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Question Pools And Effective Dates:
===================================

The amateur radio license class Question Pools are to have at least ten
(10) times the number of questions that are on the license exams for each
test element. With 35 questions on both the Technician and General Class License Exams...and 50 questions on the Amateur Extra Class exam...all depending on which element, or how many license class elements you plan
to test for, you'll have from close to 400 to over 1600 questions to study. And, because they're in the pools (unless a particular question has been withdrawn), there is a CHANCE that ANY of the questions in the pools WILL appear on the test!!

The Question Pools are updated and released every 4 years, based on new technologies, rules changes, etc. The actual release date is around six
(6) months prior to the effective date (January 1st release date for a
July 1st effective date).

This allows time to catch any errors...and change or withdraw any
questions that are vague, with incorrect data, etc.; so that various
companies that publish study guides can have accurate information in
their products/publications. The ARRL Question Pool website on the
Internet at (www.arrl.org/question-pools) has this information
as well.

Technician: Changed in 2022; changes in 2026, 2030, 2034, etc.

General: Changed in 2019; changes in 2023, 2027, 2031, etc.

Extra: Changed in 2020; Changes in 2024, 2028, 2032, etc.

BE SURE THAT THE QUESTION POOL YOU OBTAIN FOR STUDY, HAS THE CORRECT
DATES. If not, you could be in for a "rude awakening" on exam day.

On The Thunderbolt BBS (tbolt.synchro.net), in the Ham Radio Exams file
area, are as follows (all of these require the Adobe Acrobat Reader to
view them) -- NOTE the EFFECTIVE DATES. When the new ones become effective,
the old ones are REMOVED from the files area. You can download these also
from the NCVEC website, or the ARRL website -- the URLs are noted later
in this bulletin/message thread.

2022TECH.PDF
Amateur Radio Technician Class license question pool, valid from July 1,
2022 to June 30, 2026. Requires a PDF viewer to view or print.

2019GEN.PDF
Amateur Radio General Class license question pool, valid from July 1,
2019 to June 30, 2023. Requires a PDF viewer to view or print.

2023GEN.PDF
Amateur Radio General Class license question pool, valid from July 1,
2023 to June 30, 2027. Requires a PDF viewer to view or print.
Note that there may be changes before the final version takes effect on
July 1, 2023.

2020EXT.PDF
2020 Amateur Extra Class license question pool, valid from July 1, 2020
to June 30, 2024. Requires a PDF viewer to view or print.

Schematic Diagrams are included with each file. Updates have been made
with any issued errata.

Volunteer Examiners
===================

Years ago, to take an amateur radio license exam, you had to usually
travel a long distance to an FCC Field Office. The Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC) program and groups were created in 1982. Volunteer
Examiners (VE's), accredited by the respective VEC, began testing in 1984,
and have been administering ham radio license exams ever since. Now, in
most cases, there is a license exam available in your area...or nearby...
on either a weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, or even an "on demand" basis.

The amount of advance notice required will vary with each VE Team, but
for teams that I work with in central Arkansas, please give at least 24
to 48 hours notice, so a VE Team, and a location can be obtained, that
will be suitable to the examinee, and the VE Team. The best time to do an
exam is on evenings or most likely on weekends...usually on a Saturday;
but some teams will test on a Sunday afternoon.

Note that with COVID-19, many teams have switched to remote testing,
or are doing "low contact, in person testing". All attendees (both the examinees and examiners) MUST wear masks, and are asked questions related
to COVID-19 prior to the session. If they have a fever (99.0 degrees or higher), have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 in the last 14 days,
or have a lack of smell or taste, they are requested to NOT come to the
exam session.

Any Amateur Radio Operator holding a valid General, Advanced, or
Amateur Extra Class license, is eligible to apply to be a VE...as long
as they are at least 18 years of age, their license has never been
suspended or revoked, and there is not a question about the amateur
radio operators "integrity" as a Volunteer Examiner.

Speaking of which, integrity of the exam sessions is a huge part, as
the VE's basically are putting their own licenses on the line. According
to Part 97 of the FCC Rules...if a VE team, or individual VE, administers
or certifies an exam by fraudulent means, they could lose BOTH their VE accreditation, and their ham radio licenses FOR LIFE...and the examinee
may have to re-take the exam elements in question...either before another
VE Team, or before the FCC itself, as noted later in this bulletin.

The VE Team is to TERMINATE the test session of any examinee, who is
caught CHEATING, or if they fail to comply with the instructions of the
VE team. Should this occur, the exam will be marked as FAILED, and the
cheater will be ordered to leave the premises. This could also affect
their ability in the future to attempt to test at another license exam.

A prospective VE must go through the accreditation process. For the
ARRL/VEC, it's an OPEN BOOK TEST, that you take at your leisure. When
done, you return the test sheet to the ARRL for processing...which
takes 3 to 6 weeks. The prospective VE *MUST* have either a valid
General, Advanced, or Amateur Extra Class license *IN HAND*, or in the
FCC database (such as on www.qrz.com) BEFORE applying to become a VE.
ARRL VE Accreditation is free. There are other VEC groups, and their accreditation processes may be different.

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* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (316:36/20)