getontheairWhat is ham radio?
Amateur radio — "ham" radio — is a radio service the FCC sets aside for people who want to talk, experiment, and help, not for business. You pass a short multiple-choice exam, the FCC issues you a call sign, and you are allowed to transmit on dozens of bands from long-wave up into the microwaves, with your own equipment, at power levels no consumer walkie-talkie comes near.
The FCC states the purpose of the service in 47 CFR §97.1: a voluntary, noncommercial service valued for emergency communications, for advancing the radio art, for building a reservoir of trained operators and technicians, and for international goodwill. Everything else on this site sits on top of that.
What is ham radio v1.0 · written 2026-10-08 · rules checked against the eCFR as of Oct 2026
Who can get a license
- Any age. Part 97 sets no minimum or maximum age. Children in the single digits have passed the Technician exam; so have people in their nineties.
- No citizenship test. Except for a representative of a foreign government, any person who passes the exam may apply (§97.5(b)(1)). The FCC does need a mailing address and an email address on the license (§97.23).
- No Morse code requirement. All three US exams are written, multiple-choice.
The three license classes
| Class | Exam | What it opens up |
|---|---|---|
| Technician | 35 questions, 26 correct to pass | All amateur bands above 50 MHz (local repeaters, simplex, satellites, the ISS) plus small slices of HF: CW on parts of 80/40/15 m and CW, data and SSB voice on part of 10 m (exact Technician HF privileges). |
| General | 35 questions, 26 correct (Technician first) | Most of the HF bands — the worldwide, bounce-off-the-ionosphere bands. This is the usual license for portable HF. |
| Amateur Extra | 50 questions, 37 correct (General first) | Every amateur privilege, including the band edges reserved for Extra. |
Exam pools, the CORES/FRN step, exam day and when you may first transmit are on the Overview walkthrough. Free practice for all three classes, forever: Ticket to Talk.
What you can actually do once licensed
| If this sounds fun… | Start with |
|---|---|
| Talking around town on a handheld, joining a weekly net | First repeater and first net |
| Operating from a park or a summit and being the station everyone is chasing | Programs · First activation |
| Contacting other countries on HF | Hunt · Pileups |
| Satellites and the International Space Station from a parking lot | Satellites · SSTV |
| Contest weekends and QSO parties | Contesting |
| Keyboard and computer modes (FT8, RTTY, SSTV) | Software · WSJT-X |
| Building and tuning your own antennas | Antennas · EFHW |
| Running a net or helping at an event | Net Scribe |
Service chapters: Emergency communications, SKYWARN storm spotting (no license needed) and public-service events; the June operating weekend has its own chapter: Field Day.
How ham radio differs from the radios in a big-box store
| Service | License? | Exam? | What it is good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amateur (ham) | Yes — individual, issued by the FCC | Yes | Local to worldwide, your own gear and antennas, digital modes, satellites, experimentation. No business use. |
| GMRS | Yes — FCC license, no exam, covers your immediate family. Applicant must be 18 or older; $35 FCC fee as of Oct 2026. | No | Family and group talk on UHF, including GMRS repeaters. |
| FRS | No | No | Short-range bubble-pack walkie-talkies with fixed antennas. Up to 2 W on channels 1–7 and 15–22, 0.5 W on 8–14. |
| MURS | No | No | Five VHF channels (151.820, 151.880, 151.940, 154.570, 154.600 MHz), 2 W. Farms, businesses, hobbyists. |
| CB | No | No | 27 MHz, 4 W AM or 12 W PEP SSB, truckers and hobbyists; no exam, no call sign. |
GMRS, FRS, MURS and CB rules live in 47 CFR Part 95. Ham radio is Part 97. Different rulebooks, different privileges. Power figures above are from §95.567 (FRS), §95.2763 and §95.2767 (MURS) and §95.967 (CB). GMRS eligibility is in §95.1705, and the fee is in §1.1102. All were checked against the eCFR on 2026-10-08.
