In a move long delayed and telegraphed by the FCC, they will begin collecting a $35 fee for Amateur Radio licenses starting April 19, 2022. The fee will be collected for new licenses, vanity call sign applications, and renewals. It is our belief that they will not collect a fee for an address change (required by FCC rules to always be current) or upgrades of existing licenses (Ed)
You can see the announcement here: DA-22-307A1
Newport County Radio Club held its first electronic VE exam session today at the All Saints STEAM Academy parking lot in Middletown. Two folks took the exam. Congrats to new hams:
Because the exam was electronic, there was no paperwork to deal with. The examinees used a tablet computer to select their answers. Once they indicated they were finished, the exam was graded instantly and all the paperwork was filled in via a completely automated process . When all candidates were finished, they received their signed CSCE copies via email, and the required paperwork was uploaded to the ARRL. Had the exam been held on a business day, the entry into the FCC ULS would have happened within an hour or so.
The slowest part of the process was getting the assigned VEs to electronically sign the paperwork (which required them to click a “Sign” button and enter their password). In reality, one or one hundred students would have taken the same amount of time, and things were wrapped up in 30 minutes.
John K1JSM (left) helps student with tablet computer during the exam
The exam was not without its tribulations, however. Originally the plan was to hold the exam indoors. However no one came to let us into the building. We quickly regrouped. Rob KB1ZZU had a 115 Vac outlet in his car which was used to power the GoLocalMe WiFi HotSpot, allowing the exam to be held in the parking lot. So hams, once again, prove adaptable and resilient. The highlight of the morning was when two Middletown Police cruisers showed up to respond to a silent alarm in the building right before the exam began. Imagine their surprise to find the parking lot full of radio nerds.
Police stop by to see what fun things were going on!
Our club is very grateful for John K1JSM, who undertook this project, got two tablet computers setup for the students along with the HotSpot. He held a training session for our initial set of VEs. Our thanks to the following VEs who assisted with the exam session:
Our regular March 2022 NCRC meeting will be held via Zoom on Monday March 14th at 7PM. Invitations for the meeting will be sent via email.
The club is trying something new to see if we can make our meetings less about business and more about things we care about. With that in mind, we will no longer discuss committee reports during our meetings. Instead we will publish them on the club website under Documents/Current Year Documents/Current Year Committee Reports. Please check under the Documents Tab for details on the club’s workings.
The business part of our meeting will now be reserved for items that require a vote by the membership (like new applicants, or significant expenditure of funds). That will leave more time for the presentation and socializing. Of course if a member has any business item to discuss, please feel free to bring it up during the meeting.
Minutes of each meeting will continue to be published under Documents/Current Year Documents/Current Year Minutes
The presentation will be given by Paul K1YBE, who will cover an introduction to Celestial Navigation. Members are invited to join the club for a Field Trip on Saturday March 19th from 11am-1pm at Brenton Point Park in Newport. Sextants will be available. Of course members are free to setup and run HF gear as well (like POTA)