Free NZ Amateur Radio Exam Practice Test 2026
200 original questions on the New Zealand amateur radio syllabus: regulations, band limits and callsigns, Ohm's law, receivers, transmitters, antennas and propagation. Four 50-question practice tests. Tuned for mobile. Free to start, no account needed.
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A Morse operator sends QRL? before calling. What are they asking?
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The NZ Amateur Radio exam at a glance
The New Zealand amateur radio exam leads to the General Amateur Operator's Certificate of Competency (GAOC) and a ZL callsign, which together let you transmit under the General User Radio Licence for Amateur Radio Operators. Radio Spectrum Management (RSM, part of MBIE) sets the rules, and the syllabus is the international HAREC syllabus. NZART runs the exam through RSM-approved Approved Radio Examiners (ARXs): each paper has 60 multiple-choice questions, one drawn from every ten in a public 600-question bank across 30 topics, with 2 hours allowed, and 40 or more correct answers pass. A calculator may be used. A pass is recorded on an exam result notice, then the ARX issues the certificate and callsign. Only New Zealand citizens and permanent residents can normally be granted a GAOC.
Tigertest has 200 NZ Amateur Radio practice questions with explanations, free to start with no account required.
- Questions
- 60 multiple choice, one from every ten in 30 syllabus topics
- Pass mark
- 40 or more correct answers
- Time
- 2 hours; a calculator is allowed
- Syllabus
- HAREC (CEPT T/R 61-02), set out by NZART in 30 topics
- Run by
- NZART through RSM-approved Approved Radio Examiners (ARXs)
- You get
- A General Amateur Operator's Certificate and a ZL callsign
- First 3 months
- No 5 to 25 MHz until 3 months and 50 logged contacts
Updated by the Tigertest team. Practice questions follow NZART's 2025 Examination Procedure and Study Guide (19/10/2025), RSM PIB 46 Issue 19.1 (July 2025) and the General User Radio Licence for Amateur Radio Operators Notice 2025, checked November 2026. Exam rules change, so confirm current details with RSM: Get a certificate and/or callsign.
How It Works
Train by Syllabus Topic
Four training sets follow the NZART syllabus: regulations and operating; electronics fundamentals; safety, receivers and transmitters; and antennas, propagation and interference. Questions you miss come back until you have mastered them.
Weighted Practice Tests
Four practice tests of 50 questions, each weighted like the 60-question real paper. Aim for 67% or better, the same line as 40 of 60. No question appears in more than one test, and every one comes with an explanation.
Built on the NZART Syllabus
NZART draws one question from every ten in each of its 30 syllabus topics, so every real paper has the same mix, and each practice test here keeps it, scaled to 50 questions. Regulations, propagation and antennas carry the most questions. Club tutors running a licence class can set Tigertest as revision at tigertest.io/teach and see which topics the class misses most.
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Share FeedbackHow to Pass the Amateur Radio Exam
1. Learn the licence conditions first
Regulations and frequencies give 9 of the 60 questions. Read the General User Radio Licence for Amateur Radio Operators and RSM's PIB 46: band edges and power limits, callsign rules, the 15-minute identification rule and what a new operator may do in the first three months.
2. Practise the sums with a calculator
Ohm's law, series and parallel resistors, power, decibels, wavelength and resonance come up on every paper. A calculator is allowed, so practise setting the sums out and checking the units until it is automatic.
3. Know how a station works
Learn the blocks of a superhet receiver and an SSB transmitter, what each stage does, how harmonics and interference arise and are filtered, and how feed lines, antennas and the ionosphere get your signal to the other station.
4. Fix your misses, then retest
Tigertest tracks your accuracy by topic. Aim for 67% or better on every practice test before your exam, then drill the questions you missed and retrain the weakest topic. Your local NZART branch can arrange the exam.
NZ Amateur Radio Exam Frequently Asked Questions
What is the New Zealand amateur radio exam?
It is the exam for the General Amateur Operator's Certificate of Competency (GAOC). With the certificate and a ZL callsign you may transmit on the amateur bands under the General User Radio Licence for Amateur Radio Operators. Radio Spectrum Management (RSM), part of MBIE, sets the rules, and NZART runs the exams through RSM-approved Approved Radio Examiners (ARXs). Only New Zealand citizens and permanent residents can normally be granted a GAOC.
