Online amateur radio license testing in U.S.

[jperuta]

Good evening,

I’m just wondering what the arrl is doing in this uncertain times. If s current ham radio operator wants to upgrade his/Hers license. With no current testing (in person). How does one go about it?


Thanks in advance.

 

[belvdr]

I don’t think it’s possible.

 

[fxdscon]

Good evening,

I’m just wondering what the arrl is doing in this uncertain times. If s current ham radio operator wants to upgrade his/Hers license. With no current testing (in person). How does one go about it?


Thanks in advance.

I emailed the VEC folks at ARRL with that question and asked if there were any plans in progress for online testing seeing that most testing sites are now closed. Apparently they did not feel that my emails were worthy of a response.

But this might be an upcoming possibility for online testing:

Amateur Radio License Exams - New England Sci-Tech

The Exam Team of New England Amateur Radio offers regular in-person amateur radio license exams at New England Sci-Tech, Natick, MA.

www.nescitech.org

.

 

[nd5y]

You can't upgrade your license class without testing.
All you can do online is renew it when it's about to expire or apply for a vanity callsign.

 

[jperuta]

Thanks, does anyone know if I were to call the league that I would be able to get a person on the phone ?

 

[n5ims]

The ARRL isn't doing squat. Remote testing is legal, however, allowed since 2014, when the FCC published Report and Order FCC 14-74. It is very widely adopted here in the US (note my sarcasm) with the Anchorage [AK] VEC being the only one of the several VEC organizations in the US to actually have things in place to legally do it. Typically they only will do this for folks that want to test in areas of Alaska that are quite a distance from one of their regular testing locations. As of February 18, 2020 they appear to have opened up their remote testing to everyone in the US and Canada to help folks get licensed during the wide-spread lockdowns. You must follow their rules (of course) but may be able to get tested. The link below has more information.

Exam Session Locations

ALL IN-PERSON EXAMINATIONS ARE SET TO RESUME AS OF JUNE 1ST, 2020. PLEASE CONTACT THE LEAD VE LISTED TO SEE IF THEIR LOCATION IS OFFERING IN-PERSON EXAMINATIONS. Where to find a testing session NO…

kl7aa.org

Also, see this from that link

Effective February 18th, 2020 the Anchorage ARC VEC has expanded our remote testing to anywhere in the United States provided certain requirements are met. For more information on remote testing, please click HERE.

 

[n5ims]

Perhaps that the ARRL and W5YI organizations are now moving in the direction of allowing remote testing as well.

USA conducts first all-online ham radio exam

<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The first remote all-online amateur radio Technician license exam was carried out in the United States on March 26, 2020</span> <span style=

qrznow.com

 

[ko6jw_2]

I have had first hand experience with the Anchorage VEC and they are very efficient and helpful. They are their own VEC (no ARRL etc.) I took my Extra there while on a visit to Alaska. I would suggest contacting them directly. ARRL is useless. As a VE they screwed up a testing session we scheduled and never sent the exam material. Don't waste your time calling. I am a member of ARRL, a VE and an ARES Emergency Coordinator. However, I never hear from our Section Manager and affiliated with the Laurel VEC after my experience with ARRL's VEC.

 

[AK9R]

The ARRL offices are mostly closed now since CT is under heavy travel restrictions and non-essential businesses are closed.

Yes, the FCC permits remote testing, but with a "proctor" at the exam location to verify the examinee's credentials and to make sure the examinee doesn't cheat. As far as I know AARC-VEC is the only group doing remote exams on a regular basis and they are swamped with requests. The W5YI-VEC is experimenting with remote exams. I am told that the ARRL-VEC is looking at ways to do this within FCC rules. I've heard nothing from the Laurel-VEC about their plans for remote testing.

Establishing standards for nationwide remote exams is really up to the NCVEC and the FCC.

 

[k6cpo]

The ARRL offices are mostly closed now since CT is under heavy travel restrictions and non-essential businesses are closed.

Yes, the FCC permits remote testing, but with a "proctor" at the exam location to verify the examinee's credentials and to make sure the examinee doesn't cheat. As far as I know AARC-VEC is the only group doing remote exams on a regular basis and they are swamped with requests. The W5YI-VEC is experimenting with remote exams. I am told that the ARRL-VEC is looking at ways to do this within FCC rules. I've heard nothing from the Laurel-VEC about their plans for remote testing.

Establishing standards for nationwide remote exams is really up to the NCVEC and the FCC.

Laurel has said they are not going to do it. All the rest of the VECs have been silent about the idea.

 

[k9wkj]

Laurel has said they are not going to do it. All the rest of the VECs have been silent about the idea.

I am baffled by that
been watching in the VE team leader list and dont know what to think!
I would have thought it would have been the perfect chance to streamline even more

 

[k6cpo]

I am baffled by that
been watching in the VE team leader list and dont know what to think!
I would have thought it would have been the perfect chance to streamline even more

Each of the 14 VECs is an independent entity that can test as they see fit, as long as the do it within the confines of the FCC regulations. If they choose to not establish an online examination system, that's their choice. Most of the smaller VECs have been silent about remote testing.

 

[needairtime]

Could someone change the title of this topic to "Getting" a license as this current situation applies to new licenses as well as upgrades? I was about to post a new topic about getting a new license, and luckily caught this thread which captures the same information.

I suspect that the main problem nowadays is that it isn't the VECs, it's the individual VEs that need to not only ensure no cheating, but also verify the identity of the examinees to ensure someone else isn't taking the test for them. This is difficult to do without being in person and the safety of the examiners and examinees is the problem. It's not exactly the same situation as voting though there are a lot of similarities...

