Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club
VE Sessions

SBARC VE Sessions

The Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club sponsors seven VE sessions a year. At these sessions, license exams for all classes of amateur radio licenses are given. The sessions are held on the second Saturday of every odd month, from 8:30am to Noon, and in conjunction with the club's annual Hamfest in August.

Test Dates:	Saturday, January 10, 2009 Saturday, March 14, 2009 Saturday, May 9, 2009 Saturday, July 11, 2009 Sunday, August 15, 2009 (Hamfest) Saturday, September 12, 2009 Saturday, November 14, 2009
Register:	Candidates should pre-register at least three days in advance of the session with the VE Contact. (Pre-registered candidates will have first preference. VE Contact listed under 'More Info' below.)
Bring:	If a candidate has a license or a still-valid Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination (CSCE), the original and a copy of each must be brought to the session. The examiners on the VE team also need to see two forms of identification, at least one with your photo ID such as a driver's license. A fee of $15.00 is charged to cover out-of-pocket expenses of the SBARC VE team and the VE Coordinator at ARRL headquarters in Newington, CT.
Address:	Santa Barbara County Health Care Services Administration Building 300 North San Antonio Road Santa Barbara, CA 93110
Map: (Clicking the map will take you to MapBlast.)
Directions:	Northbound 101: Take the El Sueno Road exit, which is about 0.5 mi. beyond the Hwy 154/Lake Cachuma exit, turn immediately left onto Calle Real (heading back north alongside 101), proceed about 0.7 mi. and turn right onto N. San Antonio Road. Southbound 101: Take the Turnpike Road exit, turn left over the overpass, turn right onto Calle Real (heading back south alongside 101), and turn left at the second street, which is N. San Antonio Road. Other: Turn right into the parking lot and you will see the main building straight ahead of you. Follow the VE direction signs. The room is entered from the southern end of the main building and is wheel-chair accessible.
More Info:	For more information, call theVE Contact, Darryl Widman (KF6DI) at (805) 969-2326. Call at least one week prior to testing, to ensure the team will be ready for you. (Sorry, only local phone calls can be returned since the phone bill is not reimbursed.)

VE Links and Exams

• VE Exam Locations in the state of California
• VE Exam Locations within 75 miles of Santa Barbara
• QRZ Practice Exams
• Web Exams Practice Exams

ARRL Santa Barbara Section Volunteer Examiners

Santa Barbara South County

• Tom Saunders, N6YX, Team Liaison (Temporary)
• Darryl Widman, KF6DI, Contact Person

Using ARRL VEC: VE Sessions are held on the second Saturday of oddly numbered months at 8:30am with one extra session on a Sunday in August at the annual SBARC Hamfest.

Santa Barbara North County:

• Ray Lischka, W9EC, Team Leader

VE Sessions are held as needed using W5YI VEC.

Ventura County

• George W. Kreider III, KN6LA, Team Leader

Using ARRL VEC: VE Sessions are held on the second Saturday of evenly numbered months except for December.

• Jeff Reinhardt, AA6JR, Team Leader

Using ARRL VEC: The Conejo Valley ARC holds VE sessions on the second Sunday of even numbered months at the Ventura County Sheriff's East Valley Station on Olsen Rd., just east of Hwy 23, at 8:30 A.M.

San Luis Obispo County

• Milton C. Davis, AI6MD, Team Leader

Using ARRL VEC: VE Sessions are held at 9am on the first Saturday of February, May, August, and November (starting this November, 2003).

Notes:

It would be better for candidates to call or email the contact person or team leader and find out, for sure, the following information:

• What the location will be for each session,
• Whether pre-registration will be required,
• What time the session will begin,
• What classes of license examinations are being offered, and finally
• What the fee will be.

Don't not forget to bring two forms of ID and copies of licenses and unexpired CSCEs.

Some leaders/contact persons absolutely require pre-registration, for others it is preferred but walk-ins will be accepted as space and time is available, and finally some accept no form of pre-registration whatsoever !!!

No VE session can be held without advance publicity but, from time to time, special sessions will be conducted as the need arises.

Moreover, if a large group of candidates arises, the leaders may decide to hold morning and afternoon sessions without violating the letter or spirit of the law, ie, the FCC rules and regulations.

Six months or so ago, re-newing or modifying your license on the FCC website, presented a real headache, but recently they have really improved their ULS system and I have re-newed a number of licenses this way and it seems to work very well. Here is the website URL that I used to make the changes: http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/amateur/licensing/renewal.html
Doing so involved three steps:

1. Getting a ULS number from the FCC website,
2. 2) Associating that number with your Amateur Radio call sign, also done at the same FCC website but on a different page, and
3. 3) Doing your actual business on the same website, namely, a change of name, address, and so forth, or a re-newal for a full ten year period.