Ham radio exam session?

[JonM]

Do y'all think there'd be interest in a ham radio license exam session at the con? I'm a licensed VE, and I'm sure I could find two other VEs to administer the exams. We'd need a quiet room for a couple of hours one day.

The only potential pitfall is that examinees need to trust the examiners with a not-insignificant amount of personal information...

Thoughts?

-Jon

[converge]

Re: Ham radio exam session?

I would, particularly in a cram/learning session to get folks up to speed before said offerings. .. I have not quite enough knowledge spanned across the some 5 -7 years I've owned and (somewhat) operated my yaesu.. it'd be nice to finish the gaps to at least tech and make it official

[JonM]

Re: Ham radio exam session?

Some more info on ham licensing...

To get the entry-level Technician class license, all you have to do is correctly answer 26 out of 35 multiple choice questions. The entire question pool is published and freely available, and passing is pretty much a given if you spend a minimal amount of time studying.

If you have a General or higher license, you can become a volunteer examiner (VE) free of charge by filling out an "open book exam" form:

http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/become-a-ve.html

This lets you participate in administering any exam below your class level.

-Jon

[TheCotMan]

Re: Ham radio exam session?

Would this mesh well as a presentation in the Wireless Village? Would there be enough space for it?

[A]

Re: Ham radio exam session?

Huh, I've been thinking about upgrading my license. Sounds like a good excuse to do so.

I'll be spending most of my time hosting the HHV, but I'm sure I could sneak next door for some study sessions/presentations in the Wireless Village if those went down. As for a quiet room, I think we could probably find a room, but it might be during very off hours. If there is enough interest I'll start probing those in power to see if we can line up some space. If there is NOT enough interest for us to snag a room in the conference area, perhaps someone with a larger hotel room could let a half dozen people invade their space for an hour or two.

[LosT]

Re: Ham radio exam session?

We just had an exam study session here at UAT. And tonight we tried to pull down images (WX) from satellites...

I think an exam session at CON would be pretty cool-

1057

[Thorn]

Re: Ham radio exam session?

I'm pretty sure we could do it at the Wireless Village, although a quite room for the actual exam may bee better.

I've had my Tech (No Code) for ten years, and just renewed. (BTW, it was pretty painless with the FCC's new on-line system.) Now that the code requirements have been dropped, what's the next license level? What would I need to study?

[Grifter]

Re: Ham radio exam session?

There are still several Skyboxes available Sunday, all day. Say the word JonM and one is yours.

[JonM]

Re: Ham radio exam session?

So, it doesn't have nearly the cool factor that doing it at the con does, but it appears that there is a regular test session Saturday afternoon:

9-Aug-2008
Sponsor: LAS VEGAS NV VE TEAM
Time: 12:30PM (Walk-ins allowed)
Contact: TIMOTHY A HUNT
(702)872-5268
Email: TEST2008@LVHAMTEST.COM
VEC: ARRL/VEC
Location: ALL SAINTS EPISCOPAL CHURCH
4201 W WASHINGTON AVE
PARISH HALL
WWW.LVHAMTEST.COM
LAS VEGAS, NV 89107

It's about 6.5 miles from the Riviera, so it's not infeasible to duck out of the con for a couple of hours...

-Jon

[Deviant Ollam]

Re: Ham radio exam session?

it's not infeasible to duck out of the con for a couple of hours

i am likely not going to be taking the test, etc. (as much as i'd love to be more into amateur radio goodness) so take my comments with a grain of salt since they may not represent your key participants' opinions...

but by my way of thinking, trying to do anything off-site is a kiss of death for an event. the ToxicBBQ is basically the only thing that's happened off-site year after year and has been sustained and popular.

there used to be the DefCon Shoot, but that died (and is hopefully coming back now, at least in a small form) and the WiFi shootout (which was even smaller than the weapons fest) but it really boils down to the fact that it's hot outside, people have no cars, etc.

also (maybe the most key reason of all) is that there is just so damn much happening at DefCon... lots of people (myself included) are pained by the notion of just try to get to and from the hotel for an off-site event, given the travel time involved.

just my $0.02, maybe other folks will like the idea of a quiet, private testing center better.

[Station]

Re: Ham radio exam session?

Do y'all think there'd be interest in a ham radio license exam session at the con? I'm a licensed VE, and I'm sure I could find two other VEs to administer the exams. We'd need a quiet room for a couple of hours one day.

The only potential pitfall is that examinees need to trust the examiners with a not-insignificant amount of personal information...

Thoughts?

-Jon

I'd love to take General and Extra class upgrades from my no-code tech license, circa 1991.. I got 8 hours on a plane ride to cram. (without snakes)

73 de N1JNV

[JonM]

Re: Ham radio exam session?

Alright, I've got one Extra interested in helping out (thanks theprez98). We need one more amateur Extra to be able to give the exams. Anyone?

-Jon

[TheCotMan]

Re: Ham radio exam session?

JonM and thepres98:
want me to move this to the Wireless Village discussion forum?
I can leave a redirect (symlink) that auto-expires after 3 weeks.

(Talked to thepres98 elsewhere, and okayed move to the Wireless village. Redir will exist in the old location for 3 weeks so people can find it.)

[converge]

Re: Ham radio exam session?

I really wanted this as part of the WV sessions last year (emphasizing the range of radio outside of 802.11), but we couldn't find folks interested in pulling it together ... watching it take form this year is considerably awesome.

[DCFluX]

Re: Ham radio exam session?

I'm an Extra, but I do not have my VE credentials, yet.