|
GCARC Ham Exam Preparation ClassesChris Prioli, AD2CS[email protected]WWW.AD2CS.COM |
License Class Fee : $35.00
Please make your PayPal payment to : [email protected]
GCARC License Class Registration Form
For All Sessions
Another License Class Session Will Start Up
On Monday, September 9, 2024
GCARC Amateur Radio Exam Preparation Class
| Class Week | Class Date | License Class Study |
|---|
GCARC Ham Exam Preparation Class - Session VI
By Chris Prioli, AD2CS
Starting On September 11, 2023
The $35.00 fee now includes the loaded thumb drive and of course the book and handouts. I strongly recommend that each student also pick up a copy of the appropriate ARRL license manual for the element to be studied. The spiral-bound version is MUCH easier to work with, as it will lay flat and stay open to the desired page.
The classes are to be held at the W2MMD Clubhouse at the Gloucester County 4H Fairgrounds.
Those wishing to enroll in the classes, at any level, should complete the enrollment form found above. When I receive the enrollment form, I will send you payment instructions and confirm your seat in the selected class.
Thank you for your time, and I look forward to seeing many of you in the classes.
|
Technician Class Project February 14, 2022 Chris Prioli, AD2CS Gary Reed, N2QEE Bringing study material to life Here demonstrated a transistor switch and an amplifier using a 2N2222 NPN transistor, some resistors and a capacitor |
About Special VE Sessions…
By Chris Prioli, AD2CS
It most likely comes as no news to any of our members that we have had some special VE sessions recently. What may be newsworthy is just exactly what the results of those special sessions were.
Special VE sessions are any VE sessions that are not on our regular monthly session schedule. Of course, as you all are aware, a “VE Session” is a Volunteer Examiner test session, at which FCC licensing exams are proctored under the strict rules and general guidelines provided by our coordinating body, which is the ARRL VEC. Within our Club, VE sessions are scheduled and managed by Gary Reed N2QEE, our Club VEC Liaison. Gary has the responsibility of ensuring that all paperwork is properly completed, that all rules are followed, and then it is up to him to submit everything to the ARRL. This is done initially via electronic means, which accelerates the application processing. Subsequent to the electronic filing, Gary must submit all of the physical paperwork to the League via mail or courier. One of the bright spots in Gary’s otherwise tedious duties is the opportunity to present a successful candidate with his or her precious Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination (CSCE). This document allows the successful upgrade candidate to exercise the privileges of the upgraded license before its appearance in the FCC ULS database, by appending /AG or /AE, as appropriate, to the call sign when identifying his or her station. This operational option is not available to new Technicians, who instead must wait for their call sign to appear in the ULS database.
One special session was held on Tuesday, November 8, 2022 for the combined group of Technician students seeking a first-time license and General students attempting an upgrade. A second special session was held on Friday, November 18, 2022 for the Amateur Extra students working towards upgrades.
Congratulations must be extended to the following Club members, who all earned their Technician level amateur licenses :
Ralph Daggan III, KE2AHX
Tim Furey Sr, KE2AHY
Don Martel Sr, KE2AIB
Rusty Rust IV, KE2AHW
Randy Testa, KC3VCC
Jean Wilson-Kinney, KE2AHV
Each of these students worked hard throughout the program to absorb the course content, putting forth maximum effort and realizing their goals with passing scores. All of them then went on to attempt the General (Element 3) level exam. As luck (or fate) would have it, two of the new Technicians, Don Martel Sr, KE2AIB and Tim Furey, KE2AHY, survived the Element 3 exam to leave at the end of the evening not only as new hams, but also as newly-minted General-level ham operators.
The November 18th session was another interesting evening. In addition to the three Amateur Extra (Element 4) candidates who were scheduled, we had an unexpected fourth candidate, one of the two Element 3 candidates who did not pass the exam during the November 8th special VE session nor when attempted again at the regular monthly session which was held on Thursday, November 10, 2022.
The three Amateur Extra students who tested at the Friday night special session were :
Leo Hafele, KD2YPZ
Lee Marino, N2LAM
Alex Rodriguez, KE2AAK
The General candidate who came out for the Element 3 exam was Bob Demola, KD2GFL. All of the exam candidates are active current Club members.
