Help on a high school project

[WHILLYBILLY]

i am doing a senior project on communications, and i am contemplating using ham radio as part of the project.  I was wondering if it might be reasonable for me to earn a ham radio license for the physical part of my project, wehre i must have atleast 15 logged hours on.   if anyone has any feedback on whether or not it is possible for me to accomplish this in about 15 hours, or any other ideas that i might use as a project, it would be greatly appreciated.  Thank You

[KI4ENY]

My name is Chris and I have been a ham for about a year now.  I am 15 years old.  When I first heard about ham radio, I wasn't sure that I would be able to get the licence.  It looked really hard, and it didn't seem easy to find an exam session near me.  I guess the real question is, is there a ham radio store or communications store near you?  If so, and you have access to a car or someone who will take you, go to the store and buy the ARRL book called "Now You're Talking".  This is the book theat will teach you the basic fundamentals that you need to know to pass your technician licence exam.  If you are good at studying and learning things, then you should be able to read the book in a few days and know the material well.
Next, do an Exam session search on the ARRL website (www.arrl.org) to find an exam session near you.  If you can get to the exam session and take the test, then you will recieve your licence in a couple of weeks from the FCC.
It is entirely possible to learn the material and pass your licence exam in a couple of days.  However it will take a couple of weeks for the licence to actually get to you in the mail.
As far as earning an amateur radio licence in time to use it for your school project, it really depends on how much time you have on your hands.  Most of the time, unless you are working as or at a special event station, or you are in a contest, then you will not be working 15 hours straight.
Whatever you decide to do, whether or not you are able to use ham radio in your project, you should seriously consider getting your ham ticket for your own personal pleasure.  It will open up many opportunities for you in your future, and it is great fun at the same time!
Good luck on your project, and I hope to get to talk to you eventually on the air.
If you have any more questions or need more information, feel free to email me at ki4eny@satx.rr.com

73 de Chris KI4ENY
San Antonio Texas

[KC0ILV]

http://www.qrz.com/p/testing.pl

generates online practice tests using the standard fcc question pool. I went through this about 10 times in preperation for my general class license.

I am not sure what you are doing on communications, nor which license class you would like to earn, but the hardest part for me was knowing the frequency restrictions and antenna calculations.

If you can, you could even download one of the numerous morse code practice programs out there, learn 5 word per minute code, and get your Tech with code

just make sure that you have time, it can take up to 2 weeks to process your application and test, so it could take over a month to study, find a test site, and get your license.