Team Leads | ExamTools | Documentation

Become a Team Lead in ExamTools

Thu, 19 Jun 2025 16:02:36 -0700

Before getting started

Confirm your Team Lead status in ExamTools. Login to http://exam.tools, go to your Profile (upper left on the navigation), and then expand Volunteer Examiner Credentials. You must have Team Lead associated with the VEC under which you plan to run exam sessions. If you only see Volunteer Examiner, please reach out to your VEC to get permission to run exams as a Team Lead with ExamTools. Most VECs will update ExamTools automatically and you should only have to wait for the new permissions to sync within a few hours of being approved.

Now that you are a new VE Team Lead looking to get started with ExamTools, here are our recommended steps:

For in-person paper template graded sessions

Read through this documentation, including the Getting Started guide and Print and Grade Hard Copy Exams pages.

For GradeCam, computer-based, or fully remote sessions

Read through this documentation and watch the videos provided.
Get yourself setup in the Sandbox environment by following these instructions
- Optional: Set up two or more of your more experienced VEs who you would like to bring along on this journey using the same steps. If you do not have VEs who can train with you in the sandbox environment, you can use dummy VEs referenced in the instructions.
Set up sample sessions and practice registering candidates, running the exam, and get yourself comfortable with the ExamTools.
Ask in the appropriate VEC channel on the Discord to shadow another team already running live exams.
Still not VE Team Lead? If you are ready to run real exams in the production environment, get explicit permission from your VEC to run fully-remote or in-person exams using ExamTools.
At this point you will need to get all VEs on your team set up in the production environment to assist with your exams. Have them follow these instructions for the live environment.
Create your first real exam session in the production environment and run your session!
For in-person sessions using GradeCam or devices, check out In-Person Exams with ExamTools documentation.

At any time, use the Discord [ invite link] to ask questions or ping Experienced Support for any specific or urgent needs. We’re all here to help each other out and expand testing for everyone!

Team Accounts for Session Management

Thu, 19 Jun 2025 16:02:36 -0700

Introduction

The primary purpose of a “team account” in ExamTools is to designate ownership of a Volunteer Examiner (VE) team. It’s purely an administrative entity. Team accounts can have a name, contact email, website and generally include the owner, co-owner and a few VEs who are part of the management of the team. It is completely unnecessary to add every Volunteer Examiner (VE) who may attended attend an exam to the ExamTools “team account”. Only VE’s with team lead permissions from their VEC will be able to create a team in ExamTools. Most VEC will update ExamTools automatically with your lead status. If you do not see lead permissions and expect to, please reach out to your VEC to confirm your current status as a lead.

Create a New Team Account

Click on Team Accounts on the left navigation in ExamTools.
Click on + New Team Account in the middle upper area below the ExamTools page header.
New Team Account window should pop-up with four fields for you to define.
Team Identifier (Team ID) - A team is identified on the schedule by a “team identifier” which starts with a letter, is 3-10 characters long, and can contain letters, numbers, and hyphens. Any single word, call sign or acronym can be used to uniquely identify the team. ex. SDHC, NT3ST-R, etc. Enter the call sign of the session manager, if you are not planning on having a team ID.
Team Name - the team’s name or group associated with the team account
Contact E-mail Address - a valid email address associated with the administrator (owner) of the team
VEC (Which of your VEC credentials should this team be allowed to use to schedule exams?) - Select an available VEC from the drop-down menu. The individual setting up the account will have the option of selecting from the VECs for which they are a session manager/team lead/liaison in ExamTools. Select all that apply to this account.
When done, click Save to exit.

Team Accounts: To edit or view team accounts

Within Team Accounts, locate the account you wish to view and click on the Manage Account button which will allow you to view all the fields and setting for the account.
Team Identifier: - Used by the applicants to login and join the exam; also used in permalinks for the session and the team on HamStudy.
Team Name: - Displays along with the team identifier in the session listing on HamStudy.
Contact E-mail Address: - Should contain a valid email address for the administrator(s) of the account.
Team Website: - Enter the url (i.e. http://…) for the website for the club or group associated with this team account. Leave blank if you do not have one.
My team permissions: - The personal permissions settings for the team account you are viewing. (not editable and set by the owner/co-owner of the session)
Delegated Privileges: (In order to list sessions for a given VEC one or more VEs who are at least co-owners must delegate their team lead permissions to the team. Note that sessions must still have a valid team lead assigned from the team, but anyone with Scheduling permissions may schedule sessions for any VEC for which the team has delegated permissions.) - Only those with session manager permissions in ExamTools will see VECs in the Delegate Privileges list. Select the VEC for which you would like the team schedulers to be able to create sessions for. If selected, the VEC will display below the feature.

