According to the Federal Communication Commission:
“The FCC established amateur radio as a voluntary, non-commercial, radio communications service. It allows licensed operators to improve their communications and technical skills, while providing the nation with a pool of trained radio operators and technicians who can provide essential communications during emergencies.
For more on these license grades see “Getting Licensed” on the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) website. Several times a year, the Cascade Amateur Radio Club (C.A.R.E.) offers a series of courses that are designed to prepare participants for their license examinations for the Technician and General Class licenses. This course combines instruction for both the Technician and General license classes. This will make it possible to study for, and then take, both exams in the same exam session when you are ready.
FCC license examinations are administered by authorized members of the ARRL VEC program. Three examiners must be present at each testing session. Exams for the Technician (35 questions), General (35 questions), and Extra-class exams (50 questions) are given at the same time in the same place. Scoring is done on the spot, and the passing score is 74%. It takes a few days for exam results to be entered directly online into the FCC database.
You can renew or modify (change of address) your existing amateur license. There are several ways to accomplish this: You can use W5YI or ARRL to do this for you. There may be a charge. You can do it yourself for free on the FCC’s ULS (Universal License System) webpage. You will need to know your FRN number, and the password you used originally to sign up for ULS. Normally you can renew a license no sooner than 90 days prior to expiration.
