So, over the past couple of days, my blog post and Sterling, N0SSC’s blog post on remote amateur radio license testing has caused a bit of a stir. I wrote, “Unfortunately, only the Anchorage VEC seems to be the only VEC interested in doing this [remote testing].” To which, Ria, N2RJ, the ARRL Hudson Division Director, tweeted,
“None of the VECs are remotely interested” – come on that’s not true. ARRL did a session for Antarctica and it’s being investigated for regular use but it’s not going to happen in a weekend. But there is interest.
This morning, after exchanging a few emails, Ria forwarded a copy of her latest email to the Hudson Division ARRL members. In it, she says,
Remote testing
There have been more than a few inquiries about remote VE testing. At the moment there is only one VEC offering it and they are backed up for months. At this point all I can say is that ARRL is looking into it but we don’t have a set date or time as to when or if this will be implemented. Personally I would like to see it happen but several things need to be in place. I have been advocating for it and I will keep advocating for it as well as getting ideas and resources together. But I must stress that this won’t happen in a day or a week. It will take some time. With that said, the technology and methods and FCC rules are definitely there.
This is good news, in my opinion. If I sounded alarmist or like a muckraker in my last post, it’s only because up until this bit of news, we haven’t heard anything from the ARRL officially about this.
Now, it’s up to the ARRL to come through on this. Like Ria, I don’t think that this will happen in a day or a week. Nor will it happen before our lives get back to some semblance of normalcy. The ARRL really doesn’t have the resources it should have to do all the things they are being asked to do.
That’s why I’ve suggested to Ria that they should make use of the expertise that we have among the ARRL membership. I’d bet that there’s some member out there who does have some expertise with remote testing that would be willing to volunteer his or her time to this effort. In the past, the ARRL has been lax, for whatever reason, to tap this resource, but perhaps the time has come to do so.
I did a quick FCC license search. In the last year, there were 103 license grants through the Anchorage VEC. I bet that most of those were in-person exams. The FCC granted 74,057 licenses overall.
A handful can be done by individual arrangement. Thousands of licenses needs a system.
We can’t even get the ARRL to do electronic submissions from the VE team. If anyone besides Anchorage started doing online testing I doubt it will be the ARRL. One of the other VEC will have to step up.
I hate to be so negative, but I think the ARRL is more interested in maintaining the status quo than “advancing the art”, but then I don’t have a million dollar contesting station so apparently by there standards I am not a “real ham”.
The ARRL, like any large organization, is a victim of its own inertia. I wouldn’t presume that lack of progress in this area is due to bad intentions.
Even NASCAR can do something completely out of the ordinary, in extraordinary times. Last Sunday the put on a virtual race, which attracted over 900,000 viewers. Fox has now signed up to broadcast an entire season of eSports iRacing fun. Who’d have thought?
ARRL and FCC should take this opportunity to create a contingency system or alternate for times when public health dictates overrule the congregating of groups of people in a confined are such as this current problem. History teaches us that this is not the first time it has been appropriate to minimize contact between members of the public and take precautions to avoid the potential dire consequences, so why not take this situation as a cue to spur developing an alternative testing system? Today with so much information being digitized and transmitted on the internet, why not have a way to keep license examinations going? We have so many secure means of file transference available today and using the same mechanisms that assure secure commerce it should be feasible now to make this work without undue concerns for security or chain of custody of the exam materials.
I do not think this should replace the traditional VEC administered exams, but it could serve to keep the examination/licensing process rolling despite pandemics, and other disasters. In fact, even these examinations should be processed and run as close to the normal process as is practical and possible. The grading of the exams could be done by a team of VEs that would not have to be in physical proximity with each other via a VPN in a similar manner as the teleconferences that many have been working within as a result of the current pandemic. The technology to do this has been around and being refined for the past 20 years, it is about time we took advantage of this fact in order to have continuity of service despite current events that prevent people gathering in one place.
This is a complicated issue, and many folks have already addressed some of the facets. One elephant in the room is the cost of the exam.
I have seen people drive 100 miles in each direction to take a test because the VEC team offering it didn’t charge money.
