ARROW Communication Association

Serving Radio Amateurs in Michigan's Washtenaw & Wayne Counties

ARROW Supports American Diabetes Association’s Tour-de-Cure

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On June 9, 2025

In Club News, Public Service

On Saturday June 7th a team from ARROW supported the American Diabetes Association’s Tour-de-Cure Bicycle event that raised over $275,000. This money goes to increasing awareness, provide vital programs, fund lifesaving research, and work toward a cure for diabetes. 

ARROW provided radio communications for event officials to track rider progress and rider support along the route for bicycle issues.

During the event the ARROW team helped keep riders on the event route, help a couple riders with bicycle issues, transported one rider back to the event headquarters, gave updates to local law enforcement officials, and helped a family member find their rider they were looking for.

VE Test Session Draws a Big Crowd

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On April 13, 2025

In Uncategorized

Map showing where the 17 candidates at the 4/12/25 test session came from.

On Saturday, April 12, 2025, the ARROW VE Team conducted one of its biggest regularly-scheduled test sessions so far. We hosted 17 candidates, with 16 earning their Technician Class license or upgrading to General or Extra Class.

According to James, AE8JF, ARROW president, we are seeing more and more people choose ARROW to take their amateur radio license tests. As you can see by the map at right, the candidates came from all across Southeast Michigan and Northern Ohio, and six people drove at least an hour each way to attend the ARROW test session. This included 10 year old and 15 year old, who both passed the Tech test.

One remarkable result is that even with 17 candidates, the test session took less than one hour to complete. The team attributes this to our use of electronic test using ExamTools. Recently, the ARROW board approved the purchase of 10 additional tablets for use during test sessions. The additional capacity allowed the team complete the testing and grading by  by 9:50 am.

Well done, team! 

ARROW conducts amateur radio license test sessions every second Saturday of the month at 9 am. For more information, consult our event calendar.

Here are two photos from the test session:

KB6NU teaches ham radio to hackers

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On February 15, 2025

In Uncategorized

On Tuesday, January 21, 2025, Dan, KB6NU spoke about the grant he received from ARDC and his experience over the course of 2024 teaching his one-day Tech class at hacker cons. He taught his class four times in all, and helped more than 100 “hackers” get their licenses. 

He found that hacker cons are very fertile ground for amateur radio, and that many attendees already had amateur radio licenses. In addition, he felt that hackers are just the kind of people that we want in amateur radio. They are generally younger than the current ham population, and they are interested in doing more than just yakking on the radio.

To view Dan’s slides, click here.

Man standing in front of slide presentation being projected onto screen behind him.

Dan, KB6NU, explaining why hacker cons are fertile ground for recruiting radio amateurs. Photo: Ralph Katz, AA8RK.

Photo of the members gathered at the January 21, 2025 ARROW meeting.

Jay, WB8TKL (front and center) is obviously excited to hear KB6NU talk about his experiences teaching ham radio to hackers. Photo: Ed Vielmetti, W8EMV.

Dayton Hamvention 2025 Charter Bus

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On February 3, 2025

In Club News, Events, News

The ARROW Communications Association and the Toledo Mobile Radio Association (TMRA) are proud to sponsor a motor coach trip to the Hamvention 2025 in Dayton, Ohio. This one-day trip leaves early in the morning on May 17, 2025 and returns the same day after Hamvention closes for the day at 5:00 p.m.  The bus has two pickup spots, in Ann Arbor and in Toledo (Rossford). Please join us! Tickets are $70 per person. Please note that this does not include the Hamvention ticket, which you need to purchase separately. 

Tickets are $70 per person. Please note that this does not include the Hamvention ticket, which you need to purchase separately.

To Register and see full Details visit: https://w8rp.org/daytonbus2025/

VE Team Goes Electronic

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On January 21, 2025

In Uncategorized

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.

An amateur radio license exam session.

At the January 11 test session our VE team used ExamTools for the first time. Photo: Steve, AC8YA.

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.

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