We can coordinate amateur radio licensing exams! This page contains instructions on how to prepare for and run them.

Aspirationally, we are trying to do this once per month, always during the beginning of a radio night.

The upcoming session and its registration link can be found on the HamStudy sessions page. We usually plan out a date and do the session registration formalities 3-4 weeks out.

Please review this section if you are one of the volunteer examiners (VEs)!

There are five jobs during a session. With exactly three VEs these overlap a lot, so expect to tag-team and float as needed:

1. Checking people in and marking them as Seen.
2. Handing out exams and filling out answer sheets.
3. Monitoring the room and waiting to be flagged down by an applicant.
4. Grading.
5. Wrapping up Form 605 signature paperwork after their last element.

• Potentially helpful to set one person up by the door so that people can't leave without having signed for their 605s there.

• Check their photo ID. If there's a name mismatch, ask for supporting evidence (student ID, a piece of mail, etc.) to your satisfaction that all the documentation points to the same person.
• In ExamTools, find their name, then Status → mark as Seen.

• Hand them an exam booklet and a pre-filled answer sheet (candidate name, candidate ID from ET, 5-digit exam ID from the booklet, element number; remember to do all the bubbles too).
• As you give them the exam, please tell them:
  1. Do not write on the exam booklet, pretty please. Scratch work goes on the bottom of or the back of their answer sheet.
  2. No electronic devices except approved calculators.
  3. All tests are randomly generated so they do not have to hide their answer sheet from their neighbors.
  4. Flag a VE down for grading when they are done.

• View the room, no electronics except calculator use, no reading.
• When a candidate raises their hand, collect their booklet and answer sheet.

• Briefly check that the candidate did not write on the exam itself. Then, return that test paper to the bottom of the test pile.
• Scan the answer sheet with GradeCam, which you can enter from the specific session page on ExamTools. It is the 📷 camera icon button.
• Tell the candidate their score privately. If they passed and want to try the next element, hand them a new exam packet and send them back.
• If they're done for the day and passed something, tell them something along the lines of “before you leave, you need to sign your application, please don't leave until you've done it.”
• Keep all answer sheets and put them in a separate pile somewhere. Do not return the answer sheet to the candidate.

• There are two ways to get to the signature page:
  • From their own phone: Ask them to go to exam.tools → Join Exam Session → enter DMA for team identifier and their applicant PIN from the answer sheet.
  • From your own device: in ExamTools, click their name → Copy Applicant Login Link → open it in a new browser tab
• The page will say that VE approval is needed to continue. On the applicant list, you should see that their PIN number gets a red icon, and you can click on that to approve their request.
• Have them sign their Form 605 electronically. Confirm the signature registered.
• Let them know:
  1. Their CSCE will be emailed once all three VEs find time to sign their results.
  2. They'll get an email from the FCC to pay the $35 application fee. They have 10 days to pay or their application is dismissed.

• Get three VEs to sign the CSCEs in ExamTools (this can happen after candidates leave or you can do it as people have time).
  • After a candidate gets 3 signatures, someone with team lead permission clicks Mark Complete. This will finalize their CSCE.
  • Then, click Manage → Email CSCE.
• Thank your VEs for coming!! And clean up the space.
• Finalize the session in ExamTools and export the Laurel SessionManager CSV.
• Follow the steps to get things uploaded to the Laurel VEC portal.
  • Our regional coordinator asks us that we attach a single PDF containing ExamTools's generated forms (Download – Final Forms).
• Keep the original exam booklets and answer sheets for 30 days, then shred them.
• Optionally, send out a congratulatory email after our regional coordinator uploads the batch to FCC.

Sample congratulatory email:

[candidates in bcc]
 
Hi all,
 
It was great to see everyone at the amateur radio exam session! If you are receiving this email, you just successfully sat for at least one exam element.
 
If you were here to get an upgrade, they should be posting just now -- yay! There is nothing else you need to do and you can go use your new privileges on the air.
 
If you are a new ham and do not have a callsign yet, your applications should also be transmitted to ULS and are in a Pending state. Soon (if not already) you should be receiving an email from the FCC directing you to their website to make a $35 payment. Please make sure to do this within 10 days, otherwise they will automatically dismiss your application.
 
After FCC receives your payment, their system will start posting callsigns Mondays to Fridays slightly before midnight. Anecdotally, payments completed before 2:30 p.m. Pacific time are usually processed the same day, otherwise they get processed as part of the next business day's batch.
 
Please let me know if you have any other questions. Again, it's been a pleasure.
 
- Your Name WX7XXX

Here are the things that need to be done to set up a session:

• Find 3 Extra class licensees to be VEs, ideally 4, and make sure that they are available during the proposed date and time. We are a Laurel VEC team and can sponsor folks to be volunteer examiners. One of the VEs can be yourself.
• On ExamTools, create a new session.
  • Team: DMA
  • Session Type: In-Person
  • Use ExamTools Registration? Yes
  • Use ExamTools for grading or paperwork? Yes
  • Walk-ins allowed? No
  • Maximum number of Participants: 10
  • Time: Suggested 6:30 p.m. with session time of 30 minutes
  • Publicly visible notes/Notes for applicant (email): see below
• List this session on Laurel VEC. Copy the sign up link from ExamTools and put it in the description.
• Fill out the Non-ARRL Sponsored Exam Session Registration Form so the exam session is listed along with ARRL-sponsored sessions.
  • VEC Organization: Laurel Amateur Radio Club, Inc.
  • Will walk-in candidates be accepted? No
  • Session Sponsor: dma.space
  • Under the “Additional exam session dates” free-form field, ask that they list this link under the website field so that people can sign up: https://ham.study/sessions/DMA/all
  • The rest of the form should be straightforward.
• Add this session to the space's calendar.
• Optionally, announce the exam date on the Cascadia Radio and UWARC Discords.

