Third Thursday June 2024 Results

Uncategorized

Thanks to Supreme T-shirts and Apparel for hosting the FCVET and to the Laurel VEC for allowing the FCVET consisting of

Joe Haggerty (N4BJH)

Richard Spargur (K3UI)

Stan Disbrow (W2CK)

Lowell Sayles (K4EUP)

Kevin Walton (N4RMF)

Mark Gibson (N4MQU)

We have 1 new technician, 2 upgrade to general, 2 upgrade to extra. K3UI is doing a great job on the Exam Tools to allow applicants to use a computer to answer and grade the exam. This allows much quicker response time to get the results back to the applicant. We will use this method for the FCVET at Banks road and Wendell locations.

Third Thursday January 2024 Exam Results

Uncategorized

Thanks to Supreme T-shirts and Apparel for hosting the FCVET and to the Laurel VEC for allowing the FCVET consisting of

Joe Haggerty (N4BJH) Richard Spargur (K3UI) William Auld. (K4WCA) Stan Disbrow (W2CK) Mike Rowland. (N3YEP)

Congratulations to the successful applicants the FCC has granted the following applications and has issued or will be issuing their call signs as appropriate. They will all be new technicians.

Kyle Rooney (KQ4NWH) n of Fuquay-Varina

Paul Hetrick (KQ4 NWW) of Cary

Raymond Summerrow, Jr (KQ4NWX) of Apex

Teegan Lutzie (Call Pending)of Huntersville

Alexander Andrew’s (KQ4NWF) of. South Mills

From W2CK

Stats for Banks Road

323 applicants

290 nsuccessful

167 Techs

97 Generals

25 Extras

If you haven’t watched the video of behind the scenes at an exam session Here is the link https://youtu.be/1eU914Ms2X8?si=BWUb1BLkK-aeHb8W

Please report any errors on this report to me.

Fourth Saturday May Wendell Results

Amateur Radio, Wendell

Thanks to Wendell United Methodist Church for hosting the FCVET and to the Laurel VEC for allowing the FCVET consisting of K3UI, W2CK, AI8U, AB4SL, and K4EUP for volunteering as a VE for this months no charge amateur radio exam.

The following applications were granted by the FCC

KQ4IOF Harold Murphy of Durham upgraded to General
N4WPZ Charles Cheek of Apex upgraded to General
KQ4IWB Michael Merzke of Chapel Hill new General
KQ4IWP Sonya Withers of Clayton new General
KQ4IVW Ed Withers of Clayton new General
KQ4IVV Matthew Mercer of Wilson new Tech
KQ4IWQ Elbert Boyd III of Raleigh new Tech

As you hear them on the radio be sure to recognize them. The upgrades and new licensees has something to be proud of.

Third Thursday May 2023 Report

BRTC, PTVET, Testing

Thanks to the Laurel VEC and the FCVET of N4MQU, K3UI and K4EUP and to our host K4PKD and W2CK we had a successful amateur radio exam session. Although we had no applicants everyone got what they came for and the paperwork submitted was perfect. And now another look at behind the scenes of a VE Team. When we arrived the team discovered trees in the front and back yard were down. This apparently was due to a storm in the area sometime Tuesday night. We really appreciate Paulette and Stan hosting us on the third Thursday. Fortunately there appeared to be no damage to the facility. By the way there is paperwork still do be done even if we have no applicants. Be sure to thank a VE next time you meet one. A lot of work goes on behind the scenes.

For more articles on history of Banks Road testing click here.

Banks Road Testing Results April

BRTC, Testing, Uncategorized

Banks Road April Activity

Five County Ham Radio Enthusiast didn’t start as a VE team. A couple of us wanted somewhere in Wendell area to go to to talk ham radio without going to Raleigh or Benson. Then one day I saw that the Hamvention didn’t charge for exams and I started asking questions. I found out that the VECs are able to establish the rates they charge and Laurel VEC made a decision not to charge a fee and that each team took care of their own expenses. I found out they didn’t have any teams in North Carolina so I started one. Our first testing session was in Wendell at my friend KJ4MDY’s Peter Eggimann place of business Electronic Products Design. We had a tech in a day class with 9 students. 5 of them passed. Our regional coordinator for Laurel came down to help as it was my first time leading an exam session. It would have been a disaster without the support of him and the other VEs from other VECs. Anyway I felt a need to give a brief history of the organization as we approach 400 subscribers.

Thanks to the Laurel VEC and the FCVET of K3UI, KO4W, K4WCA, W2CK and N4MQU everyone once again got what they came for.

N9QEQ Upgrade to Extra

KQ4IBO Sorin D Lazareanu of Apex new tech

KQ4HZW Frank Slifer Of Knightdale new tech

KQ4HZV Sudhakar Nagarajan new tech

K3UI renewed his license!

N9QEQ Upgrade to Extra

KQ4IBO New tech

KQ4HZW New tech

FCVET Wendell February Results

Amateur Radio, Testing

Thanks to the Laurel VEC for allowing the FCVET consisting of KF4RLJ, AB4SL, K4EUP, K3UI and N4BJH for volunteering to administer no charge amateur radio exams. Thanks to the Wendell United Methodist Church for hosting our monthly exam sessions. We had three applicants.

