Bonner County ARES will be hosting another ham license exam session. Testing will be for all classes (Technician, General, Amateur Extra).

Date: Saturday, February 19, 2022
Time: Test-takers should arrive by 10:00 AM.
Place: Sandpoint Library (Community Room B)
1407 Cedar St, Sandpoint, ID 83864
Fee: $10. Exam fees are waived for minors (<18), students with current ID, first responders, Active Military, Veterans, and GLAARG VEs upgrading to Extra.

Walk-ins welcome, but RSVPs appreciated (see contact info at bottom).

Required at exam session: Photo ID and FCC-issued FRN [link].

Not required but helpful: you can pre-fill the license application (NCVEC Form 605), then print and bring it to the test session.

NOW is a great time to study up: FCC will start charging a $35 application fee early 2022: “Once it’s effective, the $35 application fee will apply to new, modification (upgrade and sequential call sign change), renewal, and vanity call sign applications. All fees will be per application.” [link] Even after this goes into effect we will not collect the application fee at the exam, only the $10 exam fee. Rather, you’ll pay the additional $35 directly to the FCC via the FCC PayFees system. [link]

To RSVP or ask questions, contact (via phone or email):
Lee Lukehart K7AVR, 208-779-2355, luke (at) skysavvy.net

Reference Session # 5803

Bonner County ARES will be hosting another ham license exam session. Testing will be for all classes (Technician, General, Amateur Extra).

Update 12/11 7:00AM: The exam session is a GO. See you there!

Update 12/10 10:00AM: We plan to conduct this exam session as scheduled, despite the Winter Storm Watch. Due to the unpredictable road conditions, please allow yourself extra travel time.

PLEASE CHECK THIS PAGE before coming, just in case.

Winter Storm Watch per the NWS, Friday night to Saturday night:

• WHAT…Heavy snow possible. Total accumulations between 5 and 8 inches
  in the valleys and 10 and 23 inches possible in the
  mountains. Winds could gust as high as 40 mph.
• WHERE…Eastport, Sandpoint, Bonners Ferry, Athol, Schweitzer
  Mountain Road, and Priest River.
• WHEN…From late Friday night through late Saturday night.
• IMPACTS…Travel could be very difficult to impossible.

Date: Saturday, December 11, 2021 (and also Febuary 19, 2022)
Time: Test-takers should arrive by 10:00 AM.
Place: Sandpoint Library (Community Room B)
1407 Cedar St, Sandpoint, ID 83864
Fee: $10. Exam fees are waived for minors (<18), students with current ID, first responders, Active Military, Veterans, and GLAARG VEs upgrading to Extra.

Walk-ins welcome, but RSVPs appreciated (see contact info at bottom).

Required at exam session: Photo ID and FCC-issued FRN [link].

Not required but helpful: you can pre-fill the license application (NCVEC Form 605), then print and bring it to the test session.

NOW is a great time to study up: FCC will start charging a $35 application fee early 2022: “Once it’s effective, the $35 application fee will apply to new, modification (upgrade and sequential call sign change), renewal, and vanity call sign applications. All fees will be per application.” [link] Even after this goes into effect we will not collect the application fee at the exam, only the $10 exam fee. Rather, you’ll pay the additional $35 directly to the FCC via the FCC PayFees system. [link]

To RSVP or ask questions, contact (via phone or email):
Lee Lukehart K7AVR, 208-779-2355, luke (at) skysavvy.net

Reference Session # 5802

Bonner County ARES will be hosting another ham license exam session. Testing will be for all classes (Technician, General, Amateur Extra).

NOW is a great time to study up: FCC will start charging a $35 application fee early 2022: “Once it’s effective, the $35 application fee will apply to new, modification (upgrade and sequential call sign change), renewal, and vanity call sign applications. All fees will be per application.” [link] Even after this goes into effect we will not collect the application fee at the exam, only the $10 exam fee. Rather, you’ll pay the additional $35 directly to the FCC via the FCC PayFees system. [link]

Date: Saturday, October 23, 2021
Time: Test-takers should arrive by 10:00 AM.
Place: Sandpoint Library (Community Room B)
1407 Cedar St, Sandpoint, ID 83864
Fee: $10. Exam fees are waived for minors (<18), students with current ID, first responders, Active Military, Veterans, and GLAARG VEs upgrading to Extra.

Walk-ins welcome, but RSVPs appreciated (see contact info at bottom).

Required at exam session: Photo ID and FCC-issued FRN [link].

Not required but helpful: you can pre-fill the license application (NCVEC Form 605), then print and bring it to the test session.

To RSVP or ask questions, contact (via phone or email):
Lee Lukehart K7AVR, 208-779-2355, luke (at) skysavvy.net

Reference Session # 5634

Bonner County ARES sponsored our second exam session, and we are pleased to report:

5 new Technician Class operators minted
2 upgrades to General Class
2 upgrades to Amateur Extra class

Well done test-takers!

Thanks to the following Volunteer Examiners whose time and effort today made this possible:

AC6DY Judy Mahan
K7AVR Lee Lukehart
N1OUT Chris Fourroux
N7WEB Warren Weber
WW7AB Al Banks

Bonner County ARES will be hosting a VE Test Session. Details are listed below.

Session # 5697

Date: Saturday, August 14, 2021

Time: Test-takers should arrive by 10:00 AM.

Place: Bonner County Admin Bldg / EOC, 1500 Hwy 2, Sandpoint

Fee: $10 [we don’t yet know when the $35 FCC license fee will go into effect, nor how it will be collected]. Exam fees are waived for minors (<18), students with current ID, first responders, Active Military, Veterans, and GLAARG VEs upgrading to Extra.

Required at exam session: Photo ID and FCC-issued FRN [link].

Not required but helpful: you can pre-fill the license application (NCVEC Form 605), then print and bring it to the test session.

It’s official!

Bonner County ARES held its first VE test session on Saturday, June 5, 2021. And, it was a success with good feedback from those who attended to take the test and from the VE’s.

Seven (7) VE’s were present to run the session, all members of the Greater Los Angeles Amateur Radio Group (GLAARG); we are all local folks, we didn’t come from LA. The test session was held at the Bonner County Administration Building Conference Room in Sandpoint, ID. Based on how the session was set up and operated, it was determined that possibly no less than 5 VE’s would be good for us as we host further sessions.

Thank you to all the VE’s who attended and made this a success; Warren – N7WEB, Lee – K7AVR, Allen – WW7AB, Dave – WA7DH, Judy – AC6DY, Chris – N1OUT, and Mark, K7MEE. And a big thank you to Warren for his guided help as Custodian of the session; getting us set up and helping us run the session.

In all, we had 11 members of the community who tested; 8 for Technician and 3 for General. Of those, we have 7 new Technicians and 1 new General.

All were thankful that we held a test session and look forward to testing for other classes. One comment was “we like the relaxed environment and the friendliness of everyone”.

After the session, the VE’s discussed future test sessions and we are possibly looking at every other month for now. When more details become available, we will get them posted.

QST QST QST
Who: Anyone ready to take the exam
What: Test Session for all license classes
When: Saturday, June 5, 2021 from 1000 – 1500 local
Where: Bonner County Administration Building
Downstairs Conference Room / EOC
1500 Highway 2
Sandpoint, ID 83864
Testing Fee: $10 (test fee is waived for Students, Vets, Active Duty, 1st Responders, Minors <17)
Contact for Questions: Mark K7MEE at k7mee1 at gmail.com
Additional Information: Anyone testing must have a photo ID and a FCC issued FRN. If you need to get one, one may be obtained by going to https://apps.fcc.gov/coresWeb/publicHome.do and clicking register.
If you have tested but have not received your call sign and are not listed in the FCC ULS database and you wish to upgrade, please bring your Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination (CSCE) with you in order to test.
This session is registered through GLAARG and is session #5606
Please pass on this information to others. Thank you.
-K7BNR clear