Public notes:

This is an in-person exam session hosted at [dma.space](https://dma.space), located in Capitol Hill of Seattle. It is free and open to the public.

**Getting Here**: Our space is inside the Ballou Wright Building (E. Pike & 12th Ave, [Google Maps](https://maps.app.goo.gl/Ca2iGHhtfvSdwzdq9)), a 10-minute walk from Capitol Hill light rail station.

**Registration**: You should register on this website before the exam session, using the registration link at the bottom of the screen. This will give you a 4-digit Candidate ID to use on your answer sheet. Additional instructions will also be sent to your email after you sign up, so please look out for emails (including those that might have landed in your Spam folder).

Notes for applicant:

Hello! Thanks for signing up for a test.

**Time**: You may begin writing your exam at 6:30 p.m. Please arrive around this time, particularly if you plan to take multiple exam elements.

Our practice is to stop handing out new tests after 7:15 p.m., but you may finish any exams that you have already started. This has not been an issue for candidates in the past, unless you'd like to retake any failed elements.

**What to Bring**:

1. One photo ID (driver's license, passport, school ID card with photo, etc.),
   or two forms of non-photo alternative IDs.
3. A writing utensil of your choice.
4. Optionally, a calculator or slide rule.
5. There is **no exam fee**.

We will provide scratch paper and have extra pens, but won't promise they're any
good.

If you are bringing expired licenses or old CSCEs to use as element proof, the ARRL covers what to bring in depth
[here](https://www.arrl.org/what-to-bring-to-an-exam-session). Please bring an original and a copy of any documents which you want to use as element credit.

**Getting Here**: Our space is inside the Ballou Wright Building (E. Pike & 12th Ave, [Google Maps](https://maps.app.goo.gl/Ca2iGHhtfvSdwzdq9)). Find our entrance to the left of Overcast Coffee. Please consider taking transit (parking is challenging and the building is next to a SPD precinct). There will be a sign and an intercom on the day of the exam to help you get up to the second floor.

**Studying for the Exam**: We usually recommend the [KB6NU No-Nonsense Study
Guides](https://www.kb6nu.com/study-guides/) (terse and follows the question bank
closely; the Technician exam one is free), Dave Casler's YouTube course, and
ARRL's licensing books (more textbook-like; available in your local library).
When it gets close to the exam, try [HamStudy](https://hamstudy.org/), which is
free and awesome for last minute cramming.

**Contact**: Write to radio@dma.space for questions (the email goes to all volunteer examiners).

• Confirm again with your VEs that they are still available and know when/where to go (15-30 minutes before the test starts is a good time to meet up and get set up).
• On ExamTools, work out how many exam elements people have signed up.
• Print out exam papers and answer sheets.
  • Per Laurel VEC advice, always use the ExamTools beta exam generator.
  • Use the Scan with GradeCam option. Remember to print out the answer sheets, also from that tab. The “35/50 question combo form for all classes (new!)” one works great.
  • Print out at least as many General exams as you have people signed up for the General, plus Technician exams, so that people who pass Technician can immediately try the General if they want to.
  • If you already have printed exams, you can reuse them, but check the exam IDs on that website to make sure they are still valid.
• If you want to, you can send out a reminder email to the people who signed up.

Sample reminder email:

[candidates in bcc]
 
Hi folks:
 
This is just a reminder email that you have signed up to take an amateur radio test today, Monday, April 13, 6:30 p.m., at dma.space. The street address is 1517 12th Ave, Suite 207, Seattle, WA 98122.
 
Please bring a pencil, an eraser, and some form of photo ID. Unless you are planning on hand-calculating or memorizing the number questions, a calculator may be helpful too. There will be scratch paper space and we may have extra pens, but won't promise they're any good. (Note on photo ID: If you have changed your name but do not have government-issued documentation reflecting so, please talk to me about options.)
 
There is no hard cutoff time limit on this test session. Our usual practice is to stop handing out new tests after 7:15 p.m., but you may finish any exams that you have already started. Folks generally have not had issues finishing on time, so there is no need to arrive extra early. There should be a doorbell and a sign on the door with doorbell instructions. If you don't see a doorbell, please find us on the ButterflyMX intercom at the entrance.
 
We hope the studying has been going well :) For last-minute cramming, consider using HamStudy's adaptive flashcards[0].
 
If you are no longer planning to attend the exam session, please let me know. Feel free to reply all if you have any other questions as well anytime!
 
-Your Name WX7XXX
 
[0] https://hamstudy.org/

• Put up a sign at the building entrance, saying a ham test is happening. Leave a phone number to call in case no one answers on the ButterflyMX.
• Set up a table for humans/papers to be situated at. It would be helpful if this is next to or visible from our door.
• Click Start Session when you are ready.