Training & Events

New Ham Training Class

10AM - 12PM Saturday June 7th 2025

Fire Station 40 Training Room, 1191 Main Street, Half Moon Bay

Half Moon Bay ARC will be offering New Ham Radio Operators an introductory course on the next steps you can take now that you have your licence. The course will cover:

Your First Radio - a Buyer’s guide
Now you have your new radio, now what?

Coastside Band Plan and Programming a Radio

Getting on the Air - Protocol and Etiquette
You’ve made your first contact - Fun things to do next
Local Organizations

CERT
HMBARC & HMB ARES

Registration is required to attend this course and limited to 30 Participants. Please sign up at this link: https://forms.gle/qkSgDawZ5T3kvj5y8 or QR code to the right.

Technician License Class a Huge Success!

Members from the Half Moon Bay and Southcoast Amateur Radio Clubs (www.sc4arc.org) held a two day Technician license training class to prepare people for the FCC exam. The class was held at the HMB Library on April 27 and May 4th, 2024 and was very well attended by approximately 30 people each day. The instructors for the class were volunteers from both clubs and the feedback from the class was very positive.

The class was followed by an FCC licensing exam on May 11th, and 28 people earned their Technician or higher licenses. The pass rate for those attending the class was over 94%!

Whether you're interested in amateur radio as a hobbyist or for community service, the HMBARC can help you get your amateur radio license. Please contact us to express your interest. We are happy to assist you in studying for the license exams, finding a class, or locating an exam facility.

Use the Training site menu at the top of the page for current and archive training and event information.

Licensing

The ARRL (American Radio Relay League) is the national association for Amateur Radio and an excellent resource for all things related to ham radio. A good discussion of the requirements and benefits of different classes of licenses may be found on the ARRL’s webpage Getting Licensed.

Training

There are three ways to get the training needed to take an amateur radio license exam.

Take a class

The Half Moon Bay Amateur Radio Club periodically offers classroom instruction leading to the Technician class Amateur Radio license. Please contact us for details. The SC4 Amateur Radio Club (SC4ARC) also offers classroom instruction; details may be found on the SC4ARC website. The ARRL provides many resources related to licensing, education, and training including help finding a class (when using this resource, we suggest you enter your zip code and “within 100 miles” in the field immediately to the right).

Study at your own pace

There are many books and online courses that can help you prepare for any of the ham licenses. One popular book is Gordon West’s 2022-2026 Technician Class study manual (AARL). It’s also available as an audio CD. The ARRL is also a good source for books (license manuals).

HamTestOnLine is a good computer-based online course.

Find a ham cram

In-person licensing classes are offered in the Bay area as one-day “ham crams” where participants complete supervised classroom study and take the test immediately following the class. Check the Bay Area Educational Amateur Radio Society website, baears, for information on the time and location of the next class.

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