Comparison

HAM Test Prep Lite vs QSO Central

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

HAM Test Prep Lite

Prepare for your Amateur Radio Extra license exam with practice questions and tests. Review FCC rule text, track your proficiency, and utilize features like zoomable figures and immediate feedback. This lite version offers a sample of the full question pool.

Highlights
  • Practice question pool
  • Practice exams
  • Proficiency tracking
  • Immediate feedback option
  • Zoomable figures
  • Viewable FCC rule text
  • Resumable practice tests
Features
Read full description

Includes the Extra Question Pool effective July 1, 2024! NOTE: This "Lite" version contains only 2 of the 10 subelements in the question pool. Click the 'Buy Now' link in the app to get the FULL version. Upgrade your HAM license from General to Amateur Extra! With the elimination of the Morse Code requirement, there is no reason not to upgrade your license to the highest level to obtain all privileges! Amateur Radio License exams are composed of questions from a pool. Use this application prior to taking your exam to review and practice all possible questions. Then, test your knowledge with practice exams! After completing your first practice exam, the question pool screen will display your proficiency in each question group for all practice exams you have completed. You may choose to receive immediate feedback on right and wrong answers when taking a practice test. On practice tests, questions in a group will not be repeated until all of them have been used. Some questions require you to review associated Figures. These figures may be zoomed and panned on iPhone/iPod touch. FCC rule text is viewable within the application. All sections can be browsed from the main screen. Additionally, for questions where rule sections have been identified, the rule text can be viewed on the question screen when studying the question pool or reviewing test results. An in-progress practice test can be resumed if you exit the test or the application. Current Extra question pool is valid through June 30, 2028. This "Lite" version only contains questions from subelements E1 and E5. Versions of this application for both the Technician and General license classes are also available. This app has these additional features: • Accessibility option for vision-impaired users to exclude questions with figures • Dark mode support • Portrait and Landscape support on iPad • Swipe gestures to navigate between questions • Tap on answer to select it • Double-tap or use pinch gesture to zoom Figures on iPhone and iPod touch • Buttons to skip to next/previous wrong answer in test results • ARRL question number displayed on practice tests • Configurable Test Settings • Optional randomizing of test answers • Optional auto-advance during test

About

QSO Central

Features
Read full description

QSO Central is the all-in-one companion for amateur radio operators and anyone studying for their license. No account, no sign-in, no ads, no tracking. The study and station tools work completely offline — perfect for the field, a contest site, or a basement shack with no signal. A set of optional Live Data features add real-time information when you're connected. LICENSE EXAM PREP (offline) • Full official NCVEC question pools: Technician, General, and Amateur Extra • Flashcards, browsable/searchable questions, and a realistic timed practice exam with instant grading • Missed-question review and per-subelement progress, saved on your device • Diagrams included for the questions that need them STATION TOOLKIT (offline) • U.S. Band Plan — slide across any band to see mode, common use, and exactly what your license class may transmit, color-coded by privilege • Antenna calculators — dipole, vertical, wavelength, plus SWR, coax loss, feedline impedance, and balun • Electrical calculators — Ohm's Law (voltage/current/resistance/power) and battery runtime & capacity • Grid Square tools — your Maidenhead grid from GPS, plus distance and bearing between grids on a map • Morse Code trainer — characters, random groups, callsign practice, and head-copy with adjustable speed and Farnsworth timing • Logbook — log your contacts and export standard ADIF and CSV files • Contest clock — a live UTC clock over a reference of major recurring contests • Emergency Comms — ICS forms reference, your own frequency plans, local repeaters, and contacts REFERENCE LIBRARY (offline) • The full text of 47 CFR Part 97 (the FCC amateur rules), plus plain-language summaries of common topics — Q-codes, phonetics, repeaters, operating procedures, and more • Everything searchable, everything offline LIVE DATA (optional, needs internet) • Callsign Lookup — U.S. lookups via the FCC database, no account required; optionally add your own QRZ.com or HamQTH account for worldwide results • Propagation — current solar indices and day/night band conditions • Repeater Directory — find and sort nearby repeaters with offset, tone, mode, and a map • On the Air — a live feed of current POTA (Parks on the Air) and SOTA (Summits on the Air) activations Each Live Data screen credits its public source and caches its last result so you can still see it offline. PRIVACY BY DESIGN QSO Central runs no servers and has no accounts, ads, trackers, or analytics. Your data stays on your device. Your location is used only on your device — to show your grid and sort nearby repeaters — and is never transmitted; you can skip it and type your grid by hand. The Live Data features send only what's needed to answer your request (for example, the callsign you look up) directly to the public service that provides it. Set your license class and home grid once in Settings, and the whole app tailors itself to you.

Screenshots

HAM Test Prep Lite4 screens
QSO Central4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: HAM Test Prep Lite at 3 against QSO Central's 1. HAM Test Prep Lite also leads on iOS requirement (15.5 vs 17.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
HAM Test Prep Lite versus QSO Central: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHAM Test Prep LiteQSO Central
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (24 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews92.5% of reviews—
Number of ratings24 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.5 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPatrick J Maloney LLCBrickhouse Technologies LLC

In-app purchases

None

HAM Test Prep Lite

No in-app purchases

None

QSO Central

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is HAM Test Prep Lite free?
HAM Test Prep Lite is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is QSO Central free?
QSO Central is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do HAM Test Prep Lite or QSO Central have ads?
Neither HAM Test Prep Lite nor QSO Central shows ads.

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