What Is a VEC & Which Do I Pick?
To explain it in short, the FCC has a system where individual teams of Volunteer Examiners can test you for your amateur radio license. That said, the FCC doesn’t like talking directly to us – there’s tens of thousands of us, and only a few of them. Instead, the FCC designates “Volunteer Exam Coordinators” (VECs) as the groups that go between us. We talk to the VECs, the VECs talk to the FCC, the FCC talks to them, they talk to us. Each VEC makes their own rules for running FCC exams with them as the go-between, charges different fees for their service as a go-between, etc.
We work with two VECs in order to best serve our examinees: ARRL-VEC and CAVEC. CAVEC charges a $5 fee to all candidates, but allows us to waive fees under criteria we see fit. We waive for minors under the age of 18, students, first responders/EMTs, active military and veterans, and for hardship. ARRL-VEC charges $15, but reduces this to $5 for minors under 18 and also will reimburse those minors the $35 fee they pay the FCC for their license (but only if they tested with ARRL-VEC). See this link for more info: https://www.arrl.org/youth-licensing-grant-program
We can test you under either VEC. We recommend minors test with us via ARRL-VEC for their initial license, and anyone else via CAVEC, but the choice is ultimately yours.
Fee Waivers & Fee Reductions Reiterated
To re-iterate, with CAVEC we waive the fee for minors under the age of 18, students, first responders/EMTs, active military and veterans, and those undergoing hardship. For ARRL-VEC, we reduce the fee to $5 for those under the age of 18.
If you believe you qualify for a waiver, please tell us before you start the exam so we can confirm you qualify. Minors under the age of 18, students, first responders/EMTs, active military and veterans should be able to produce some form of ID or proof of qualification. Hardship is on the honor system – please do not send us your financial statements nor a photo of your gout nor a notarized statement of the emotional turmoil following your last breakup.
Before You Test
- Have a clear testing area. It doesn't need to be clean, but we need to be able to tell if there's anything suspicious or not -- if your desk has 900 trinkets, and we can't tell what's what, that's a no-no. Ideally, nothing with writing on it, no test prep materials, only one screen. If you have any other screens, cover them with a blanket or towel or sheet. If you have any radios nearby, put them away. (Some people will test in bathrooms just to know they have a clear space -- that's perfectly fine with us.)
- Have a webcam you can move around with. As alluded to before, we'll need a room sweep where you take the webcam and basically rotate in a circle to show us all the corners of the room, show us the desk, show us under the desk, et cetera and so forth. If your webcam can't move, joining on your phone for this part is fine. If you have no way to show us your room at all, a test isn't possible.
- Have a microphone -- we need to be able to hear you, and hear the room around you, so we can tell no one is hiding under the desk telling you the answers.
- Have audio -- you need to be able to hear us. You can't wear headphones during the exam itself, so preferably have a speaker or something, but if you don't, you'll need to take off your headphones after we go over the rules when we begin the actual exam yourself. (Remember, though, you still need a microphone, so if the mic is built into the headphones... don't yank it off.)
- Don't have a smartwatch, and again, no headphones during the exam.
- Make sure everyone in the house knows not to interrupt you during testing. If anyone walks in to the room while you're testing or shouts at the door, we'll have to cancel the test and start over from scratch. (If you're a minor, your parents are allowed to be in the room while you test, but they can't walk in and out. Either they're there from the start or not at all.)
- Bring ID! ARRL's page covers acceptable ID: https://www.arrl.org/what-to-bring-to-an-exam-session
- Be prepared to screenshare your entire desktop. We'll ask you to close out of any open windows besides the videocall platform we use (Discord or Zoom) and a single tab of your browser, so you can get on that now. We'll also ask you to show any hidden processes and review those, so go ahead and close any of those you can too. You don't have to close antiviruses, Java updater, etc., but we will pause for every single program we don't recognize that might have chat functionality, so err on the side of closing something rather than leaving it for us to find. Also close anything you don't want us seeing.
- Have a stable internet connection. It doesn’t have to be fast but it should be able to support showing your webcam and screen for the duration of the exam without interruptions, as if a disconnect happens we can no longer ensure the integrity of the exam.
After You Test
After your exam, we’ll go through signing your documents and zip them up and send them to the VEC. The VEC will authenticate them and check for any errors and then send them over to the FCC to process. Our VE Team will send the forms over to the VEC digitally the same day that you do your exam, and the VEC should send them over to the FCC within a business day.
On the first business day following your exam, the FCC will process your application and prompt you to pay for the application. They should email you to do so, but this email can be delayed; check CORES once a day to see if it’s ready early.
When you get your payment link or CORES shows you’re able to pay, go ahead and pay. The FCC should issue a license the business day following your payment. Congratulations, you’re licensed
If you are a minor, you can find the details to submit for ARRL reimbursement here: https://www.arrl.org/youth-licensing-grant-program
For a detailed breakdown of all the timelines and steps, check out: https://n1cck.us/blog/fcc-amateur-application-timing/
Additional Questions & Contact
Any further questions should be sent to [email protected].