.

• ARRL (updated for 2010; search for sessions)
• GeorgiaJobs.com (Georgia list)
• W5YI (search for examiners)

All candidates must bring $15 and a photo ID. Current license holders must provide a copy of their current license (not returnable).

Those who have recently qualified or upgraded, but whose license has not yet been received from the FCC, must also bring the original and a copy of their CSCE from that previous test. Failure to bring any of the required materials may provoke loud and protracted grumbling.

Dates, times or locations may be subject to change. Please contact the coordinator for the session you wish to attend.
 

Written Elements

Preparing to take an examination to obtain or upgrade an amateur radio license involves both study and practice, to become confident in one's familiarity with the material. Using practice tests online, such as the ones linked below, can help you arrive at your testing session ready to score high.

Try taking the test a few times on each of these sites, to get as wide a sample of the question pool as possible.

• QRZ
• AA9PW
• W8MHB
• eHam

CW

Although Morse Code is no longer required for any class of ham license, the mode remains popular and can carry messages farther, more clearly, under a wider range of conditions than voice. Use these links to build and improve your skill.

• AA9PW
• W1AW

Recommended Study Materials

Here are two books highly recommended for studying for the Technician Amateur class license. The Now You're Talking! book is comprehensive and goes into background explanation of basic and fundamental Amateur Radio operation and basic theory. It is good if you want to learn the details. It also has all of the questions from the Technician Pool and refers to them as you encounter them in your reading.

The ARRL's Tech Q&A book is essentially a "Cliff's Notes®" type of book. It covers each question in the Technician License pool of questions, gives the correct answer (as well as the incorrect ones), and gives a short explanation of the idea, theory, or purpose behind the question. Most prefer this method of study.

Here are the recommended books for the Technician Class License:

1. The ARRL Ham Radio License Manual, 1st edition, © 2006
   The American Radio Relay League, Inc.
   (ISBN: 0-87259-963-9) #9639
   

2. ARRL's Tech Q&A. Fourth edition, © 2006
   The American Radio Relay League, Inc.
   (ISBN: 0-87259-964-7)
   

You can order these books from ARRL -- or from Amazon.com; just plug in the ISBN numbers in their book search field. Amazon offers these books at used prices too. Just be sure you are getting a book that has the most current set of questions from the Technician Question Pool.