In a January 5 Public Notice, the FCC requested comments on whether the current 14 Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (VECs) are sufficient to facilitate the efforts of their accredited Volunteer Examiners (VEs) in administering amateur radio examinations. The ARRL VEC is the largest of the 14 VECs in the US. Comments are due by February 5, and reply comments are due by February 19. After Congress authorized it to do so, the FCC adopted rules in 1983 to allow volunteers to prepare and administer amateur radio examinations, and it established the system of VECs and VEs.
“VECs introduced consistency into the volunteer examiner program by centralizing accreditation of volunteer examiners, coordinating the dates and times for scheduling examinations, and managing the various administrative tasks arising from examinations,” the FCC said. Authorized VECs may operate in any of the 13 VEC regions but must service at least one region. The FCC pointed out that some VECs now offer remote examinations.
“The Commission has long maintained 14 VECs and now seeks to consider whether they continue to serve the evolving needs of the amateur community, or whether there are unmet needs that warrant considering expanding the number of VECs.”
The FCC Public Notice provided questions for framing comments:
- Are the existing 14 VECs sufficient to coordinate the efforts of Volunteer Examiners in preparing and administering examinations for amateur radio operator licenses, or are additional VECs needed?
- What needs are currently being met, and which needs, if any, are not?
- If the FCC were to allow additional VECs, how many more would be needed to satisfy existing Amateur Radio Service license examination needs? (The FCC indicated that it will likely cap the number of additional VECs at five.)
- Given that VECs use a collaborative process to create examination question pools and volunteer examination administration protocols, would additional VECs enhance or hinder this process?
- How would increasing the number of VECs address the unmet needs, if any, of the amateur radio community, and what obstacles or complications could result from increasing the number of VECs?
Interested parties may file short comments on WT Docket No. 21-2 via the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing Service (Express). Visit the FCC’s “How to Comment on FCC Proceedings” page for information on filing extended comments.
SOURCE:ARRL
Antenna
Multi Band QRP Antenna – 40-30*-20-10
QRP DX 40-10 POWER 100w SSB 25w CW The Radio Wavz QRP DX is ideal for those who need to be on the go. Those who want a low profile high performance an... Read more
Small Garden Vertical HF Antenna Installation
Vertical HF Antenna Installation Read more
Hy-Gain T2X Tailtwister Series II – Antenna Rotator
T2X Tailtwister Series II for large medium antenna arrays up to 20 square foot wind load The T-2XD2 includes the DCU-2 Digital Automatic Controller... Read more
THE TILTED TERMINATED FOLDED DIPOLE – A PRACTICAL BUILDING GUIDE
“THE TILTED TERMINATED FOLDED DIPOLE Recently, I have been experimenting with the Tilted Terminated Folded Dipole, a.k.a. TTFD, a.k.a. T2FD. I... Read more
Field Day Antennas [ PodCast ] – “ARRL The Doctor is In”
The Doctor offers advice about antenna options for the upcoming ARRL Field Day. Read more
Review
YAESU FT-DX10 Update and SDR Chat
Here are some great photos of the new FT-DX10 plus a chat about SDR. ESTIMATED DECEMBER 2020 The New Yaesu Ftdx10 UK VERSION COVERS 4m ! T... Read more
RFinder B1 Android DMR Radio Unboxing and Initial Setup – RFinder Repeater Directory
RFinder B1 HT Radio, Android DMR and FM This is the device that you have been waiting for! The RFinder B1 is now available for pre-order. Imagine a d... Read more
Finding and Fixing RFI
RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) has been a problem for Ham radio operators and SWL’s (Shortwave listeners) since the radio hobby began. Both from n... Read more
Make a mains filter for EMC & noise reduction
This video shows how I have made a mains filter that is extremely effective in reducing and in some cases eliminating completely EMC from the electric... Read more
ICOM IC-7610 & excellent noise blanker and noise reduction
ICOM IC-7610 “About two weeks in a row i receive very strong static noise from the nearby electric transformer station. The noise level is S9 +... Read more
Equipment
LP-500 Digital Station Monitor
General (exclusive features in red) * Bright, High Resolution 5″ Color TFT Display * 32-bit Main Processor * Graphics and Audio coprocess... Read more
The Icom IC-9700 manual is now available [ ENGLISH ]
IC-9700 manual “The Icom IC-9700 manual is now available in Japanese on the Icom website. Here is a link to a “rough” English... Read more
Yaesu SP-9000 Speakers
Speaker Type:Base station Speaker Impedance:8 ohms RF Shielding:Yes Speaker Audio Filters:Yes Subwoofer Included:No Volume Control:No Tone... Read more
Fifine Condenser Microphone K669B Review/Test
Plug and play USB recording microphone with 5.9-Foot USB Cable included for computer PC laptop that connects directly to USB port for record music,com... Read more
Icom IC-R8500 Communications Receiver
Icom IC-R8500 Wide Frequency coverage. The IC-R8500 covers a wide frequency range continuously from 0.1 to 2000 MHz,* with 10 Hz resolution, while mai... Read more
News
ICOM will announce news at Hamvention
This morning Icom announced that it will have “new and exciting is on the horizon” during Dayton Hamvention 2022 Will it be a new HF or VH... Read more
Annual Armed Forces Day Cross-Band Exercise Set for May 14
The US Department of Defense will host this year’s Armed Forces Day (AFD) Cross-Band Test on Saturday, May 14. While Armed Forces Day is May 21, the A... Read more
Global Radio Guide: Summer 2022
Global Radio Guide During times of crisis, radio hobbyists turn on their radios and tune to the shortwave “Global Radio” bands for context, perspectiv... Read more
How to use Hamsticks in different ways for use on the HF bands in Ham Radio
In this video I show different antennas including Hamsticks to have an economical way to get on the Ham Bands. Hamsticks are mono band HF antennas tha... Read more
microHAM to be Sold Exclusively in North America by DX Engineering
Posted by Wayne KE8JFW WiMo of Herxheim, Germany, has appointed DX Engineering as the sole North American distributor of contesting and DXi... Read more