This however is the same problem as the college entrance exams (e.g., SAT) - which have been actually waived in many situations. As the amateur radio examinations is pretty much the only way to know if a person really knows the material, this isn't possible. Perhaps if someone shows their degree in radio (not just electrical) engineering at some college this would be sufficient (HAH), but even then, there's no way to know the prospectives know the FCC laws.

 

[Hit_Factor]

This was posted earlier this week.

Date: Mon, 13 Apr 2020 14:46:05 +0000

From: "Somma, Maria, AB1FM" <msomma@arrl.org>

To: ve-list <ve-list@arrl.org>

Subject: [ve-list:1713] ARRL VE Newsletter - April 13, 2020

Message-ID:

<MN2PR16MB3487E75A0AF3E4DC5DC9DD0FB3DD0@MN2PR16MB3487.namprd16.prod.outlook.com>



Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
==================================================
ARRL VE Newsletter - April 13, 2020
==================================================
ARRL VEC Video-supervised online exam sessions

A very few ARRL VE Teams have successfully conducted in-person exam sessions (following social distancing guidelines) and video-supervised exam sessions using fillable PDF exams and documents. So far, we have found that both types of sessions take our volunteer teams 2 to 3 times longer to conduct, and accommodate fewer candidates than sessions conducted prior to COVID-19. To this point, the video sessions have included only one examinee per session.

We ask the community to be patient with our volunteer teams as they navigate uncharted territory. Please remember, with the introduction of significant new processes such as these, there should be proof of concept, establishment of protocols and procedures, and beta testing before expanding to a larger audience. Video-supervised exam sessions require a different skillset than giving exams in person. Not all teams will be equipped to deliver video exams immediately.

In addition, the ARRL VEC has been investigating options for an online examination system.

Fillable PDFs are cumbersome within a video-supervised exam session process. We recognize that online testing would be a large-scale solution for our thousands of volunteer examiners and would make session procedures easier for our teams, but this will not happen overnight.

The ARRL VEC will continue to adapt and respond to the evolving crisis, as we search for a viable and easy-to-use online examination system and conduct exam sessions in new and innovative ways.

========================================================================
The ARRL VEC Staff is Ready to Serve You

As always, the dedicated VEC staff are here to answer any questions you may have.

ARRL VE toll free number: 1-800-9ARRLVE (1-800-927-7583)
Address: ARRL VEC, 225 Main St, Newington CT 06111
Email: VEC@arrl.org<mailto:VEC@arrl.org>
Web: www.arrl.org/volunteer-examiners<http://www.arrl.org/volunteer-examiners>

ARRL VEC Fax: 860-594-0339

Maria Somma, AB1FM, Manager

Amanda Grimaldi, N1NHL, Assistant Manager Stephanie Borden W2MAU, Service Representative Ann Brinius, Service Representative Lisa Riendeau, Service Representative Joshua Nance, Service Representative

We thank you for your efforts and interest in the ARRL VEC program

 

[AK9R]

ARRL-VEC has since sent out another email to their VE teams stating that ARRL VE teams in Georgia and Massachuesetts have successfully conducted video test sessions. Sounds like the ARRL VEC is working through the details before a wide-scale release of the process.

I was under the impression that a W5YI VE team had conducted an online test session, but I didn't find anything on the W5YI-VEC website about the process (maybe I wasn't looking in the right place) or whether they are implementing online test sessions on a wide scale.

 

[ghoward02]

I'm one of the folks that took an online Technician exam from a Massachusetts based VE group, just last night in fact. Still waiting for a CSCE and of course the FCC to assign a callsign, unsure if the delays with either are due to the new format or current FCC staffing. Definitely appreciate the efforts of the VE team and the extra folks they brought along for observation & training.

 

[AK9R]

Congrats!

The FCC processing is computerized and pretty much overnight once they get the data. The delay is in the VE team getting the data to the VEC and the VEC then formatting the data for the FCC.

 

[needairtime]

So what do you mean "online" -- just on a computer? Sounds like you still had a VE team with you and this is really the limiting factor for getting things through, how many people were with you to get tested?

I'm not sure computer based testing really helps significantly with respect to COVID-19, less paperwork touching at least, though paperwork still needs to be made. The computer still needs to be cleaned and the VEs still need to verify your identity.

 

[ghoward02]

The test was conducted completely through Zoom in the comfort of my own home on a personal computer. I am in western Massachusetts, the VE team was from eastern Massachusetts. Prior to the test I provided all my info for them to fill out a form 605 which was sent back to me for an electronic signature.

The actual test involved 3 VE's on the Zoom call as well as 2 others who were observing for training, I was the only test-taker as all sessions are solo right now. They had me temporarily connect my cellphone to the meeting and pan around the room as requested to verify no notes or other hints. The test itself was through HamStudy.org's VE-only site where the team had to enter a PIN that tied the session to me before loading and beginning the test.

Results were instant (35/35!) and I was told the paperwork would be sent to the VEC (ARRL) today and hopefully processed by the FCC within 2 business days.

So no shared computer touching, no paperwork on my side, not sure if the ARRL is still requiring printed/mailed copies from the VE team.

 

[needairtime]

Ah, the room pan helps a bit. I just was kind of wondering how they would prevent someone subsequently behind the scene changing after the room pan, or did you need to be in a small room with no "tricks" like a peephole behind you to look at your screen on the questions you skip or visibly having problems with...

So you also had to show picture ID or was zoom's ID sufficient to tell who you were?

I hope this was exactly how ARRL will be doing these as a standard, though yeah this is going to be tough to

I still don't have zoom installed on my computer, I guess I'll need to do so and figure out how to use it, probably at least help out reducing the number of sessions any one VE needs to do.