Tech / Special Interest → Ham Radio > Testing the newbies

Testing the newbies

Well, finally. I got to sit on the other side of the table today and be examiner number two at a testing session.

I was surprised at the turnout. About a dozen folks came out to get their first ticket or upgrade to the next level. I was told that most testing sessions have this kind of turn out.

Had 2 perfect score Tech tests. IIRC one of them successfully tested for his General. The other didn't do so well.

Only had one person fail their tech test.

I very much enjoyed being on that side of the table. It was a ton of fun and I'm looking forward to doing it again.

There is a ton of paperwork. And a lot of i's to dot and many t's to cross. It's amazing that even with all of us there things can get missed. So, if you're at a testing session and you wonder why it is taking so long, know that things have to be checked and rechecked. Because the testers are putting their license on the line to get you your ticket.

Congrats!

I've done 3 sessions so far sitting 'on the other side of the table'. There are several VEs in our radio club, and there are test sessions before our monthly meetings. At one point, we had 7 VEs to test 2 candidates. Even with that many VEs, there's still a lot of paperwork and it all needs to be triple-triple checked. Results have run the gamut from over half wrong to near-perfect scores. Last month, we had a couple of candidates miss 2 or 3 on their Tech tests and not do so well on the General. Another did similarly well on the Tech and passed General [but wouldn't try Extra ].

The way I see it, it's a way to give something back to the hobby. It's a lot of work, but it's enjoyable work.

[dup post deleted]

I applied to AARL/VEC for certification a few days ago. I really want to be able to wear that shirt. Haven't heard anything back yet. If they approve, I'll see if either the North Fulton, Atlanta, Kennahoochee, or Ga Tech clubs need any additional help. I have Extra so I can examine everybody.

For the VE's who posted, did your group tell the candidates how many questions they got correct? I believe this is required by the ARRL rules, but one club around here refused to tell the candidates anything except pass or fail.

We can tell them how many they got right, but not which ones they got wrong.

As DrStrange posted, you are able to tell the candidate the number correct / incorrect but not the specific questions they got correct / incorrect. In the end though, it doesn't matter beyond pass/fail. There's nothing on the 605 or CSCE showing the score of the passed element(s).
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If someone comes close to passing an exam and the VE team has more than one version of the exam, the candidate can take a different version of the exam [candidate has to pay another exam fee].

With respect to scores, as GeekNJ said, the final paperwork that goes to the VEC and the FCC only says 'pass' or 'fail' [and what was earned if the candidate passed].

Our VEC does not charge anything for the exam, however, they are are real PITA when it comes to paperwork. They want everything done exactly their way, but this is not always documented. They complain about the colour of pens used, order in which documentation is done and even the order in which VEs sign documents.

We usually tell them their scores if pass/fail is not enough for them. They get another chance at an exam if they missed by only a few marks and we have plenty of time to mark the test and do the paperwork. We encourage everyone to take the next level of test, if they pass, however, very few take us up on the opportunity. I would think it would give them a bit of experience and it is generally free(even to ARRL testers).

Everyone here accredited by ARRL? I went that route because I didn't really know any other VEC to apply to.

Got a few weeks to wait for the approval, so it seems.

There are 14 VECs. That said, most VEs around here [myself included] are accredited by the ARRL.

It took about a month for my accreditation to go through. If you think it's taking too long, let me know. I know the fellow in charge of that at the League.

I need to get off my butt and upgrade, it's just work and working on weekends now make that hard to do..

That's what I did but can't remember the site

Something wonky is going on here. Not sure why this post showed up. Ignore me.

I wasn't aware that a non government individual processed records into the ULS.

For my ARRL affiliated testing team, an exam taken on a Friday night shows up in the ULS that Thurs or Fri so it takes just 4 or 5 business days and never weeks.
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1. The person at ARRL isn't a government individual. I hadn't heard VECs were inputting data directly into the ULS, though. It's been my experience that the turnaround at ARRL is a couple of days once they receive the paperwork. In our case, though, the paperwork is physically delivered to ARRL HQ.

2. The fee through ARRL VEC is $15. Up to half of that can go to VEs, if needed, to pay for supplied directly related to testing [strictly enforced; needs to be documented]. I haven't seen an instance yet where our team thought we were entitled to any reimbursement.

I'm one of the W5YI group.

That is one purpose of getting your Amateur Extra class license - so you can administer all classes of exam.

Most people has the mindset that all you have to do is memorize the answers and the questions long enough to pass the test and then you can forget everything that you learned.

The key is to listen on air and see how many of those licensee's actually operate and how many of them buys real radios and puts up real antenna's and how many of them just buys a walkie talkie and how many of them are just preppers that wants to get a license in case their cell phone quits working or the world comes to an end.

I squeeked by on the technician exam - only had a week to read the books and only had about 4 hours to study the material before the test. I then took the General exam 3 times and failed each time - didn't know the material - never even saw the questions - but could get at least 55% right...

Came back a week later - after reading the General Class License book and passed the General test on my first try.

Failed the amateur extra 3 times - same situation.

Came back two weeks later - forgot my glasses - failed it 3 more times.

Had to wait 4 more weeks until I could find another VE test session - only missed 2 questions out of 50.

Told the examiner - give me another test and I will do better..
They said 2 was good!

Also became a VE that day.

Went home - online - took the ARRL VE exam - even though I didn't have to take it, and I only missed one question on the whole exam.

Became a VE for two VEC's

I've done 14 VE test exams - even did two in one day.
I've traveled up to 120 miles one way - just to give a exam..
One test exam had almost 100 applicants in one day...

Out of all of those people - I don't think I have heard 5 of them on the air in all of the time since they got their license and have not ever gotten a single thank you for being there to give them their exam. Even the ones that got their license exam for free...

Congradulations on your first VEC test exam session

It all depends upon who ran the VE test session.
If it was a Representative of the ARRL or another VEC that has a direct connection to the FCC and can submit the paperwork - you can have your call sign in as little as one or three days.

The VE that did my paper work was a real moron and she didn't fill the applications out properly, or put in her email address and it was almost 4 weeks from the time I passed my Technician License exam until my call sign appeared in the URL database.

By that time I was already a General and working on my AE...

Again - she screwed up my paperwork and my call sign did not change when I became a General - hence I had to wait until I became a AE before I got another yucky call sign.

I had that call sign more then a year before I found a vanity call sign I could tolerate... Some people has all the luck, while others gets stuck with the real yucky call signs...

If possible, never get a call sign with multiple K's or A's or Q's or U's or B's or C's.. Most people talks before they listen and get confused and messes up your call sign when it is not an odd letter.

3's and C's are another bad combination.

2x1's are also real hard sometimes - because people has it in their heads that your call sign is one way, when it is actually something else.

In 3 land - Technician's got a KB3 call sign, and if it ended with ACB what ever - you were ensured that most FM people were going to screw it up.

If you upgraded to Extra - you got a AB3 - which was just as bad.
I don't know where the FCC comes up with this crap.

Generals could expect to get a N3 call sign which was actually a pretty good call sign..