There is a lot to be said for attending the classes and paying attention to the course content as it is presented. With three full sessions now completely behind us, it is safe to critique the outcomes of those sessions. What has become patently obvious is that those who participate… succeed! In every event where an exam candidate did not complete the exam successfully, that candidate either missed class meetings, routinely arrived significantly late, or both.
Our teaching methods and the package presentations have proven to be highly effective and are a valid route to a new amateur radio license or a desired upgrade. Any student coming in with the idea in mind that we are simply going to fill his or her head with all of the correct answers has another think coming. While we do teach the correct responses to the various questions, we teach the logic or the reasoning behind each of the questions as well. These classes are rich with amateur radio theory and operating rules. We also teach test-taking strategies that have been shown to work. The one thing that these classes are not would be “ham cram” classes!
There is also a lot to be said for persistence. Special congratulations go out to Lee Marino N2LAM and Bob Demola KD2GFL for persisting against adversity and thereby earning their upgrades, Lee to Amateur Extra after three attempts and Bob to General also after three attempts and a hospitalization that took him out of our class sessions. These two individuals exhibit the indomitable spirit that is so common among ham operators, in that they refused to be beaten and worked at it until they passed the exams.
In any event, it is quite appropriate to thank the group of dedicated volunteers who make it possible for these special VE sessions to be run at all. While it is not always the same individual Volunteer Examiners from one session to the next, it is none the less the same cohesive group of VE’s overall who provide this important service to our Club. It is time that this stalwart group of GCARC VE’s receive some much-deserved thanks and recognition for the important job that they do for our Club and for Amateur Radio as a whole. The GCARC VE list includes the following individuals who routinely assist at the special VE sessions :
Jerry Barnish, K2EAB
Ed Champion, N2RO
Chuck Colabrese, WA2TML
Steve Farney, W2SEF
Jeff Garth, WB2ZBN
Mike Harla, N2MHO
Earl Moore, KC2NCH
Mike Resnick, N2WOQ
Rich Subers, W2RHS
Mike Thompson, KG4JYA
Jim Wright, N2GXJ
It should be noted that two of these VE’s are not even Club members, yet none the less they come out to help our students get credentialed as new or upgraded hams. This is but another example of the giving and helpful nature of ham operators.
All things considered, Session III of the GCARC Ham Exam Preparation Class program has been an unqualified success, with the final total for this session being :
6 New Hams
4 New Technicians
5 New Generals
3 New Amateur Extras
Let’s keep up the pattern with the next session, Session IV, now set to begin during the week of February 13, 2023.
By Chris Prioli, AD2CS
It most likely comes as no news to any of our members that we have had some special VE sessions recently. What may be newsworthy is just exactly what the results of those special sessions were.
Special VE sessions are any VE sessions that are not on our regular monthly session schedule. Of course, as you all are aware, a “VE Session” is a Volunteer Examiner test session, at which FCC licensing exams are proctored under the strict rules and general guidelines provided by our coordinating body, which is the ARRL VEC. Within our Club, VE sessions are scheduled and managed by Gary Reed N2QEE, our Club VEC Liaison. Gary has the responsibility of ensuring that all paperwork is properly completed, that all rules are followed, and then it is up to him to submit everything to the ARRL. This is done initially via electronic means, which accelerates the application processing. Subsequent to the electronic filing, Gary must submit all of the physical paperwork to the League via mail or courier. One of the bright spots in Gary’s otherwise tedious duties is the opportunity to present a successful candidate with his or her precious Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination (CSCE). This document allows the successful upgrade candidate to exercise the privileges of the upgraded license before its appearance in the FCC ULS database, by appending /AG or /AE, as appropriate, to the call sign when identifying his or her station. This operational option is not available to new Technicians, who instead must wait for their call sign to appear in the ULS database.
One special session was held on Tuesday, November 8, 2022 for the combined group of Technician students seeking a first-time license and General students attempting an upgrade. A second special session was held on Friday, November 18, 2022 for the Amateur Extra students working towards upgrades.
Congratulations must be extended to the following Club members, who all earned their Technician level amateur licenses :
Ralph Daggan III, KE2AHX
Tim Furey Sr, KE2AHY
Don Martel Sr, KE2AIB
Rusty Rust IV, KE2AHW
Randy Testa, KC3VCC
Jean Wilson-Kinney, KE2AHV
Each of these students worked hard throughout the program to absorb the course content, putting forth maximum effort and realizing their goals with passing scores. All of them then went on to attempt the General (Element 3) level exam. As luck (or fate) would have it, two of the new Technicians, Don Martel Sr, KE2AIB and Tim Furey, KE2AHY, survived the Element 3 exam to leave at the end of the evening not only as new hams, but also as newly-minted General-level ham operators.
