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Well, today I passed my Technician and General exams for Ham license. When they told me I passed the General also, my mouth dropped open and all I could say was "WOW!" LoL I knew a few weeks ago I wanted to at least get my Technician license. And, I did order the book and got started studying for it. Along the way, I heard some folks on Facebook saying they wished they'd gone for the General too. Others said they hadn't studied for it, but were given the opportunity to take the test, and only missed by 2 or 3 questions. So, given the much increased communication privileges of the General, I decided to try to go for both of them. What a glutton for punishment! I was about 1/2 through my Technician book when I stumbled onto Ham Radio Prep and HamStudy.org. I signed up for the Technician/General package at Ham Radio Prep and started in. I found that liked working that way through the material better than the book. Also, I found the review tools at HamStudy were very good. Very helpful. It wasn't long before I was passing my Technician practice exams in the 80-90% ranges. At that point I moved on to the General studies via Ham Radio Prep. Gotta say, I was studying about as hard as I did back in my college days for a Final exam. I was even turning off the TV to really dig in!! LoL Even so, I sure didn't have the same confidence in the General material. Oh that math was messing me up. Never was that good in it, and this stuff, and their combining formulas, was making my head spin. On my first General practice exam I think I just got a 45%. Ugh! A few days later I tried again and happened to just squeeze out a 75%. "Okay, maybe this is doable." Mostly, the last couple days, I just finished the Ham Radio Prep material, and then I used the HamStudy tool to just keep reviewing, capturing my wrong answers to review the correct ones, and repeat. Actually, some of it was even making more sense to me! So, this morning when exam day came, I felt better, but I was still quite unsure of the General. Boy! I didn't figure on the stress of having 3 people watching me taking my exams! As I worked though the Technician exam I could hear myself thinking, "Take it easy. Don't mess this up. Relax. Go back and check." Ha! I passed the Technician, and it was on to the General. I knew it all depended on what group of questions I got from the pool. It could go either way. I was less sure on the General, that's certain. But, as I reviewed my answers, I thought perhaps I had a chance. I clicked that Submit button and held my breath. Shortly afterward I heard the moderator saying, "Well, you passed your General." I mean, my mouth literally dropped open, my eyes opened wide with amazement, and all I could say was "Wow! Wow! Wow!" So, looks like I'm a Ham now. My sister said, "A ham for a Ham!" LoL Oh, I just ordered a better HT too. ;-)

Congratulations! You just opened up a world of opportunities to explore. One thing that give me satisfaction is mentoring others by answering their questions and always encouraging others to at least try. It seems that self doubt is what holds back many from trying to take the license exams.

From one new ham to another, Congrats! I held off trying for general (really debated trying), but recently passed my tech as well (got my email from fcc this past Tuesday, actually).

Congratulations!!! Radio in ALL forms is a great hobby.

WRKS279, Your post is an encouragement... you see I was happy just in GMRS, but good meaning Hams asked me if I would go for it... I took the practice Technical test and fell short of one questions with just my years of knowledge and a few guess answers. So Grand Daughter has been walking with me in GMRS, did the Space Museum in Huntsville, AL and we planted the see of joining Space Force... So we made a pack as she is 12 yo and it would be good to be a Ham and we will do it together this summers as she does homeschool all year around. So G Mom said ok for this summer learning... Again your witness of what it was like for you and what tools you used is an inspiration to us. So let us also congratulate you on passing and telling us about what was going on. FYI, I reached out the the local Ham Club asking for a mentor/coach and got two, the private owner of local repeater who allow us on and been very supported to GD and family, and new guy who has a heart for Ham. So my first question is what should I use to start studying.... We are happy for you and look forward to seeing your Ham call sign on your profile. Jack

Well, let me be the first on myGMRS to congratulate you. Way to Go! Make sure to add your callsign to your signature. I am a General myself and currently working towards my Extra. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Nope. Does not exist. Vanity calls are unique to amateur radio.

If you think of it from everyone's (other than Ham) perspective, it is very simple. FRS/GMRS sliver is in the middle of UHF business band. Allowing ham equipment will certainly wreak a havoc. Part 90 radios have much tighter spec than Ham radios from yesteryear (and today) and lower power limit too. Allowing 1500W ham radios will make these bubble-pack FRS unusable in densely populated areas. There is a thread here about how 1W baby monitors bring GMRS repeaters to their knees. Pity. Imagine what 100W (or 1500W) Ham radio would do to the same repeater and to adjacent land-mobile installation. The point of FRS and GMRS is to give cheap communication option to every random Joe, not to facilitate just another eight (fifteen) 25Hz channels for Hams. Hams do not need them, there is nobody ever on 446.000, and let's not even start on 220MHz - not funny. But you certainly can use your 'carefully selected' Part 90/95 radios on Ham bands, if you have license.

I cannot see what the antenna is doing while I am driving. The only time I hear noise from the antenna is when I hit a tree branch or forget to remove it before pulling into the garage. I know I have traveled a lot at 70MPH and have not heard anything unusual. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

There are no equipment regulations for amateur radios like there are for Part 90 and 95 radios. While the radios may in fact be better in some cases, they are not FCC certified as better. No, the radios are not allowed to interfere with others outside the amateur space, but the amateur bands are miles wider that the GMRS band. If a GMRS radio splatters a little it is more likely to adversely affect commercial licensees or public service (bad). In an amateur radio splatters a little it is most likely only going to affect other amateurs (not as bad) Also two sets of rules for Amateur and GMRS. Just because you have an amateur license does not mean you know the GMRS rules and vice versus. Many out there choose to disregard the rules and do what you are asking about. Also, much amateur equipment on the market is not capable of limiting the power to the GMRS limits, particularly when it comes to the 467 interstitial frequencies. So there are a few reasons for you. There are others too. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM