1. Introduction

Volunteer Exams Well Done (VEWD), is an application designed to automate and streamline the paperwork tasks of an Amateur Radio examination session. It also provides pre and post session support, and provides a database of past exam sessions.

The need for such a program arose from the desire to have a walk­in only, no pre­registration exam session at the 1993 ARRL New England Division Convention in Manchester, NH. Since a large number of people usually test at conventions, and since walk-in registrations provide for impulse candidates, it was felt that without some sort of computer support the paperwork effort would be impossible. With the VEWD program providing one facet of a well-planned operation, the doors were opened at 8 am without a single Volunteer Examiner (VE) having a clue about how many people were going to be there. When the doors closed six hours later, a total of 124 candidates had passed through them. There were 211 exam elements given, resulting in 27 Technician, 18 Technician Plus, 5 General, 5 Advanced, and 7 Amateur Extra class licenses earned. The one candidate who earned a Novice ticket, came back later in the session and upgraded to Tech Plus. The 1995 ARRL New England Division Convention session exceeded those numbers. In seven hours, a total of 140 candidates were tested. There were 243 exam elements given, resulting in 2 Novice, 36 Technician, 12 Technician Plus, 5 General, 9 Advanced, and 7 Amateur Extra class licenses earned. The Saturday test session was hand delivered to the ARRL/VEC on Monday morning, and the licenses were in the FCC database by that Wednesday.

While the attempt has been made to make this program useful regardless of how a particular VE Team runs their session, and regardless of the VEC, the developer(s) are ARRL/VEC accredited examiners, and the original purpose was to support an ARRL/VEC examination. As a result, the orientation is that of the ARRL/VEC's, and in particular, the CSCE, Test session summary, and candidate roster formats follow those of the ARRL/VEC.

1.1 Scope/Assumptions

The purpose of this manual is two-fold. Primarily it serves as the application manual for Version 2.2 (1/1/98) of the VEWD program. As a secondary function it discusses the methods used in the Salem, Nashua, and Manchester New Hampshire sessions, including details of a 15 person audio bar used to provide CW candidates headsets with individual volume controls.

No particular claim is made for the methods described being better or worse than any others. It is merely our intent to share with you what we have found works for us, in the hope that you may find it useful.

As far as assumptions go, it is assumed that you are a VE, familiar with the Code of Federal Regulations 47, Part 97, and particularly about the sections on examinations. It is also assumed that you are familiar with computers, or even own one. You don't have to know much, just things like what a hard disk is, what a floppy disk is, what a directory is and the like. If this is not the case, please don't use this program for a real exam session until you are familiar with these terms.

1.2 Disclaimer/Copyright

The "Volunteer Exams Well Done (VEWD)" program and this manual are provided as is, with no warranties, express or implied, including the warranty of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, with respect to the information contained in this manual and the software described herein. No entity, including any VEC, VE, or other individual who designed, developed, supported, tested, or has been or will be associated with the manual or the software is liable for any losses, including special or consequential damages arising from the use of such information and software.

This manual is Copyright 1995, and 1998, and the VEWD program is Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, and 1998 by James M. Heedles, WW1Y. All rights reserved. With the exception below, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form, or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without prior permission.

Permission is granted to reproduce this manual and the VEWD program for distribution to qualified Volunteer Examiner Coordinators and Volunteer Examiner teams, provided that:

Having said that you are responsible for anything you do, or don't do with this program, we come to the next section, or...

1.3 Danger Will Robinson!!!

This is a computer program. It runs on a computer. Computers are stupid. Sometimes people aren't much better. And Murphy is ALWAYS hiding in the shadows. The two biggest things to remember are:

1.4 Hardware/Software Requirements

At a minimum, the program requires:

A hard drive is a must, and the faster the better. A fast computer won't hurt either. This program will run on a floppy based system, but the point is to speed up your exam sessions, not make them take forever. The reason for this is that program does not keep things in memory. Everything is written to disk, and everything is read from it. Except for the time between when you first enter something, and the time you complete whatever screen you are on, you can't lose information from a power failure.


Last Modified: 01 January 1998
Jim Heedles: heedles@ww1y.mv.com