A ham license doesn't let you transmit on GMRS, FRS, MURS or CB, and a GMRS license doesn't let you transmit on ham bands. Each service needs radios certified for it. Which handhelds are legal where: First station.
LoRa mesh: Meshtastic and MeshCore
Meshtastic and MeshCore are open-source firmware for small, cheap LoRa radio boards. The boards pass short text messages from node to node, so a message can hop across a town without cell service. In the US they normally run in the 902–928 MHz band. That band is shared: unlicensed devices use it under Part 15, and it is also the 33 cm amateur band.
The same board can run under either rulebook. Decide which one applies to each node, then set it up to match:
| Unlicensed (Part 15) | Amateur station (Part 97) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who can run it | Anyone | A licensed ham (Technician or higher has full 33 cm privileges) |
| Equipment | Must stay within the device's Part 15 limits (§15.247 covers 902–928 MHz spread-spectrum and digital devices), using the antenna it was certified with | Part 97 technical rules apply instead |
| Encryption | Allowed. Most LoRa mesh firmware encrypts by default. | Not allowed. Messages encoded to hide their meaning are prohibited (§97.113(a)(4)). |
| Identification | None required | Your call sign, as with any amateur station (§97.119) |
| Content | Personal and business use both fine | No business traffic, the usual Part 97 limits |
In practice:
- Meshtastic has an "Is Licensed" (ham) setting. Its documentation says that when you turn it on, the node's long name should be your call sign and the channel key should be empty, which removes encryption (Meshtastic user config).
- A node you run as an amateur station is responsible for everything it transmits. That includes relayed messages, so it can't pass encrypted traffic.
- Neither choice is "better." Part 15 is simpler and open to family members without licenses. Part 97 is for hams who want amateur privileges and accept amateur rules.
Our MeshCore POTA gateway guide covers spotting from a park through a MeshCore mesh.
The rules in one breath
Ham radio is lightly regulated, but a few rules are absolute:
- Identify. Send your call sign at least every 10 minutes and at the end of a contact (§97.119).
- No business, no pay. No communications for hire or on behalf of an employer, with narrow exceptions (§97.113).
- Stay inside your privileges. Your license class sets your bands, modes and power. The band-plan checker shows what each class may do on any US amateur frequency.
- Unlicensed guests can talk when a licensed control operator is present and supervising, subject to the third-party rules (§97.115). That is how scouts, students and Field Day visitors get on the air before they hold a license.
Day-to-day manners — listen first, leave a gap, keep it civil — are on Ethics.
Try it before you test
- Listen. Receiving needs no license. A scanner or a cheap SDR dongle on a laptop will let you hear local repeaters; for HF, listen first on a borrowed receiver or a friend's station.
- Visit a club. Meetings are almost always open to anyone, licensed or not. Clubs and Elmers has how to find one.
- Sit at a supervised station. Club events, JOTA weekends and Field Day sites often let visitors make a contact with a licensed operator beside them.
Your first three steps
- Practice the Technician pool in Ticket to Talk until your scores are boringly solid.
- Find an exam session on HamStudy sessions or the ARRL exam finder, and create your FRN in FCC CORES before you go.
- Know the real cost before exam day: What a license costs, how long it lasts, and how call signs work.
Have kids or teens asking about it? Parents & youth · Scouting & ham radio.
Sources
- FCC rules: 47 CFR Part 97 (§97.1, §97.5, §97.23, §97.113, §97.115, §97.119, §97.301) and Part 95, eCFR as of Oct 2026.
- Meshtastic: user configuration (Is Licensed setting), checked 2026-10-08. eCFR §15.247 and §97.113.
- Exam structure: NCVEC question pools; Laurel VEC FAQ for pass marks.
- Independent guide. Not affiliated with the FCC, ARRL, NCVEC or any VEC.
New words on this page? See the Glossary.
v1.0, 2026-10-08.
Notes & edits
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