ARROW Communication Association

One of the great things about our club is the VE team. We religiously (pun intended) hold test sessions every second Saturday of the month at the Fellowship Bible Church here in Ann Arbor. There are 26 members of our VE team, and this team is one of the reasons our club has been so successful.

At the January 11, 2025 test session, our VE team went electronic, this being the first test session they used ExamTools. ExamTools is a web-based software package that allows for administering and grading exams via computer or paper, and digital signing of all forms including NCVEC Form 605 and all Certificates of Successful Completion. It can also be used to generate randomized exams for Amateur Radio Element 2 (Technician), Element 3 (General), and Element 4 (Amateur Extra).

ExamTools streamlines the administration of amateur radio exams for both in-person and remote exam sessions. Candidates take tests in a web browser on a computer or tablet, after which VEs grade the test on a computer, generate an electronic Certificate of Successful Completion of Exam (CSCE), and electronically submit the test results to their Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC), which in our case is the ARRL.

The January 11, 2025 test session was very successful. There were four candidates, and they all passed the Tech test. One attempted the General exam, but unfortunately, failed. There were 10 VEs administering the test, including:

• Dinesh, AB3DC
• Steve AC8YA
• James, AE8JF
• Mark, W8FSA
• Jeff, AA8HF
• Ralph, AA8RK
• Calvin, KC8NYZ
• Jeff, KN8A
• Ron, N8TEN
• Mark,W8MP

Jeff, AA8HF, commented, “I was impressed with how much quicker the whole process was. I’ve been a VE for just about a year, and the test sessions I’ve seen have taken an hour or more depending on how many candidates we had. In the past, they often spent more time waiting for us to grade each test and fill out and sign all the forms than they spent taking the actual test. Using Exam Tools, our session took a little more than a half hour, and the candidates got their results instantly. The ‘paperwork’ only took a few minutes for each test.”

With ExamTools, it looks like our VE team will be able to make more new hams even faster.

I’m not sure if it was the pizza or the gift exchange or the election of officers for 2025 (yeah, right…), but we had a great turnout at our December meeting. The agenda included:

• Eating pizza. (Thanks, Don!)
• Recapping our 2024 activities
• Looking ahead to 2025
• A “mystery” activity
• “Electing” next year’s officers. There were no contested elections this year, so someone moved that we approve the slate presented by acclamation, and after a second, we did just that.
• Holding the annual “white elephant” gift exchange.

2024 was a good year

2024 was a very good year for ARROW. We’re now up to 160 paying members, we participated in a number of activities, including:

• WOTO Site Repeater Upgrades
• ARROW Equipment/Property Insurance through ARRL
• Updating and Improving ARROW financial and membership records
• Getting our ARRL special service club award renewed
• Relationship with Toledo Mobile Radio Association (TMRA, W8HHF.org)
• Finding new general meeting location (Maker Works
• Supported Switch Fixer Program (repaired dozens of assistive devices for disabled people)
• Weekly 2-meter club nets.
• AMPTeam outings each month. AMP stands for ARROW Mobile and Portable and they’re kind of like POTA activations and mini Field Days, but people bring all kinds of different stuff to them. The crazy people in our club even meet in the winter months.
• Monthly breakfasts at local greasy spoon.
• Communication support for two bike tours: One Helluva Ride and Tour de Cure.
• Bus to the Dayton Hamvention. For more than ten years, our club has rented a bus and taken members and others to Dayton.
•  Two one-day Tech classes in 2024, with a total of 50 students.
• 14 VE test sessions that tested 99 candidates who earned 54 Tech licenses, 18 General Class licenses, and 11 Extra Class licenses.
• Great showing in the Summer ARRL Field Day. In 2024, our club finished first in class 4A in Michigan, and nationally, we ranked 43 out of 4,319 entries overall regardless of class.
• Participation in community tech events, including the Ann Arbor Library Creativity and Making Expo and the Maker Works Open House.
• Participated in Jamboree on the Air (JOTA)

 

Looking ahead to 2025

We’re not resting on our laurels, though. The club leadership is planning some new initiatives for 2025, including:

• Review of Groups.io General mailing list.
• Moving to electronic license testing through the ExamTools platform.
• Building relationship with other clubs in Southeast Michigan.
• Name/Callsign Badges for ARROW members.
• Supporting Kiwanis to test and repair electronics for their rummage sales.
• One-day tech & electronics classes at Maker Works.
• 220 MHz antenna build session.

Election of officers

The folks nominated to be our officers for 2025 included:

• President: James Forgacs, AE8JF
• Vice President: Steve Szafarek, AC8YA
• Secretary: Don Winsor, AC8TO
• Treasurer: Steve Rogacki, AC8GO
• Technical Coordinator: Jay Nugent, WB8TKL
• Public Information Officer: Edward Vielmetti, W8EMV
• Activities Coordinator: Dinesh Cyanam, AB3DC

There being no nominations from the floor, these nominees were declared the winners by acclamation!

What’s a white elephant, anyway?

The final item on the agenda was the white elephant gift exchange. As is our custom, those who have been licensed the longest get to choose first. That honor has gone to Paul, KW1L, for the past five years or so. He was followed by John, WA8TON; Mark, W8FSA; Jay, WB8TKL, and Dan, KB6NU.

There were lots of good items in the gift exhange this year. I spotted a nice parts organizer, a 100 W dummy load, and a couple of HTs. Of course, they weren’t all so useful. One fellow got a couple of older Ethernet switches, including one that had at least 50 ports!

The meeting was adjourned after the sale. Happy holidays to all!

 

Yesterday, four ARROW members met at Maker Works to fix assistive devices. Shown below is Paul, KW1L; Rick, K8BMA; and Ron, K8RCF. Yours truly is taking the picture.

The devices we worked on are devices used by people who have difficulty communicating. Typically, they consists of a big switch that the user presses to play a pre-recorded message.

The problems are generally easy to diagnose, and the repairs are generally simple repairs. Rick, for example, replaced the plugs on several of the devices, and Paul and Ron replaced the speakers in several of the units.

One of the devices that I tackled came with a note that read, “Won’t play or record, even with a new battery.” 

As we all know, the first step in troubleshooting is to verify the problem. So, I obtained a new battery and opened the battery compartment. As shown in the photo at right, it was clear that the problem was a defective battery clip. Somehow, someone managed to tear the negative contact off the clip. I replaced the battery clip and brought the device back to life! 

Overall, we probably fixed close to ten devices, including the pushbutton switches. We probably could have fixed more, but it took us some time to learn how to disassemble and then reassemble the devices.

And, while the fixes are usually simple, they can also be a bit frustrating. For example, the device that I replaced the battery clip on wouldn’t go back together very easily. It looked to me as though the screws holding the device together just aren’t long enough. Other devices had similar design issues.

Even so, it was an interesting and fun exercise, and we will be doing this again. There are many more devices to fix. I asked Dale, our contact at Maker Works, if we might schedule an evening session so that those of you who are working can join us. Stay tuned for that.