Education and Testing: Class Details | License Testing | On-Line Resources
Education & Training
Classes
The Mt. Diablo Amateur Radio Club, holds numerous education and training classes. See the schedule below. These include courses for obtaining or upgrading your amateur radio license; Get-on-the-Air (GOTA) sessions to give you practical information and hands-on practice; and Auxiliary classes on a wide range of topics of interest to hams.
The courses are run by unpaid volunteers. Morse code is no longer required for an Amateur Radio License. Your Ham Radio License is good for ten years with no testing to renew it.
See our Getting Your First License page for details on our recommended study method, the question pool and other important information.
See these specific sections on this page:
* Registration for License Courses
* Auxiliary Classes
* License Testing
* Schedule
* Required Manuals
* General Information
Registration for License Courses:
Registration for all classes and courses is required. There is a fee of $15.00 for each license course. The required manual and the license test itself also have modest costs. See those sections below.
There is no additional fee for the Get-On-The-Air (GOTA) sessions, as they are included in the license course registration. But you must register for them separately.
There is a fee of $5.00 for the auxiliary classes.
For License Courses, the entry-level ham license is Technician. The second license level is General. The highest level is Amateur Extra. See our License Class Description page for more information on them. We offer Amateur Extra courses in alternate years only, as there isn't enough demand to hold one every year.
You must earn each license class in order. You cannot skip a License level.
Each license course student must have full access to a copy of the required manual (see below), both in class and outside of class for study. Sharing is fine, but you must have enough access to it for in-class reference each week and homework study.
In addition, a link to handouts and homework assignments (if any) will be sent by email either before the start of each license course or in advance of each class session. These should be brought to each class. Some material will be sent ahead of the first class, hence the need to register before coming to the class.
GOTA and Auxiliary classes do not have a manual but may have handouts.
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Register for the Below Courses & Classes:
Note: Click on the course/class title to go to the registration form
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* Level 1: Technician License Course-2023
Each Tuesday, January 10 - February 28, 2023 (8 sessions)
7:00-9:00 PM
Held via Zoom and In-Person at:
Clayton Valley Presbyterian Church
1578 Kirker Pass Road
Clayton, Ca 94517
* Technician Class License Testing
March 7, 2023, 7:00 PM
In-Person Only at:
Clayton Valley Presbyterian Church
1578 Kirker Pass Road
Clayton, Ca 94517
NOTE(!): The following two Get-on-the-Air (GOTA) sessions are open to everyone, whether you registered for the above Technician course or not.
1.) If you're a Technician course student, the GOTAs are included in your registration fee. Sign up for the GOTAs while registering for the course.
2.) If you did NOT register for the above Technician course, click on either of the below session titles to register for either or both GOTAs. As a non-student, the fee for each session is $5.00.
* Technician Class Get-On-The-Air (GOTA) #1
Tuesday, March 14, 2023; 7:00 - 9:00 PM (1 session)
Zoom and In-Person at:
Clayton Valley Presbyterian Church
1578 Kirker Pass Road
Clayton, Ca 94517
This session will be on Tuesday March 14, 7:00 to 9:00 PM. It will be on Zoom and in-person. This Get On The Air (GOTA) class will provide practical information to make it easier to use what you learned in the license course in real applications. This session will discuss such things as which radio to choose, procedures to use and much more.
* Technician Class Get-On-The-Air (GOTA) #2
Tuesday, March 21, 2023; 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM (1 session)
In-Person Only at:
Clayton Valley Presbyterian Church
1578 Kirker Pass Road
Clayton, Ca 94517
This session will be on Tuesday, March 21, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM. It will be In-Person only, at Clayton Valley Presbyterian Church; 1578 Kirker Pass Road; Clayton. This Get On The Air (GOTA) class will provide practical information to make it easier to use what you learned in the license course in real applications. In this session, you will practice actually getting on the air. (We can provide the radios.)
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* Level 2: General License Course-2023
Each Tuesday, March 28 - May 23, 2023 (9 sessions)
7:00-9:00 PM
Held via Zoom and In-Person at:
Clayton Valley Presbyterian Church
1578 Kirker Pass Road
Clayton, Ca 94517
* General Class License Testing
May 30, 2023, 7:00 PM
In-Person Only at:
Clayton Valley Presbyterian Church
1578 Kirker Pass Road
Clayton, Ca 94517
NOTE(!): The following Get-on-the-Air (GOTA) session is open to everyone, whether you registered for the above General course or not. there is no charge for the GOTA class.
* General Class Get-On-The-Air (GOTA-HF)
Saturday, June 24, 10:00 AM-12:00 PM
at MDARC's Field Day site.
In-Person Only
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* Level 3: Amateur Extra License Course-2023
Each Tuesday, June 27 - September 5, 2023 (10 sessions)
7:00-9:00 PM
Held via Zoom and In-Person at:
Clayton Valley Presbyterian Church
1578 Kirker Pass Road
Clayton, Ca 94517
Note: No class on July 4; Independence Day.
