The Exam Session
================

Test materials, answer sheets, scratch paper, pens, pencils, and copies
of NCVEC Form 605 will be provided at the session. If you have questions
on how to fill out the form(s), the VE Team will gladly instruct you on
this. The NCVEC form 605 is ONLY to be used at a VE Test Session by the
VE Team. If you submit the form to the FCC, it will be returned to you
WITHOUT ACTION...making your effort A WASTE OF TIME, and postage.

As noted, when you arrive at the exam session, you basically are either
ready to take the exam, or you are not. It is advised that you bring a
set of earplugs, if you are distracted by noise.

With COVID-19 restrictions, you will likely be REQUIRED to wear a mask,
plus wearing gloves is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED. Also, the amount of exams
one can take may be LIMITED TO ONE (1)...to minimize potential exposure
to those in attendance.

If you have a medical disability (such as a vision or hearing impairment, reading disability, etc.), or require special procedures to complete your
exam, please notify the VE Team as far in advance of the test session as possible, so accomodations can be made for your disability. MEDICAL DOCUMENTATION MAY BE REQUIRED if your disability is not obvious.

These can be exams without graphics, or the VE reading the questions
and available answers to the examinee....who tells the VE which answer
to mark. The VE is NOT permitted to make any vocal inflections, or give
any other "help" or "coaching" to the examinee.

As noted above, those who have disabilities can contact Handi-Hams (www.handiham.org on the Internet), as they assist people with
disabilities to learn material to obtain their amateur radio license,
and helping with the exam itself.

Be sure to use the restroom BEFORE you begin the test. Nature "tends
to call" at the most inopportune times...so, if you "get the urge to go
urinate (pee) or defecate (poop)" during the test...BEFORE GOING TO THE RESTROOM...you MUST turn in your test, whether or not you've finished it.

Basically, "if you can't hold it", you will have to turn your test in
BEFORE leaving the room...and will have to START OVER with a NEW TEST
(and pay a new fee) when you return...whether you finished it or not.

For the exam itself, you will mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET,
and NOT in the test booklet itself. You will either bubble in the
desired letter, or make an "X" through it...do NOT just CIRCLE the
letter.

If you are at an exam session adminstered by an ARRL/VEC VE Team, when
you're given the test booklet and answer sheet, examine them to make sure
they have the right number of questions, as follows:

License Exam: Exam Color: Questions: Pages:

Technician Goldenrod 35 4
General Yellow 35 4
Amateur Extra Pink 50 5-6

If the VE Team is using the Exam Maker software, the Technician and
General exams have 10 pages, and the Amateur Extra exam has 15 pages.

Test booklets with other VE Teams (instead of ARRL/VEC) may be different,
but the number of questions will be the same.

If you notice pages missing, or other discrepancies, notify the VE Team IMMEDIATELY...and they will replace the defective copy of the materials in question. You will fill out the appropriate information on the left side
of the answer sheet, where required.

Cellphones, pagers, IPods, watches with hourly chimes, etc. MUST BE
TURNED OFF, and PUT AWAY during the test session. While examinees with
hearing aids may use them, any other device (headsets, books, notes, possessions, etc.) MUST be put away, until the test session is completed.
As noted above, if your calculator has been CLEARED of memory resident formulas, you may use it during the exam...but, the VE Team will verify
that this is the case.

The only things that you may take with you upon leaving the test session,
are the personal belongings you brought with you when you arrived, and any applicable CSCE given to you by the VE Team. You may NOT take any test materials, answer sheets, or any other forms from the test session.

If you pass one test, and wish to take the next one in line to upgrade,
you won't be required to pay an additional fee. But, if you fail an exam,
and wish to retest...you will be required to pay another test fee, as
noted above...if the VE team will allow you to retake the exam with a
DIFFERENT set of questions. Whether or not you take more than one license
class exam at a test session is at your option, and it's not required that
you do so.

Some VE Test sessions will LIMIT the number of retest attempts, because
of time constraints. With most test sessions, only one (1) retest of a
failed element is allowed. If you fail the exam for a particular license
class twice in one session, it's best that you study some more before
trying again. With COVID-19, some sessions may limit testing to one (1)
exam ONLY, to minimize potential exposure to those in attendance.

If you need to take a break between tests (to stretch your legs, use
the restroom, etc.) you may do so. However, as noted above, CHEATING, IN
ANY FORM, WON'T BE TOLERATED!! The Volunteer Examiner Team will CONSTANTLY
BE OBSERVING ALL EXAMINEES during ALL tests, to make sure that this is
the case!!

There is NO RUSH to complete the test...as you're more likely to make
errors if you do!! Take your time, and answer the questions that you know FIRST. Go back to the ones you're not sure of, and save the difficult ones
for last. If you do have to GUESS, do it INTELLIGENTLY. You have a 1 out
of 4 chance of getting the question right, without doing anything.

If you leave a question blank...or mark more than one answer per question
on the answer sheet, it is AUTOMATICALLY a WRONG ANSWER...and it could be
the difference between PASSING and FAILING the exam!! If you have to CHANGE your answer, make sure you notate it as such. However, unless you're quite sure, your first choice is usually the correct answer.

If you finish the test early, turn your test booklet, and answer sheet
into the VE Team...once you're satisfied that "you've done the best that
you can do". PLEASE REMAIN QUIET, until everyone else has finished their
exams as well. Disruptive behavior by examinees or observers will NOT be tolerated, and the disruptees will be dismissed from the test session. If
the VE Team gets "too loud", please ask them to "tone it down to a low
roar", as it were.