If we were to go the route of commercial testing, much like what they do for tactical certifications on equipment and software, were you go to a testing center and you are highly monitored, we could implement a scalable solution today. The fly in the ointment is the cost. The high watermark has been set at about 15 bucks, most of those formal testing sessions would charge a good deal more.
As someone pointed out, the VEC’s that are implementing remote testing are actually not testing a large amount of folks remotely. That was substantiated by chatting with the Alaska VC team just yesterday evening.
It will be interesting to see what solutions come out of this whole equation, especially in light of our current situation.
I would be really happy if the ARRL got to some level of electronic submission, much less a remote test.
I didn’t travel nearly that far, but $ was a factor in both my decision where to be examined & examine (as expected, they drafted me as soon as I made Extra with maybe 3 off 100%!). When I sat for my upgrades on different days last year, I went with the tradeoffs of:
My VEC having sufficient parking at those 2 of their church locations (1 non-church site they’ve since been looking to shift to a free rental with sufficient parking, so even though it was the closest, I didn’t go there)
My VEC’s regular sessions being earlier in the day than I’m usually awake
My VEC NOT charging, unlike as I was charged for my Tech exam in 2003
versus
Another VEC holding a somewhat closer, decent-parking & better-time-of-day session, BUT charging $ (which IIRC was mostly due to renting a restaurant’s banquet room) & ARRL’s $ exams being even further away than even the 2 of my VEC’s, plus at times that would have made have to wake up earlier.
I don’t believe we’re going to offer remote exams, so to any VECs that will offer free exams remotely, I’d like to be on your teams.
I had searched far & wide for remote testing & only found the news items on Antarctica. After the 2014 R&O finally allowing them at long-last behest of NCVEC in 2002 & Anchorage VEC.
I figured demanding [requesting] remote testing from the side of a lower licensee was futile, along with everyone else seeming to also see how entrenched VEing was, with on-site testing & paper (although IIRC I passed my Tech on a command-line OS computer at a Salvation Army building in 2003?), and that I would have to be the change I wanted to see in the world, once I hit Extra & signed up to VE. I’m in contact with one in the remote testing working group about joining their ranks.
Unfortunate that it’s THIS pandemic (out of many concurrent/consecutive ones) that caused the politely-sublimated demand to come out of the woodwork. But… 7 Ps.
*plus at times that would have made me have to wake up earlier*
I have had a technician license and have been an ARRL member for most of that time. I lost interest for awhile but recently have been approached by a large group in our community to help set up an emergency communication network. This has peeked my interest and now would like to get a General license and help some of those interested to get their Technician license. Unfortunately there are no testing sights or dates listed for our area within 250 miles. ARRL and Ham radio operators have always been on the cutting edge of technology. Why not use that knowledge to allow remote testing. Two good reasons for this. First of all, many of us do not have testing center locations within our areas. Secondly and more important is the fact that fewer people have been interested in Ham radio over the past few years. Making it easier for those who are interested to get licensed will go a long way towards fixing both of these problems. If ARRL does not do this, you can expect your numbers to keep falling. The perception out there that Ham radio is run by a bunch of old geezers who want to keep it that way. I can say that because I am an old geezer myself so don’t take offense. I implore you to bring our group into the 21st century and offer on line testing. If you do our numbers will grow by leaps and bounds.
Somewhat disconcerting as I’m studying for my first license. Perhaps I’m missing something but why don’t they just set up outdoors with everyone spaced out ten feet or so, masks required?
I to am looking for online testing. With the covid crisis VE are not doing any testing . and ive seen a response that made my blood boil “I can wait this crisis out”
I am a First respond-er and REGARDLESS of the covid crisis I am out there for many, many calls in all kinds of inclement weather and any time of the day or night.
I am also a veteran and have a deeply ingrained sense of duty and HONOR!
to those VE’s who would quote the response above I have this question for you,
would you like us first responders to say that to you if it was you or your family members in the accident or fire?
I fully intend to become a member of races and ares networks.
so for all you VE’s who are refusing or stonewalling GET WITH THE PROGRAM!
there are means out there to get this done make use of them!
sorry for the rant I just spent the entire night out in bad weather