Add, Edit, and Delete Administrators

Administrators: - A list of those VEs who are part of your team management. This list does not include every one of your VEs, but rather those few who assist with the scheduling, coordinating and running of the sessions.
Click on the + INVITE next to Administrator: to add administrators who will need to accept your invitation.
Use the Edit (pencil and paper icon) or Delete (trash can icon) to manage admins on the list.
Click Edit, to Change team admin permissions.
The team admin’s call sign and license class will display along with the Name: which may use the Display Name from the VE’s Profile, if entered.
Credentials: - Displays how many VECs the admin is accredited with.
Permissions (select from the drop down) - Choose from Owner, Co-owner, Schedule, Print Exams
You can have one or more Owners who are co-equal – this means that any of them can even remove the others from the team account. Because of this, most teams will want to just have a single Owner who is the primary person responsible and then add others as “co-owners”. A co-owner can do anything an owner can except add or remove other owners or co-owners. Selecting schedule will allow that member to create and edit sessions for the team. Those VEs with the Print Exams permission can generate and print exams.
Click Cancel, if you want to discard changes or Save when editing is complete.
If you would like to return to the list of team accounts, click the back arrow in the upper left corner under Manage Team Account.

Administrators can see the team account sessions in the Session List even if they have not been added to the session as a VE. If you are a co-owner or owner you can join the session and add VEs.

Regular VEs who do not have administrative duties would normally not be part of the team account. One of the owners or co-owners of the team will need to add not only themselves, but also attending VEs to each exam session.

Session Locations in ExamTools

Thu, 03 Aug 2023 08:59:33 -0700

Intro:

ExamTools uses the selected location of the exam as the location in the final session documents. For remote exams, only the city, state and zip will be required on the session schedule page. Please confirm with your VEC, if you are unsure what address to use for your session.

Warning:

Once you enter an address, you will not have ability to edit or delete it. ExamTools Support can edit addresses on a case-by-case basis for the time being.

Create Specific Display Names:

Use a specific location name as a display name. If you have more than one team lead and/or test location under the same team identifier, create display names that make sense to you and your session schedulers. Home, church, fire station, library, etc. are common names. Choose a proper name or descriptive phrase instead.

Good examples:

WM7X home (remote)
Kearney Mesa Rec Center (in-person)
Carmel Mountain Public Library (in-person)

Non-US Exam Locations for In-person Exams:

For non-US locations, enter the state as DX and the zip as 00000. Enter both the city and country in the city field. Fill in the rest of the address fields as best as you can.

An example of a remote/online exam location:

City: Sidney, Australia
State: DX
Zip: 00000

Advanced Entry: GPS Coordinates

This method is intended for those in unusual situations (i.e. desert, undeveloped area without street address) and requires manual entry of GPS coordinates. You will need the latitude and longitude. Use real values in decimals.

Look it up at https://www.itilog.com/

If your address can be found in a Google Maps, please use Simple Entry instead.

Create and Edit Sessions in ExamTools

Fri, 13 Mar 2026 11:02:53 -0700

To Add a Session to HamStudy

Detailed instructions to schedule an exam session in the ExamTools software are written below. You may also watch this video for a walk-through.

Login to ExamTools by clicking on [SIGN IN] under Assist with or Manage Exams.
In the second window Log in as a Volunteer Examiner, enter your Username or email and Password.
ExamTools (ET) should open in the Session List.
In the middle top of the Session List, click on + NEW SESSION). If you do not see the NEW SESSION button, then contact your VEC to confirm your team lead status.

The Schedule new session window should display.

Start under General session information::

Team:: Select a team from the drop-down list. If you do not see any teams listed, you will need to either create a Team Account or be added to an exisiting team account as a co-owner. More info about Team Accounts
VEC: Select the VEC organization which is associated with this exam. If you do not see the desired VEC, check your Team Account delgates and also your profile to confirm team lead status.
Team Lead: Select the person who is responsible for the session.
Event Name: Enter your session title to display in HamStudy listing. You may want to include unique information which isn’t listed in other fields.
Session Identifier: This field is primarily used for the GLAARG ID number, but can be repurposed as a note field by non-GLAARG teams. This field will display in the Session List in parentheses between the Team ID and the Event Name. Use to note something unique about a session which would be helpful to see displayed in the session list, (i.e hidden or note a particular VEC, a team lead or location). It doesn’t display in HamStudy.
Session Type: Select Online Session or In-Person Session from the radio buttons. This setting controls how your session is listed on HamStudy. Online is used for remote sessions over a video-conference software. In-Person is used for an exam session being held at a specific location even if you are using tablets or computers for the exam.