The November 18th session was another interesting evening. In addition to the three Amateur Extra (Element 4) candidates who were scheduled, we had an unexpected fourth candidate, one of the two Element 3 candidates who did not pass the exam during the November 8th special VE session nor when attempted again at the regular monthly session which was held on Thursday, November 10, 2022.
The three Amateur Extra students who tested at the Friday night special session were :
Leo Hafele, KD2YPZ
Lee Marino, N2LAM
Alex Rodriguez, KE2AAK
The General candidate who came out for the Element 3 exam was Bob Demola, KD2GFL. All of the exam candidates are active current Club members.
There is a lot to be said for attending the classes and paying attention to the course content as it is presented. With three full sessions now completely behind us, it is safe to critique the outcomes of those sessions. What has become patently obvious is that those who participate… succeed! In every event where an exam candidate did not complete the exam successfully, that candidate either missed class meetings, routinely arrived significantly late, or both.
Our teaching methods and the package presentations have proven to be highly effective and are a valid route to a new amateur radio license or a desired upgrade. Any student coming in with the idea in mind that we are simply going to fill his or her head with all of the correct answers has another think coming. While we do teach the correct responses to the various questions, we teach the logic or the reasoning behind each of the questions as well. These classes are rich with amateur radio theory and operating rules. We also teach test-taking strategies that have been shown to work. The one thing that these classes are not would be “ham cram” classes!
There is also a lot to be said for persistence. Special congratulations go out to Lee Marino N2LAM and Bob Demola KD2GFL for persisting against adversity and thereby earning their upgrades, Lee to Amateur Extra after three attempts and Bob to General also after three attempts and a hospitalization that took him out of our class sessions. These two individuals exhibit the indomitable spirit that is so common among ham operators, in that they refused to be beaten and worked at it until they passed the exams.
In any event, it is quite appropriate to thank the group of dedicated volunteers who make it possible for these special VE sessions to be run at all. While it is not always the same individual Volunteer Examiners from one session to the next, it is none the less the same cohesive group of VE’s overall who provide this important service to our Club. It is time that this stalwart group of GCARC VE’s receive some much-deserved thanks and recognition for the important job that they do for our Club and for Amateur Radio as a whole. The GCARC VE list includes the following individuals who routinely assist at the special VE sessions :
Jerry Barnish, K2EAB
Ed Champion, N2RO
Chuck Colabrese, WA2TML
Steve Farney, W2SEF
Jeff Garth, WB2ZBN
Mike Harla, N2MHO
Earl Moore, KC2NCH
Mike Resnick, N2WOQ
Rich Subers, W2RHS
Mike Thompson, KG4JYA
Jim Wright, N2GXJ
It should be noted that two of these VE’s are not even Club members, yet none the less they come out to help our students get credentialed as new or upgraded hams. This is but another example of the giving and helpful nature of ham operators.
All things considered, Session III of the GCARC Ham Exam Preparation Class program has been an unqualified success, with the final total for this session being :
6 New Hams
4 New Technicians
5 New Generals
3 New Amateur Extras
Let’s keep up the pattern with the next session, Session IV, now set to begin during the week of February 13, 2023.
The Clubhouse is located at the Gloucester County 4-H Fairgrounds Complex at 235 Bridgeton Pike (NJ Route 77), Mullica Hill, NJ 08062
When you turn in off the highway, the Clubhouse is approximately one-tenth of a mile in on the left side - see photo below. The fairgrounds entry road is just about 0.8 miles south of the traffic light by the shopping center just south of Mullica Hill proper, and is just about 0.6 miles north of the four-way stop with blinking light at Harrisonville Road / Fislerville Road (name changes at the light). The fairgrounds is located on the northbound side of the highway.
W2MMD Clubhouse
Gloucester County 4-H Fairgrounds
235 Bridgeton Pike (Rt 77)
Mullica Hill, NJ, 08062
Gloucester County 4-H Fairgrounds
235 Bridgeton Pike (Rt 77)
Mullica Hill, NJ, 08062