Canadian Basic Amateur Radio Exam Preparation Course
Welcome
Greetings and Salutations! Welcome to our online Basic Amateur Radio Exam Preparation Course. It was developed with one goal in mind: get you licensed and on the air to enjoy the Ham Radio hobby. This course follows the 2025 Basic Exam question bank update. The video presentations are hyper-focused towards the exam questions. As such, the content pertains almost exclusively to the questions you will encounter on the basic exam. We have a video lesson for each of the eight exam sections.
For a more complete picture, you can get the Canadian Amateur Radio Basic Qualification Guide book. It goes over all the course material in a much more in-depth and detailed way. It will definitely fill in any gaps that our course presentations do not cover. The 9th Edition of the book is shown here but you can search for the most current edition.
Additionally, you can check out VE5REV's Study Notes on the book.
A deficiency of the exam layout is that the sections do not follow a logical layout for studying concepts. We have put together a suggested path that lays out the course by content. Everything is explained in this opening welcome video:
The best strategy for passing the multiple choice exam is to study only the correct answer. This way you don't get bogged down in the incorrect answers. We have put together a PDF file that has every exam question from the 2025 Updated database with only the correct answer listed. You can use this as a study guide for the exam questions.
ISED also provides some study aids including formulas and block diagrams. You can download them at this link.
A B-005-Basic Electronics Theory
More Lesson Resources:
- How Electricity Works
- What is Voltage?
- What is Current?
- Ohm's Law Explained
- AC, DC, Fuses and More
- DC Series Circuits Explained
- DC Parallel Circuits Explained
- Inductors Explained
- Solenoid Basics Explained
- Capacitors Explained
- Decibels in Ham Radio
- Impedance Explained
- Transformers Explained
- How Does a Transformer Work
B B-004-Circuit Components
More Lesson Resources:
- Amplifiers Explained in 2 Minutes
- Setting Up a Station With an Amplifier
- Transistors Explained
- MOFSET Explained
- NPN PNP Transistors Explained
- Diodes Explained
- Resistors Explained
C B-003-Station Assembly, Practice and Safety
Block Diagrams:
- Block Diagram - HF Station
- Block Diagram - FM Transmitter
- Block Diagram - FM Receiver
- Block Diagram - CW Transmitter
- Block Diagram - SSB Receiver
- Block Diagram - SSB Transmitter
- Block Diagram - Digital System
- Block Diagram - Power Supply
More Lesson Resources:
- How the Superheterodyne Radio Works
- Amplifiers Explained in 2 Minutes
- Digirig Mobile Interface
- Shack Grounding and Bonding
- IC 7300 Beginner's Guide - HF Radio Tutorial
D B-006-Feedlines and Antenna Systems
More Lesson Resources:
- Intro to Coax Cable Feedlines for Ham Radio
- Ham Radio Feedline: Bring Coax into the Shack
- Top 5 HF Ham Radio Antennas for Beginners
- RigExpert Stick 230 Antenna Analyzer
- How To Use A Ham Radio Manual Antenna Tuner
- Antenna Radiation Diagrams
- SWR Demystified
- How Antenna Traps Work
E B-007-Radio Wave Propagation
More Lesson Resources:
- Basic VHF and UHF Fundamentals
- Radio Wave Propagation Basics - Where do Signals Go - and How?
- Radio Propagation 101
- Ham Radio and Solar Weather
- HF Radio and the Solar Cycle
F B-002-Operating and Procedures
More Lesson Resources:
- Making Your First Contact on a Repeater
- NATO Phonetic Alphabet
- How Does Morse Code Work?
- The Easy Way to Start Morse Code!
- Why your Ham Radio Signal Report may be WORTHLESS
- Q-Codes, Logs, and QRZ.com
- Understanding Long Path & Short Path HF DX Radio Signals
- Emergency Communication Preparedness - An Introduction
G B-008-Interference and Suppression
More Lesson Resources:
- Understanding RF Chokes for Antennas
- ABCs of RFI for Hams
- Understanding RF Chokes for Antennas
- Toroid Mix Selection for Balun Chokes for Ham Radio Antennas
- Demystifying RF Filters: High Pass, Bandpass, Low Pass Explained
- One of the most important station accessories: band pass filters
