More US Licence Exams in VK - May 2019

[VK4ADC]

OzVE will be running US Exams in the lead up to the (2019) WIA AGM, but available to any interested person.

What use is a US-call, I hear you ask?  They give you a simpler call while travelling, including the option of a vanity call; they allow you to operate some great RemoteHamRADIO.com stations; and they allow you become a Volunteer Examiner.

On Thursday, 23rd OzVE will be at Engadine McDonalds, in "The Shire", from 6:30 pm.
On Friday, 34th the session will be at St Peters McDonalds, on the corner of Bishop Street, from 11:30 am.
Both are near railway stations bearing the suburb name, while St Peters is a short taxi trip from the airport.

Further information is available at: http://veexams.com

For WIA National News, this is Julian VK2YJS and AG6LE.

From text edition for May 12 2019 - VK NATIONAL NEWS BROADCAST ON VK1WIA : http://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/wianews/

Also in MP3 edition of news available at: http://www.wia-files.com/podcast/wianews-2019-05-12.mp3


Appears to be a similar arrangement to the one at the recent Wyong Field Day (2019)... See also https://www.ahrdf.net/forum/thread-726.html

[VK4ADC]

Just a follow-up comment re the VEExams.com site : it has links to study materials including to https://www.hamradiolicenseexam.com/

There is an option at https://www.hamradiolicenseexam.com/study.jsp to do a trial US exam - and it is well worth the time to just see the style and depth of questions asked.

Have fun !

[VK4ADC]

And if you aren't going to be in VK2 for this opportunity, here is another one :

10am Saturday the 22nd June Sunshine Coast Amateur Radio Club Rooms  :  USA and Australian Exams. 

The Club will also be entering the VHF UHF Field Day as a Club Station so you can join in the Fun - but wait there's more, a Club BBQ will be operating for $5 per person.. 

Cost of the USA exams is $22 and that allows you to sit all three classes – Technician, General and Extra. Perhaps you just want to test the grey matter and try a new exam. 

The cost of the VK Exams is as per AMC schedule and will include Foundation, Standard and Advanced. 

The Exam crew will comprise Lee Moyle VK3GK and Peter Dernikos VK3FN plus Diane VK4DI plus others.

[VK4ADC]

I have been doing a bit of research into the VE-conducted exams and have found the pools of current questions for the 3 grades of USA licence at http://www.ncvec.org/

The question banks are fairly large and it takes a while to even skim them to figure out what the likelihood of an Australian amateur just passing them without much effort. Simply put, they are low - if for no other reason than the FCC rules for AR in the USA are quite different to the VK rules.  Sure there are a lot of similarities but there are a LOT of major differences. Learn-able to pass the exam, certainly - with some effort.

The theory, antennas, propagation, safety etc.. vary with each level but some are probably somewhat deeper than the equivalent Aussie requirements.  Some sections are fine, but you need to be up on the latest digital techniques (FT8, PSK, MS,..) to have much of a chance at the first (or a subsequent) attempt.  Of course it is multiple choice ( guess? ) so there is always the opportunity to fluke an answer that you don't really know. The FCC rules are hard to guess correctly, some don't have equivalents here.

Similarly to the VK exams, the senses of the questions are sometimes tricky and you have to carefully read the question - and all of the words in it - to get the answer right.  Some of the A / B /C / D answers are intentionally misleading unless read and interpreted accurately. There are the typical two absurd, one nearly correct and one actually correct but there are a lot of the "all of the above" and that makes reading and checking all of the provided answers even more closely than you might otherwise.

The pass mark is 74% so you don't have to attain a perfect score. I tried an on-line Extra Class test and got 70-odd percent the first time, 84% the second so that second one would have got me through. Unfortunately you have to successfully do the Technician test first before you can do a higher level, then pass the General before attempting the Extra Class.

I am contemplating trying the 3 levels at the one sitting (if I can) for no other reason than taking it on as a technical challenge.  The Sunshine Coast exams are about a month away so plenty of time to do some swatting on AR the USA-way.  I don't have any real need to take out a USA callsign (with its initial 10 year life), but I probably would if successful, because the VK licence with it's CEPT acceptance would most likely be useful anywhere I might travel around the globe.

If you are of a like mind and want to contest the VE-exams - and need some help with the documentation to make it easier - PM me through the forum or email me direct or through the contact page on my website at VK4ADC.COM as I have already done some trimming down of the question pool documents.  That reduces the bulk of what you need to skim / learn and might very well take the pressure levels a lot lower.  For instance the 112 pages of the Extra Class pool are trimmed to 48 pages... I've done the 'hard' work and you can get the benefit of that time spent. 

What do you think ??

[VK4ADC]

BUMP. This weekend.

10am Saturday the 22nd June Sunshine Coast Amateur Radio Club Rooms  :  USA and Australian Exams. 

[VK4ADC]

Well the exams on the Sunshine Coast have now come and gone. Of the 9 candidates who attempted exams, there were 7 who were successful at the Extra Class, one at the General Class and one at the Technician Class levels.

   

Thanks to the extensive VE Team and the Sunshine Coast Club for hosting the event.

And while it is short notice, there is another exams session being held in Victoria THIS WEEKEND.

Victoria Exam Session

29th June 2019 Saturday
1:00pm
Venue: Eastern & Mountain District Radio Club (EMDRC)
Address: 13a McCubbin Street Burwood, VIC 3125

[VK4ADC]

Those who sat exams on the Sunshine Coast now have their FCC-issued callsigns..  

Not bad given that we sat for them on the 22nd June and have our licences and calls on the 28th June - and there was a delay while the paperwork was actually physically sent to the USA in the middle of that !!

The ARRL received the package one day and the FCC database had our licences in it the next.  

Something the AMC in Tassie should strive to match ??

Doug VK4ADC / now also KX4SX