UPDATED 20160423 9:38 a.m.
If you have been studying to get your Amateur Radio license, you have two chances coming up in May.

The Coconinco County Amateur Radio club is planning an exam for all classes of license on May 14 from 9:00 – 11:00 AM. The examination will be held at the North County Health Care classroom. The North County Health Care center is at 2920 N 4th Street in Flagstaff. Visit their web site for information on what you are required to bring for the exam.

In Yavapai county you have an opportunity to become licensed by the Yavapai Amateur Radio club. They require you to obtain an Federal Registration Number (FRN). The requirements can be found on their web site. Their next exam is also scheduled for May 14 and you can take a practice exam on Tuesday May 10. You must pre-register online. The exam will be held in the Jeep Posse Building 1200 Commerce Drive in Pioneer Park behind the outdoor hockey rink (MAP).

The fee for the examination at either location is $15. You can take all three levels of exam unless you fail one along the way. You must pay another fee to continue or you can choose to take what you get and go home to study.

You are not required to know Morse code for any of the exams. That requirement has been stricken. However you can go on to learn Morse code for fun later.

Amateur radio is becoming more popular since lower priced hand held radios have been dumped on the market. They give you more range than those cheap Family Radio Service (FRS) and General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) radios you purchase in department stores. It also gives you access to more frequencies and propagation modes using amateur satellites and even bouncing a signal off of the moon.

There are many other aspects to Amateur Radio including emergency communications during disasters.