In researching and documenting a week-long adventure to get an amateur radio license, I’ve digested a lot of information.

Here I’m listing the resources I feel are best suited to learning amateur radio specifics as well as related general concepts.

How Stuff Works

There are tons of learning electronics resources everywhere, but one interesting find has been Bob Duhamel’s RSD Academy, covering everything from basic DC and AC circuits to lots of more interesting stuff.

Of particular note for radio, is a nice description of antennae and how they work.

Also, I greatly enjoyed his beautiful explanation of electricity and magnetism. If you’re curious about the world, and wouldn’t mind understanding it more, watch it.

Ham Radio Prep

Amateur radio specific online resources

David Casler

David Casler/KE0OG, had a ton of great stuff online

and I watched a few full courses but, suddenly, three quarters of it have gone dark–which is probably a monetization thing/understandable but pretty sad.

There are a newer set of videos for general and extra class licenses, and the “Ask Dave” columns are still up and filled with great info. Go see them before they vanish.

Ylab

Ylab has everything you need to learn the basics and get your license with lots of info specific to Canadian rules, standards and testing. It’s well organized, quality stuff

The videos linked are short and enjoyable, and the slides are available for download. If you are in Canada, then it’ll be well worth grabbing this document they are hosting as well.

There’s also a set of quizzes, split per topic, that are friendlier to use than the government site, which has that nice 90s feel.

Ylab is good at giving you an idea of where to put your focus, in terms of the weight the canadian government puts on each topic.

VE3OSH Ham Prep

The ve3osh stuff isn’t as polished–problems range from sound issues to a bunch of errors in the slides–but it’s what a live amateur radio course can look like and it covers Canadian ham prep. You can have a look at their ham radio exam prep series here.

TheSmokinApe

Though this is more for post-certification play, the TheSmokinApe has informative videos that are well done and go in depth on topics ranging from introductions to DMR to winding your own baluns.

He seems cool and I like his vids a lot.