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VE E-Express Newsletter Winter 2006/2007

From: Somma, Maria, AB1FM
Sent: Friday, December 1, 2006 1:27 PM
To: ve-list
Subject: ARRL VE update for Winter 2006/2007

The following VE E-Express Newsletter includes updates regarding the ARRL VEC test fee for 2007, the FCC "Omnibus" 04-140 R&O, and other pertinent information. Some of this material will also be appearing in the January QST Exam Info column and on the ARRL web.

As always, we are here to answer any questions you may have. Please feel free to contact us via your ARRL VE Hotline at 800-927-7583 or by e-mail at vec@arrl.org.

FCC "Omnibus" Amateur Radio R&O Published in Federal Register, Takes Effect December 15

Just a little over a month after the Federal Communications Commission released the Report and Order (R&O) in the so-called "Omnibus" Amateur Radio proceeding, WT Docket 04-140 (FCC 06-149) to the public, a revised version appeared in the Federal Register on November 15, 2006. The new rules become effective 30 days after they are published in the Federal Register. The rule changes in the R&O will take effect Friday, December 15, at 12:01 AM EST. As expected, the refarmed frequencies will affect some questions in the question pools (see Question Pool story below).

ARRL Regulatory Information Specialist Dan Henderson, N1ND, commented: "The release of the R&O in the Federal Register has started the countdown clock. We are all looking forward to being able to use the refarmed frequencies starting on December 15. We are still anxiously awaiting the release of the Report and Order for 05-235, the Morse Code Proceeding. We are hopeful that the Commission will be able to move on that petition soon."

For more information visit the ARRL web for the new band chart [917,715 bytes, PDF] and the ARRL Frequently Asked Questions page on WT Docket No. 04-140. Both have been updated to reflect the R&O as it was published in the Federal Register.

With numerous new FCC Part 97 rules soon going into effect, the National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators' (NCVEC) Question Pool Committee (QPC) has dropped more than two dozen questions from the three Amateur Radio examination question pools. The deletions will bring amateur radio license exams offered starting December 15 into line with rule changes spelled out in the recent FCC "omnibus" Report and Order (R&O) in WT Docket 04-140.

ARRL VEC will not be replacing any of our exam booklets affected by the 04-140 rule changes. We will, instead, be using stickers to substitute in alternate questions (see Exam and Software Update story below). The stickers will contain valid questions to place in the exam booklets to cover up the deleted questions. The stickers will go out by December 15 to ARRL VEC volunteer examiner teams that have been formally field stocked. ARRL volunteer examiner teams using ExamWin software just have to update the "LOCKED.OUT" file to include the deleted questions. ARRL VEC test sessions will continue without interruption.

The QPC cut just one question from the Technician question pool, 13 from the General pool and 10 from the Amateur Extra pool. Changes in frequency privileges and external RF power amplifier standards accounted for the lion's share of the questions cut from the General and Amateur Extra pools.

The table below includes all questions eliminated from the current question pools as a result of changes dictated by the "omnibus" R&O. Even after the deletions, sufficient questions will remain in the applicable pools to meet the mandated `10-times' rule, so no new questions are being added to the existing pools. The "10-times" rule requires question pools to include 10 times the number of questions on a given examination for that license class. The NCVEC Question Pool Committee 04-140 news release can be viewed on the NCVEC QPC web page.

Question Number	Reason for Change
Technician (Element 2) Questions Deleted by December 15
T2A02	Change to §97.113, Incidental music transmissions from manned spacecraft
General (Element 3) Questions Deleted by December 15
G1A02	Change to §97.301(d), General class frequency privileges
G1A03	Change to §97.301(d), General class frequency privileges
G1A06	Change to §97.301(d), General class frequency privileges
G1A10	Change to §97.301(d), General class frequency privileges
G1B05	Change to §97.113(e), Incidental music transmissions from manned spacecraft
G1C01	Change to §97.313(c), Observing 200 W limit in Novice segments
G1D01	No mention of need to be a VE*
G1F02	Change to §97.315(b)(1), External RF power amplifier standards
G1F03	Change to §97.317(a)(3), Power amplifier gain/drive requirements
G1F04	Change to §97.317(b), External RF power amplifier standards
G1F10	Change to §97.317(b), External RF power amplifier standards
G1F11	Change to §97.317(b)(2), Power amplifier gain/drive requirements
G2F02	Change to §97.301(d), General class frequency privileges
Amateur Extra (Element 4) Questions Deleted by December 15
E1A01	Change to §97.301(b), Extra class frequency privileges
E1A02	Change to §97.301(b), Extra class frequency privileges
E1E05	Change to §97.207(d), Space station communications
E1E08	Change to §97.207(g)(1), Space station communications
E1F04	Removed to maintain consistency with VEC regulations*
E1F20	Change to §97.519(b), 10-day rule removed
E1F26	Change to §97.505, Permanent code credit even if CSCE expired
E1F27	Change to §97.505, Permanent code credit even if CSCE expired
E1F28	Change to §97.505, Permanent code credit even if CSCE expired
E1G02	Change to §97.317(a), Standards for RF power amplifiers

*While still correct in most aspects, questions G1D01 and E1F04 are being removed at this time because they do not meet current standards for the degree of completeness or accuracy desired by the QPC.

