Once I made the decision to pursue relicensing, I started watching YouTube videos and taking practice tests on the ARRL website.
There are a LOT of resources online for getting back into amateur radio. I guess it’s kind of a catch 22 situation: computers pulled a lot of people away from the hobby but now, hams are using their computers to draw people in.
I watched a technician training video from KB9OKB on youtube about 30 times. In between, I would take a few practice exams using the ARRL Exam Review for Ham Radio™.
Due to the pandemic and social distancing issues, I wanted to take my exam online. It is 2020 after all, and the thought of sitting in a room or in my car to take a paper test just seemed as archaic as the Morse code I loved so much.
I spent a little time googling and watching YouTube videos about the growing demand and availability of 100% online testing. I finally came across this site: hamstudy.org. An invaluable resource for many would-be hams, I’m sure.
I found availability with “CRC Remote online testing” through VEC W5YI.
I highly recommend this service. I requested a testing session for on a Wednesday for the next available slot on Sunday, Sept 27. I used paypal to secure my slot ($14) and kept on taking practice exams and watching youtube videos.
There are some unique requirements for testing remotely. First, you have to be isolated in a room where no one can walk in… then you need to have at least on webcam that can pan around a room so the exam proctors can verify that you are alone and that you don’t have the answers on a white board.
You have to be arms length away from your silenced mobile phone and you can’t turn off your camera during the exam.
Oh, and *obviously* you really need to ensure you have a stable internet connection and a computer in good working order.
I decided to go into the office and use one of our little two person ‘huddle rooms’. These are generally used for making private calls (doing phone interviews), or for having a 1-on-1 meeting with your boss when you get in trouble.
I had a little snag with the quality of my external webcam – it wasn’t showing the text on my ID very clearly. I was able to switch to the onboard camera in my laptop and then we moved on.
There was a short delay between my scheduled time and when the test actually began – they do forewarn you about possible delays. I really didn’t mind as the convenience of doing the online test from a location I got to pick outweighed the inconvenience of a short 30-minute delay.
Long story short, I passed my test. I didn’t do nearly as well as I did on the practice exams but I passed just the same.
Despite taking at least 30 practice exams over the preceding 2 weeks, I came across a few questions on the real test that I hadn’t seen once in practice. Of course, there is a pool of x questions and you only get 35 at a time. The ARRL site didn’t seem quite as random as I thought it might be, I kept seeing the same questions repeatedly. it might be beneficial to do practice exams on different websites, just to see if you can get a better range of questions.
All my paperwork was filed that day, a Sunday. I’d read online (Reddit) that it was taking 12-14 days to get a callsign issued so imagine my surprise when my callsign appeared in the FCC ULS database by 2 pm the very next day.
No longer do you have to wait for a paper license to arrive by mail (it took probably 2 months to get my paper license when I lived in Japan). As soon as your show up in the database, you are golden to get on the air.
I had also heard that I was qualified to be grandfathered back into a General license after successfully passing the tech exam. This process wasn’t quite as quick though and it would be another week before I saw “General” show up in the ULS database.