General Info on Amateur Radio Exams
INTRODUCTION
Until 1984, all those taking a test except novice had to travel to arrive in an FCC office (Kansas City or Denver) by 8 A.M. If a test was failed, the applicant had to wait 30 days to take it again. The volunteer examining program has brought testing to you! Testing in Manhattan is a volunteer effort of members of the Manhattan Area Amateur Radio Society. None of the test fees go to examiners personally. Fees go to the national coordinator, and for copying, postage, and purchase of forms.
WRITTEN TESTS
All amateur written tests are constructed from a standard national question pool. The questions in the pool are word-for-word what you will be asked on your test, and all questions are included in license preparation books. For any test, the total number of questions in the pool is about ten times the number of questions on the test you'll take (technician - 35, general - 35, amateur extra - 50). For example, if you're studying for a technician written test, you'll need to be able to answer about 350 questions.
All written tests will be multiple-choice, with the same four possible answers you've worked with when studying the question pool. The passing grade is about 74% (26 of 35 correct for technician or 37 of 50 correct for extra). Your test will be graded promptly after it's turned in, and you'll be told your score, but not which questions you missed.
Study material for the technician test (Now You're Talking, by the ARRL) can be found at the Manhattan Radio Shack, or ordered from the ARRL. We recommend the license study books written by the American Radio Relay League, 225 Main St., Newington, Ct. 06111. They'll be glad to send you a sheet with prices and ordering info for their many publications. Their manuals will give you the questions and answers, plus well-written explanations of the material. For more information, go to American Radio Relay League Publications.
MORSE CODE TESTS
FCC rules require us to test you on every letter A - Z, numbers 0 - 9, period, comma, question mark, slant, BT, AR and SK. We're not giving away any secrets by telling you this. Learn that /, Q, Z, and double dash. They'll be in there somewhere!
Code tests are given from tapes. A one-minute practice message is sent first. Adjustments in volume, etc. are made, and then the five-minute test message is sent. There are no tricks in the messages. The test message will be a typical amateur contact, so find a practice tape or software that gives you typical contacts instead of random characters. You'll learn the sounds of some of the common words, abbreviations, and Q signals. After the message is sent, you can proofread your work to your satisfaction until you give it to the examiners to be graded. Very important: They have to be able to read what you've written. Print! If what you copied doesn't look like English, fix it! You may recopy the message below the original copy if you like.
You can pass a code test in two ways. The way most applicants pass is by one minute of perfect copy (five characters times the words-per-minute speed--for example, 25 consecutive correct characters for the 5 WPM test). The examiners will go out of their way to find that one minute somewhere in your copy. In your favor is the fact that each character which is not a letter counts as two characters. There will be lots of numbers, commas and periods that will count double. Learn 'em! Examiners will not pass someone who writes down dots and dashes and translates after the test.
You can ask for a fill-in-the-blanks test. You'll pass this way if you answer 7 of the 10 questions correctly. You'll be expected to answer with exactly what was sent. If the sending operator was Patricia and you answer Patrick, it won't count.
An important thing in copying code is to maintain concentration. If you realize you've missed a character, forget it! Never try to backtrack. Get busy and get the next character. You'll be restarting your string of perfect copy that much sooner.
WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH THE NO-CODE TECHNICIAN LICENSE?
Technician is the only class of amateur radio license for which there is no Morse code test. Earning this license involves passing a written test, the 35-question technician test (element 2). The technician license allows operation on the VHF and UHF bands, for example: 6 meters, 2 meters, and 440 MHz. You'll be able to talk on the local repeater stations with relatively inexpensive handheld and mobile transceivers.
OTHER AMATEUR RADIO LICENSE REQUIREMENTS / OPERATING PRIVILEGES
605 FORMS The FCC form 605 will be available at the test session. You don't need to find one or fill one out in advance. AMATEUR RADIO LICENSE If you're licensed now and you pass tests that will upgrade your license, the examiners must have a photocopy of your license to send in with your 605 form. You cannot be tested if you forget to bring your license copy. CERTIFICATE OF SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF EXAMINATION (CSCE) Most amateur radio licenses call for passing more than one test element. If you pass an element at our session, you'll receive a certificate which shows what you passed. It will be accepted for 365 days by any volunteer examiner in the country. If you are taking a test element that will complete your requirements for a class of license, you must have a photocopy of your CSCE which shows that you've already passed the other element required for that license. The examiners are not allowed to accept the original. If you don't have the CSCE copy, or if it has expired, you'll need to retake the other test element. TEST FEE AND RETAKES The test session fee is $14.00 for 2006. You can take all the code and written tests you can pass for that one fee. Please bring the exact change for the test fee, or a personal check. Your examiners can't leave the room to get change if they run out. If you retake a failed test element, the examiners must collect another test fee. A same-day retake might pay off if you were within a question or two of passing the first time, but the pass rate on same-day retakes is low. Availability of retakes will be at the examiners' discretion, based on time and alternate tests available. WHAT TO BRING TO THE TEST Bring the test fee (exact change or check), a photocopy of your license (if upgrading), a photocopy of your Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination (if you need to show you passed an element), and picture identification. You may use a calculator as long as you can demonstrate that it does not have information, formulas, etc. in memory. The examiners will supply pencils, pens, paper, blank forms, etc. IT'LL TAKE SOME TIME! While tests can be taken in ten or fifteen minutes, grading, certificates of completion, 605 forms, etc. add considerably to the length of test sessions. Every form must be hand-signed by three examiners. Please allow 1.5 to 2 hours to wrap up your test session. HOW LONG 'TIL I GET MY LICENSE?! Results have varied from unbelievably fast to six weeks. If you would like to know your callsign as soon as possible, use one of the several callsign servers on the Internet. Here are some options:
WHAT IF I JUST WANT TO RENEW MY LICENSE? Amateur radio licenses should be renewed in a window 30 - 90 days prior to expiration of the license. You have at least two options.
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