Welcome to the CRES Amateur Radio Club Volunteer Examiner Team’s web page for prospective and upgrading hams.
This site attempts to provide answers to those questions frequently asked of us about our exam sessions and the VE program. Be aware that some of the information presented here is specific to our particular program and to the Central Ohio area, and other VE teams may elect to do some things differently.
Google
is your friend here. There are many web sites where you can find the current question pools and sample test engines.
https://www.arrl.org, is a good starting point and click on the Licensing tab to get started. You can find ham radio study guides at many local bookstores and on the Internet.
There are many sites on the Internet that offer amateur radio practice exams.
One we often refer candidates to is https://www.qrz.com/hamtest/, but, as indicated above, Googling “ham radio practice exam” will turn up many sample test engines. Just make sure the exam site you choose is drawing its questions from the current exam pool. It is useful to try a few practice exams prior to attending an official test session both so you can judge if you are ready for the real McCoy and so you’ll know what to expect when you get to an exam session. We find that if you can reliably pass these on-line exams, you’ll likely have no problem when you sit down to take the test for real.
You need to find an exam session. Perhaps the most straightforward way to do this is to check the ARRL website at https://www.arrl.org/find-an-amateur-radio-license-exam-session, to obtain a schedule for the exams they know about.
You may also want to check https://www.laurelvec.com/?pg=exams for a list of exams offered through the Laurel VEC.
The FCC permits the VECs to impose a fee for administering ham exams, and some VECs charge up to $15.00 to do so. Our exam sessions are normally conducted under the auspices of the Laurel VEC, which by policy has never charged for the administration of a VE exam.
That said, the FCC has begun to assess a $35.00 application fee of their own for new and renewing licensees. This fee is payable directly to the FCC. For more information, see https://www.arrl.org/FCC-Application-Fee.
We normally accept walk-in candidates at our sessions only if we have the time to accommodate them, and we strongly encourage all applicants to pre-register, which you may do so here (during the published pre-registration interval preceding each exam). Pre-registration allows us to handle a lot of the paperwork prior to the exam and makes the check-in process easier. Be aware that other VE teams operate differently: Some require all their applicants to pre-register while others do not offer pre-registration at all. Also, please note that if you have special needs i.e., perhaps you are visually impaired, you should contact us beforehand so that we can ensure we have the materials and personnel on hand to accommodate you.
We’d be happy to address it personally.
You can either drop us an email at W8ard@yahoo.com or contact us by phone. Our team’s applicant point-of-contact is:
Russell Ward/W8ARD, and he may be reached at 614-634-0622.
When attempting to contact us by email, please check your spam folder as our replies sometimes get routed there.