Per Part 97.519, of the FCC Rules:

(d) The FCC may:

(1) Administer any examination element itself;

(2) Readminister any examination element previously administered by
VEs, either itself or under the supervision of a VEC or VEs designated
by the FCC; or

(3) Cancel the operator/primary station license of any licensee who
fails to appear for readministration of an examination when directed
by the FCC, or who does not successfully complete any required element
that is readministered. In an instance of such cancellation, the person
will be granted an operator/primary station license consistent with
completed examination elements that have not been invalidated by not
appearing for, or by failing, the examination upon readministration.

Note that unlike a VE Test Session, if you fail the readministration
of an exam before the FCC, you will NOT be allowed to take another test
that same day.

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--- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (618:250/33)

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Original License Documents and Identification Required
======================================================

The VE team is REQUIRED to personally VERIFY THE IDENTITY of EVERY
CANDIDATE wishing to test. This is why you need to have the ORIGINAL of
your photo ID, ham radio license, and/or CSCE, if applicable. If the VE
team suspects that ANY of these have been ALTERED or FORGED, they will
make copies of such documents, and report them to the proper authorities.

In the case of an altered/forged state government issued ID, ham radio license or CSCE, you could face heavy fines and prison time; (fines for unauthorized operation range from $7500 to $10,000, if not more).

Believe me, it's NOT worth the risk. If the FCC determines you have a "character issue", you could be stripped of your amateur radio license
FOR LIFE...or DENIED one in the first place (with "The Felony Question",
noted above).

The PHOTOCOPY of the license and CSCE's will be sent off with the license application and exam data...the ORIGINAL ID documents will be RETURNED to
their respective owners IMMEDIATELY after the VE Team has verified their identities.

Some, BUT NOT ALL, exam sites will have the capability to make the
photocopy of the identification and license documents for you, but it's
wise to check with the contact person for the exam session, to see if
that is the case.

While your name, address, callsign, and license class, are public domain
on the FCC ULS, QRZ, or other callsign data websites...other personal data (such as date of birth, home phone, email address, Social Security Number, etc.) are kept STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL. On the QRZ website, one must actually
be "logged in" to view an email, if the person has entered the data.

Prior Exam Credit and Upgrading Examples
========================================

Once you pass an exam element, and have either the ORIGINAL of your
license and/or valid CSCE to prove such, you won't have to take that
element again; as long as your license is unexpired, or is within the 2
year grace period of renewal after expiration.

As noted above, neither Novice or Advanced Class licenses are issued
anymore, as of April 15, 2000...and, Morse Code is NO LONGER REQUIRED for
any U.S. amateur radio license exam, as of Feb. 23, 2007. Novice and
Advanced class licensees may continue to use their privileges, as long
as their licenses aren't expired. However, they have different "exam
credit" toward upgrading, as noted below:

Item presented for license exam credit: Elements: ======================================= =========

Novice license (unexpired or expired) NONE

Technician license March 21, 1987 or later (expired >2 years) NONE
Technician license March 21, 1987 or later (expired <2 years) 2 ONLY Technician license March 21, 1987 or later (unexpired) 2 ONLY Technician license March 20, 1987 or before (expired >2 years) 3 ONLY Technician license March 20, 1987 or before (expired <2 years) 2 and 3 Technician license March 20, 1987 or before (unexpired) 2 and 3

General or Advanced license (expired >2 years) 3 ONLY
General or Advanced license (unexpired, or expired <2 years) 2 and 3

Amateur Extra (expired >2 years) 3 and 4
Amateur Extra (unexpired, or expired <2 years) 2, 3, and 4

Certificate Of Successful Completion Of Examination (CSCE) See Note

Note: If the amateur radio license was previously a General, Advanced, or Amateur EXtra Class license, that is EXPIRED MORE THAN 2 YEARS, while
credit for elements 3 (former General or Advanced Licenses), and element
4 (former Extra Class License) is given, they are WORTHLESS without the Technician Exam (Element 2). So, in this case, the examinee MUST pass
the Technician Exam to get a CSCE for either a General or Extra Class License...and they will get a new callsign from the FCC. They then can
apply for their former callsign under the vanity callsign system, if it's
still available...but it'll cost them $35 to do so, as of April 19, 2022.

A CSCE for "element credit" by itself, without any kind of ham radio
license is NOT valid for "on the air operations". You MUST already have
been issued a valid FCC Ham Radio license to legally "get on the air". If
you have been issued a CSCE within the last 365 days for the indicated
license element credit, you have credit for that element as well.

You MUST pass, or otherwise have credit for, all lower amateur radio
license classes to upgrade to a higher license class. If you are missing
one of these lower class elements, in effect, you have NO LICENSE.

Once the CSCE is older than 365 days, it is WORTHLESS. In a non-leap
year, a CSCE issued on July 1, expires at 12 midnight local time on June
30 of the following year. Using a leap year example, the expiration of
the CSCE is 12 midnight local time, June 29, of the following year.

If you fail to bring the ORIGINAL of your current license, and the
ORIGINAL of applicable CSCE's, you may be REQUIRED to take those elements AGAIN...even though you already have taken and passed them before.

If your current amateur radio license reflects the same type of license
class noted on the CSCE, you can either discard the CSCE, or keep it as
a novelty.

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--- SBBSecho 3.15-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (618:250/33)