The NCVEC Question Pool Committee has detected 24 questions impacted by the 04-140 Report and Order (R&O) rule changes. As a result, the questions must be removed from the Pools and Exams by December 15, the day the R&O goes into effect.

As indicated, ARRL VEC will NOT be replacing any of our field stocked supplied exam booklets affected by the deleted questions. We will, instead, be using stickers to substitute in alternate questions. The stickers will contain valid questions to place in the exam booklets to cover up the deleted questions. The stickers will go out by December 15 to ARRL VEC volunteer examiner teams that have been formally field stocked. Detailed instructions will be sent with the stickers.

Seven ARRL VEC Test Booklet Designs (8 questions) are affected by the 04-140 rule changes.

All five versions of your VEC supplied General test booklets and two versions of your VEC supplied Extra test booklets will need substitute questions. None of the Technician test booklets are impacted, as they do not contain any of the deleted questions. On the stickers that will be provided, the positions of the CORRECT answers will not change so that the answers will continue to match up with the Overlay Grading Templates and Exam Answer Keys.

General Class Exam Test Design 3-5-2004
Question 18 will be replaced AND
Question 29 will be replaced.

ARRL volunteer examiner teams using ExamWin software just have to update the "LOCKED.OUT" file to include the 24 deleted questions listed in the chart above.

To lock out or block the deleted questions from being used on your ExamWin generated tests, please use the following instructions:

Open Windows Explorer, which may be found in the accessories menu bar. You may also open (or double-click) on the "My Computer" icon.

Scroll in the URL box (sometimes known as the location box) to find the LOCKED.OUT file using the following directory path on your hard drive:

If your system asks for another program in which to open this file, select your word processing program, preferably MS-WORD or NotePad. If your system does NOT ask this question, disregard this step.

You should be able to view a vertical list of question numbers along the left margin of the file box.

Simply type in the deleted question numbers listed above, in the same format as the existing list.

Letters are to be upper case, no extra spaces, line breaks or notations; only list the question numbers. The questions do NOT have to be in any specific order.

If your printer does not support the `plus or minus character' in its printing (most do not); we are asking ARRL ExamWin users to also add question number G8B12 to this list of "locked out" questions. Printers that do not support this +/- `plus or minus character' will typically display no character, causing the questions multiple choice answers to have two correct answers of 2.8 Khz.

After the list is complete, use the pull-down menu item File to save, and close.

Remember that a $14 fee is charged to every person seeking a new license or upgrade as listed on your ARRL VEC Candidate Roster. That one fee pays for one attempt at each of the four exam elements. If an applicant retests an exam element that was failed moments earlier, another $14 fee is charged (and another Roster entry is created).

ARRL sponsored national exam day weekends are held annually on the last full weekends of April and September. Spring national exam day weekend is April 28 -29, 2007 Fall national exam day weekend is September 29-30, 2007. We thank you for your support of these events!

Please continue to send in your session dates for 2007. Remember to schedule your yearly listings [specific date(s) and location(s)] with us near the beginning of every year. Team liaisons should contact the ARRL VEC directly so that we have the most up to date information posted in our computer and on the ARRL VEC Exam Session Search web page.

Under normal situations, the team should try to register 3 to 4 weeks in advance of the session. This way we can make certain the materials requested reach the team in a timely and cost effective manner.

Field Stocked teams should be especially vigilant about keeping us informed of who has possession of the exam supplies. Notify us immediately when the teams Field Stock changes hands to ensure that any exam updates will be mailed to and received by the proper person. Periodically check your supplies to make sure they are current and that the quantities are sufficient.

To view previous editions of the VE Express Newsletter visit the ARRL VEC News Briefs, Announcements, Newsletters web page.

VE Express Newsletter is published by the
American Radio Relay League, Inc.
The National Association For Amateur Radio

Email: vec@arrl.org
ARRL VEC telephone: 860-594-0300
ARRL VEC Fax: 860-594-0339
ARRL telephone: 860-594-0200

Joel Harrison, W5ZN - President
David Sumner, K1ZZ - Chief Executive Officer
Harold Kramer, WJ1B - Chief Operating Officer
Maria Somma, AB1FM - VEC Manager / Editor