How many questions are on the amateur radio exam?
Each paper has 60 multiple-choice questions. NZART's syllabus has 30 topics, each with a multiple of ten questions in a public 600-question bank, and one question from every ten is drawn at random, so every paper is different but always has the same number of questions from each topic. You have 2 hours, and a calculator is allowed.
What score do you need to pass?
The pass mark is 40 or more correct answers out of 60, about 67 percent. NZART's examination procedure lets the exam supervisor offer a second, different paper on the day to a candidate who just misses. The practice tests here use the same 67 percent line.
What is on the amateur radio exam?
Regulations are the biggest single topic, with 7 questions, followed by propagation with 5 and antennas with 4. The rest covers frequencies, electronics fundamentals, Ohm's law, resistance and power, AC and resonance, semiconductors, safety, meters and decibels, receivers, transmitters and harmonics, power supplies, operating practice and Q signals, transmission lines, interference and digital systems. Each practice test here keeps that balance, scaled to 50 questions.
What can a new amateur do straight after passing?
Under the General User Radio Licence, a new operator may use the bands below 5 MHz and above 25 MHz at once. Operation between 5 MHz and 25 MHz is allowed once you have held the certificate for three months and logged 50 contacts, and that logbook must be kept for at least a year.
Are these the real NZART exam questions?
No. Every question is original, written by Tigertest from the NZART syllabus, the General User Radio Licence and RSM's PIB 46, so it covers the same knowledge without copying NZART's question bank. NZART publishes its bank and exam generator, and studying them as well is a good idea. Questions that show a circuit symbol are not modelled. Tigertest is not affiliated with NZART or Radio Spectrum Management.
I teach an amateur radio club licence class. Can my students use Tigertest?
Yes, for free. Make a class at tigertest.io/teach, post one link, and students join with just their name. You see who practiced, their test scores and the topics your class misses most.
NZ Amateur Radio sample questions and answers
6 of the 200 practice questions, one from each topic, with the answer explained.
1. A quarter-wave matching section joins a 50 Ω line to a 200 Ω load. What impedance should the section be?
- A.250 Ω
- B.100 Ω
- C.125 Ω
- D.150 Ω
Answer: B. A quarter-wave transformer needs an impedance equal to the square root of the two it joins: square root of (50 x 200) = 100 Ω. 125 Ω is the average, which does not work.
2. What must you check before fitting an electrolytic capacitor?
- A.That it is not polarised
- B.That its value is in pF
- C.That it is wired in series with the load
- D.That its polarity is correct
Answer: D. Electrolytic capacitors are polarised. Fitted the wrong way round they can overheat, leak or burst.
3. Why do many digital modes add error-checking data to each block they send?
- A.To find and fix corrupted bits
- B.To raise the signal power
- C.To hide what is being sent
- D.To shorten the callsign sent each time
Answer: A. Checksums and error-correcting codes let the receiver detect, and often correct, bits damaged by noise or fading. They are not encryption, which the GURL forbids.
4. A signal has a wavelength of 69 cm. About what is its frequency?
- A.4.3 MHz
- B.144 MHz
- C.432 MHz
- D.207 MHz
Answer: C. Frequency in MHz is 300 divided by the wavelength in metres: 300 / 0.69 is about 435 MHz, and 432 MHz in the 70 cm band is the nearest choice (it has a wavelength of 0.69 m).
5. You hear a distress call but cannot help. What should you do?
- A.Call the station to ask for details
- B.Switch off to avoid confusion
- C.Keep listening until help is coming
- D.Change frequency so you are clear
Answer: C. Distress traffic takes priority. If you cannot assist, keep a watch on the frequency until you are sure assistance is forthcoming, and keep off the air unless you can help.
6. Two HF stations hear each other best when each points its beam directly away from the other station. Which path are the signals taking?
- A.The long path
- B.The short path
- C.Ground wave
- D.Line of sight
Answer: A. Signals can travel the long way round the earth. At some times of day the long path, the opposite way from the shortest bearing, is the stronger one.
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