* Amateur Extra Class License Testing
September 12, 2023, 7:00 PM
In-Person Only at:
Clayton Valley Presbyterian Church
1578 Kirker Pass Road
Clayton, Ca 94517
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Auxiliary Classes
Registration is Required.
There is a $5.00 fee per student to attend each class session.
Each presentation begins at 7:00pm and ends at 9:00 pm.
Each presentation is simultaneously presented In-person and Virtually via ZOOM.
The ZOOM connection codes will be provided to each registered ZOOM student.
The In-Person classes will be presented at:
Clayton Valley Presbyterian Church
1578 Kirker Pass Road
Clayton, Ca 94517.
Click the Class title to register.
Tuesday, June 13, 2023
Why Does Ham Radio Work "When all else fails"?
by Kristen McIntyre, K6WX, ARRL Pacific Division Director
This talk will explore the notion that it is the lack of central organization which makes our radio service well suited to perform in circumstances where order has been replaced by chaos that is common to Emergency Communication
A recording of this presentation is available at this link: Why Does Ham Radio Work "When all else fails"? situations.
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Tuesday, June 20, 2023
Phones, Fires, and Failures
by Alan Thompson, W6WN
This is a presentation about the colossal emergency communications failures during the Camp Fire [this wild fire began on November 8, 2018 in Butte County, CA.] that ripped apart a community and cost people's lives. A clip from documentary A High and Awful Price was played during Alan's presentation.
A recording of this presentation is available at this link: Phones, Fires, and Failures.
Alan's slide deck: Phones, Fires, and Failures.
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Tuesday, September 19, 2023
EMCOMM: Preparation and Training (An Overview)
by Bill Shaffer N6SGT
Bill was originally licensed as KE6DRG in 1991 and upgraded to general in 2014. After retirement he obtained the vanity call of N6SGT. He is currently studying for The Amateur Extra test.
Bill retired in 2013 following over 35 years as a paramedic and then police officer. He also volunteered for a short time as a firefighter for the San Mateo County Fire Department/CDF.
He has been involved in training as a paramedic field preceptor, guest lecturer, police field training officer, and sergeant in charge of the field training officer program. He wrote a manual for police officer report writing and taught that section in the new officer orientation program.
After retiring, while in the Sacramento area, he became involved in the ARES program and developed a training program for the radio operators of that group. He then became the Emergency Coordinator for the Sacramento County ARES group until he returned to the Bay Area.
Currently, Bill is a volunteer for the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District as a Communications Reserve and with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office Communications Team which is a part of the Office of Emergency Services. He also regularly helps with public service events for MDARC and LARK.
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If you have questions not answered on this page,
send an email to: HamRadioClass@mdarc.org
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License Testing:
License testing will be conducted after the last session of License Classes. See the schedule above. An ARRL-mandated additional fee applies. Currently, that fee is $15.00.
License testing is also done most months just before the Mount Diablo Amateur Radio Club meetings. See our License Testing page for details & exceptions. Other locations also offer testing.
Schedule:
Class sessions normally begin at 7:00 pm sharp and end by 9:00 pm. However, the first class session of each License Course begins 1/2 hour earlier, to provide for announcements, paperwork, materials distribution and other administrative necessities.
Required Manuals:
Each License Class student is required to have access, in class and out, to a copy of the appropriate manual, as listed below. The manuals include the entire question pool, with answers, for the relevant test. Be sure to obtain the correct version of each manual! The manuals expire every 4 years to update the question pool.
Auxiliary classes and GOTA sessions do not have a manual.
Students are free to purchase their own manual from whatever source they desire. The manuals are available on the ARRL web site and on Amazon, including Kindle and spiral-bound versions; and at Ham Radio Outlet, among other sources. We strongly recommend that you not obtain your manual from such sites as Ebay, Craig's List and similar sites, as the manual you receive may not be the current version.
Technician Class: ARRL Ham Radio License Manual 5th Edition.
Current through June 30, 2026
Spiral bound version: ISBN: 978-1-62595-155-7 List price = $32.95 (plus tax & shipping).
Kindle version: ASIN: B0BCYQY92C List price = $19.99
General Class: ARRL General Class License Manual 10th Edition.
Current through June 30, 2027
Spiral bound version: ISBN: 978-1-62595-171-7. List price = $32.95 (plus tax & shipping).
Kindle version: ASIN: B0C9JRTZWV. List price = $19.99
Extra Class: ARRL Extra Class License Manual 12th Edition.
Current through June 30, 2024
Spiral bound version: ISBN: 978-1-62595-131-1. List price = $32.95 (plus tax & shipping).
Kindle version: ASIN: B089ZXCDWC. List price = $19.99
General Information:
If you are new to Ham Radio it's suggested you wait to buy your radio until after you take the Technician license and first GOTA classes, as some cheap radios advertised as Ham radios are out of compliance with FCC rules. Radios will be discussed and demonstrated at the first GOTA class.