Are you ready to upgrade? Do you know someone who is ready to take his Amateur Radio exam? No problem. ARRL has more than 30,000 volunteer examiners worldwide, ready to help. Let's take a look at how the ARRL VEC staff helps hams and prospective hams upgrade or earn a first FCC Amateur Radio license.

Back in the Dark Ages, FCC personnel administered all Amateur Radio exams beyond the Novice level at FCC offices (in large cities) or at other test sites (in smaller cities). If you lived outside of a major city, your opportunity to take an exam locally was limited to the FCC's scheduled visits to your area.

In late 1982, Congress passed the Goldwater-Wirth law, which permitted the FCC to accept the voluntary services of radio amateurs to assist in administering examinations. The League immediately set to work laying the groundwork that would eventually allow amateurs to make exams available to their peers. Headquarters staff spent thousands of hours working with the FCC to develop the basic rules that would be needed before this new testing system could begin.

To get their feet wet, volunteer examiners--under the supervision of the FCC--administered tests to more than 600 applicants at the 1983 Dayton Hamvention. Later that year Congress authorized VEs to charge a nominal fee to recoup the costs of performing their services. With cost reimbursement no longer an issue, the League was able to take on the task of coordinating exams on a national scale without having the cost of administration fall exclusively to the membership.

Staff member Pete Warner checks completed exam materials received from a VE team after a successfully completed testing session.

The ARRL Volunteer Examiner Coordinator office officially came into being July 21, 1984, when then ARRL President Larry Price, W4RA, signed the VEC agreement with the FCC at the ARRL National Convention in New York City. The first ARRL VEC exam session was held soon thereafter, on September 2, 1984, at the ARRL Pacific Division Convention in California.

How Does the VEC Program Work?

Although the ARRL/Volunteer Examiner Coordinator operation resides at ARRL HQ, it is separate from the League's other operations. Aside from overseeing the exam process, it's also responsible for the security of test designs and other confidential material. Exam supplies are stored in a locked cage accessible only to the seven-member staff that coordinates the work of the ARRL VEC's 30,000 member volunteer force.

VEC Assistant Nonie Madone smiles approvingly, indicating that another stack of test session registrations has passed her additional scrutiny for accuracy and completeness. They will be uploaded to ARRLWeb for future test date/location referrals.

ARRL certified volunteer examiners, who could be located anywhere in the world, notify ARRL that they intend to hold an examination session. The exam date is then put into a database that is used internally for exam tracking, and externally for test date and location referrals. A couple of weeks prior to the appointed time, ARRL will ship materials necessary to conduct the exam to the examiners.

The questions and answers for all Amateur Radio exams are in the public domain. Anyone can review them and/or use them for any purpose--including the creation of their own study guides or tools to help people prepare for or give exams. From the pool of questions, ARRL creates its own exams, randomly selecting the questions from the appropriate question pool. A candidate for a license can rest assured that his exam is composed of only the exact questions, answers and distracters (wrong answers) that appear in the public domain.

At the end of the test, candidates find out almost immediately if they have passed or failed. If the successful examinee already holds a license and was seeking to upgrade, the examinee receives a Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination or CSCE. This certificate allows the examinee to operate immediately with the privileges of the new class. New licensees must wait until they are granted a call sign from the FCC, usually a matter of 10 days or so from the test date--as soon as the FCC-granted call sign appears in the FCC ULS database.

VEC Assistant Ann Brinius, working in the secure "cage" area, packs exam material for shipment to an ARRL VE team.

Upon completing their work, the VEs return all test materials--passed or failed--to the ARRL/VEC where it's immediately checked for completeness and accuracy. The test results are then transmitted electronically to FCC and the hard copy exam forms are archived at ARRL. Then, usually within a mere 90 minutes--on weekdays--the FCC computer has already processed the data sent to them by the VEC and has granted the new license or upgrade. The new license results are available via the FCC ULS Web page.

Results

"Our emphasis is on service," said ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma, KB1KJC. "Electronic filing means that hams will get their licenses in a matter of weeks or days instead of months," she said. Processing time at ARRL/VEC averages two to three days from receipt of material from the VE field team.

General view of the VEC Department, showing the secure area used for storing test material.

A few statistics underscore the success of the VEC program. From late 1983 to date, more than 2000 Volunteer Examiner teams have been formed, 30,000 VEs accredited, and more than 320,000 license applications processed. More than 662,000 persons have been served. Remarkably, ARRL VEs have administered more than a million exam elements at more than 70,000 ARRL/VEC-coordinated test sessions.

ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma, KB1JKC, electronically transmits test results directly to FCC.

Additional VEC Services

And that's not all the ARRL/VEC staff is responsible for. In addition, the Department:

· Coordinates the mailing of special FCC-License Renewal notices sent to ARRL Members 90 days before their FCC license is set to expire. This is an ARRL Members-Only service;

· Administers the International Amateur Radio Permit (IARP) program for US radio amateurs. This is a permit allowing US amateurs to operate in some Central and South American countries without first requesting a special visitor's license from that government.

· Serves as one of five Special Event 1x1 Call Sign coordinators, processing applications for one-time use of calls signs such as W0W, K6B, N9W.

The front door says it all. VEs enjoy serving their local amateur community.

· Serves as one of the three Club Station Call Sign Administrators. With the exception of Vanity requests, all new, renewal and modification applications for Club, Military Recreation and RACES station licenses must go through a CSCSA. Vanity applications must continue to go through the FCC.

· Assists in maintaining the question pools. Representatives from ARRL, together with those of other VECs, perform the nearly annual task of reviewing and updating the public-domain Technician, General and Amateur Extra Class question pools.

Summing up, ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma, KB1KJC, said: "The ARRL VEC is the leading VEC because of the excellent work of thousands of volunteer examiners who have given so generously of their time, energy and skill so that many thousands more amateurs could advance through the amateur ranks."

The ARRL/VEC Department is open Monday through Friday, except holidays, from 8 AM-5 PM Eastern time. ARRL/VEC is on the Web and by telephone at: 860-594-0300. If you are interested in becoming an ARRL Volunteer Examiner, e-mail vec@ARRL.org and request The Prospective VE packet. Be sure to include your name and postal address. The PVE packet includes a current Volunteer Examiners Manual and other information to get you started as an ARRL Volunteer Examiner.