The following actions were granted by the FCC

KQ4GMF Jonathan L Allen of Clayton new General

KQ4GMG William L Burgon of Raleigh new Technician

KQ4GMF

KQ4FVM F Norbert Hector of Raleigh upgrade to General

KQ4FVM

FCVET Banks Road Third Thursday for February

Amateur Radio, BRTC, Testing

Thanks to the Laurel VEC for allowing the FCVET consisting of W2CK, N4MQU, K4WCA, K3UI, K4EUP for volunteering to administer no charge amateur radio exams. We had four applicants.

The successful applicants were:

Randall Ricker (KQ4GGU)
Ashley Young (KQ4GGS)
Emmaus Smith (KQ4GGZ)

W2CK, N4MQU, K4WCA, K3UI, K4EUP

Instructions

KQ4GGS New Technician

KQ4GGZ New General

KG4QQL New Technician

Area Laurel VEC Teams Were Busy Saturday

Amateur Radio, Testing

Area Laurel VEC teams were busy Saturday. This was not planned that way on purpose but W4CEC had scheduled the end of his class for that day so he had his exam. His team had 4 new Technicians and 1 new General and 1 upgrade to General.
Photo shows W4CEC from last year

Award winning W4CEC teaching class

FCVET at the Wendell United Methodist Church with leader K3UI in charge had 1 new technician, 3 upgrades to general and 1 upgrade to Extra.

Photo from an earlier session.

Photo shows K3UI from an earlier session

RCVET Richmond County VE team with N4MQU in charge we had 1 applicant that needs more study but it was a great experience for the new Laurel team to get use to the Laurel procedure. The previous W4VEC team has over 10 years of experience and has the support of the Richmond County Emergency Management providing their great facility to give the exams.

Photo RCVET from Saturday

Richmond County VE Team

Thanks to Laurel VEC and all the applicants and volunteers for making this happen.

Area Laurel VEC upcoming no charge amateur radio exams are as follows This information is current at the time published.

6400 Johnson Pond Road, Fuquay Varina, NC 27526 First Saturday 10::00 AM

2813 Banks Road, Raleigh, NC 27603 Third Thursday 10:00 AM*

129 North Main Street, Wendell, NC 27591 Fourth Saturday 1:00 PM (Jan-Oct)

*registration required due to space limitations all other locations registration requested https://fivecountyhre.org/study-tips-and-registration/

The RARS VE Team conducts exams on the fourth Tuesday of even numbered months (February, April, June, August, October, and December) prior to the RARS Gathering at the Ridge Road Baptist Church, 2011 Ridge Road, Raleigh, NC 27607.

For W4CEC Exams see https://w4cec.com/registration/

The Richmond County Amateur Radio Club is offering no charge amateur radio exams check their website for exam information. https://k4rnc.org/?page_id=17

For scheduled no charge Laurel VEC exams near you see Laurel VEC

Mark Gibson

My Journey to Find the Ham by KQ4ERC

Member Subm, Testing

I have to admit I wasn’t interested in Amateur Radio for a long time. I always thought it was kinda cool but never looked into it further. It wasn’t until my partner got involved that I started to look a little more closely but the testing seemed like a lot of work.

One day, my partner showed me a video about someone’s antenna setup and I noticed the person was in a park (POTA) using Morse Code to make contacts. I didn’t know you could do that outside. I looked into Parks on the Air (POTA) and Summits on the Air (SOTA) and how they combined radio contests with the great outdoors. I decided then and there that I would buy a radio, get my license, and learn Morse Code. I ordered the Elecraft KX2 Shack In a Bag but it would take 12 to 16 weeks to get to me. At least I had plenty of time to get my license. I studied for a couple of weeks using the All Ham/No Spam book, Hamexam.org and one of the free study apps and passed my Technician exam.

After the exam, I was told it would be beneficial to get at least a General license to be able to use all the KX2 had to offer. I started studying again using the same resources as before and passed my General exam.

I looked into applying for a vanity call sign but the one I wanted was only available to Advanced licenses and above. Back to studying I went. I used the HamStudy app to study for those. It has a small cost but includes all the information that was in the books as well as flashcards and practice exams. It took me another few weeks of studying to pass the exam and get my Amateur Extra license.

I still have a while to go before I get my radio and hear back about the vanity call sign. I now have time to learn and practice Morse Code so I will be ready to go once my radio arrives. I already know several letters and can even pick them out in some of the POTA/SOTA videos I watch. I am very excited to get out into the parks and get some contacts but I still have a lot to learn before I’m ready.

So far, Amateur Radio has given me a great sense of accomplishment from passing all three exams in this short amount of time. I look forward to learning more about this new hobby.

Amateur Radio Worksop Recap

Amateur Radio, Testing, Workshop

Thanks to the Triangle Torah Fellowship. for hosting the Amateur Radio Workshop and exam on Saturday 12/10/2022. Also thanks to the FCVET consisting of KQ4DRZ, KE4VNC, W2CK, NY4NC, and Thanks to K3UI for being the session manager since I had a prior engagement. Congratulations to the 5 new technicians and 3 upgrades to general. Thanks to the volunteers helping answer questions. I haven’t heard anything about the food but the past events the food had been outstanding. Here are photos from the event.