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, Practice exams www.arrl.org/examreview,  Obtain an FRN and other important information.


See these specific sections on this page:

* Registration for License Courses

* Auxiliary Classes (see other page)

* 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.

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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January Course

* Level 1: Technician License Course-2025-Jan w/ GOTA 1 & GOTA 2

Each Tuesday, January 7 - February 25, 2025 (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

Tuesday, March 4, 2025, 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 11, 2025; 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 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 18, 2025; 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 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 3: Extra License Course-2025

Each Tuesday, March 26 - May 21, 2024 (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


* Extra Class License Testing

Tuesday, May 28, 2024, 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 Extra course or not. there is no charge for the GOTA class.


* Extra Class Get-On-The-Air (GOTA-HF)

Rescheduling now, was
Saturday, June 22, 2024, 10:00 AM-Noon (1 session)
In-Person Only at:

Field Day

Olympic High School

2730 Salvio Street

Concord, CA 94519
This session will be In-Person only. 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 1: Technician License Course-2025-Jun

Each Tuesday, June 25 - August 13, 2024 (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

Tuesday, August 20, 2024, 7:00 PM

In-Person Only at:

Clayton Valley Presbyterian Church

1578 Kirker Pass Road

Clayton, Ca 94517


* Technician Class Get-On-The-Air (GOTA) #1

Tuesday, August 27, 2024; 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 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, September 3, 2024; 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 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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Auxiliary Classes have their own page now!


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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 sites 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.

Valid July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2026

Technician spiral bound ARRL or Amazon ISBN: 978-1625951557. List price $32.95 (+tax & shipping)

Technician Kindle ASIN: B0BCYQY92C. List price $19.99
 Technician Q&A 8th Edition paperback ARRL or Amazon ISBN: 978-1625951601 List price $19.95



General Class:        ARRL General Class License Manual 10th Edition.

Valid July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2027

    General spiral bound ARRL or Amazon ISBN: 978-1-62595-171-7. List price $32.95 (+tax & shipping)

General Kindle ASIN: B0C9JRTZWV. List price $19.99

Genral Q&A 7th Edition paperback ARRL or Amazon ISBN: 978-1625951724 List price $14.95


Extra Class:           ARRL Extra Class License Manual 13th Edition.

Valid from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2028

Extra spiral bound ARRL or Amazon ISBN:978-1625951939. List price $32.95 (+tax & shipping)

Extra Kindle ASIN: B0DJWK5HZQ. List price $19.99

Extra Q&A 6th Edition paperback ARRL or Amazon ISBN: 978-1625951946. List price $14.95


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.