Next, go to Registration options:

Use ExamTools Registration? If you select Yes, you will have the following options below.
Use ExamTools for grading or paperwork? Select Yes or No. If you select NO then applicants will not be issued a PIN. The PIN is required for them to sign into the system, so be sure to indicate YES if you plan to use ExamTools to administer exams (whether with GradeCam or computerized exams) or if you plan to use ExamTools to handle paperwork.
Walk-ins allowed? Select Yes or No Note: This option will only display if the in-person selector is toggled and is purely informational for the applicant to let them know if they can come to your session without registering ahead of time.
Maximum number of Participants No Limit / Choose.
Selecting No Limit allows an unlimited number of applicants to register. Under Choose, enter the number of applicants you would like to limit. The system will attempt to enforce this, but it is not foolproof – for example, if two people try to register at once it’s possible they may both get in before the registration is closed.
Use ExamTools Registration? If you select No, you will have the following options below.
Registration Method: None / External Link / Email Link
- [None] - Your exam will appear on the schedule and online registration will be disabled. Use this option for listing your in-person, walk-up exam or if you are going to be registering applicants in another manner. Add registration information to the session description in the Publicly visible notes: box.
- [External Link] - Your exam will appear on the schedule, but will be directed to another website to register. Enter your url in the Registration link field.
- [Email Link] - Your exam will appear on the schedule, but applicants will be provided with an Contact Name and Email Address to use to contact the team to register for your exam.

Then, choose your Schedule: options.

Time zone: Select your time zone from the dropdown list.
Listing Visibility: Visible / Hidden ** If set to “hidden” then this session will not appear on any public session listings. This can be useful if you want to keep the session “private” so only people coming from your website can access it – the registration link can be found on the session page. Especially helpful, if you want to work on your session listing ahead of time and aren’t quite ready for applicants or want to share a private link to a certain population for whom the session has been scheduled. (i.e. Local radio club or college course) The session is still accessible online, but the applicant will need a private link to view. When you are ready to list your session on HamStudy, return to the session in ET and uncheck the box and it will appear in the HamStudy list of Upcoming test sessions.
Session Date Enter the date of your exam.
Start Time Enter time which your applicants should expect the exam to begin. Use the clock icon for a touch-friendly time picker
Duration (minutes): Enter the number of minutes you expect the session to last (i.e. a two-hour exam would be 120 mins). This is purely informational and displayed on the session listing page.

Select, Add or Edit your Locations:.

The VEC is required to submit session location to the FCC, so this is required even for remote exams. The most common value for this is the city / state / zip of the team lead.
If you selected In-Person Session, enter the street address of the exam session venue. Once entered, a preview of a map will pop up. The map will also be visible on HamStudy. More info about Session Locations

Configure Elements Offered, Exam Fee and Registration Notices.

All exam elements offered? If this is selected then all elements will be displayed as an option in the registration process. If you select specific elements, limiting the choices, only those selected options will appear during the registration process and the applicant will only be able to choose from those. It doesn’t prevent an applicant from taking another exam on the day of the session, but it prevents them from indicating their intent to take an element. For example, you might hava tech only exam and select Element 2: Technician. The applicant registers and can only choose from Technician. On the day of the exam, you find out that you have enough VEs to administer a General exam and the applicant is allowed to take the exam. ExamTools won’t prevent them from taking and exam which wasn’t indicated at registration. What was indicated will display as part of the applicant information when expanded in the session on the applicant tab.
Examination Fee:: This field should populate automatically in most cases baised on your VEC policies once you have selected a VEC in the general session information section. If not, enter the amount for your exams as directed by your VEC. You can add payment information, terms and info about waived fees in the session description in Other Notes field farther down in the form.
Receive email notifications on applicant registration? If Yes, an email will be sent to the configured address each time someone registers for the session. Choose “Team Default” to use the default settings for your team.
The New Applicant Registration notice will include the following applicant information: Name, License Class, FRN, Address, Email, Phone Number and the date/time of the session in which the applicant registered.

Add your session description for HamStudy and customize the email to your applicants.

Publicly visible notes (markdown enabled): These are the notes which will appear with your session listing; they should be complete and useful. Add any additional information which wasn’t included in the rest of the listing. For remote sessions, you may want to include the time and time zone again, links to instructions, how to pay, and contact information. We strongly recommend including any special rules that your session has as well as a way for potential applicants to contact you. Using markdown, you can style your listing using headers and bullets, to include pictures and logos, links and more. Images must be hosted on another server.
Notes for applicant (email): Information entered will be emailed to applicants when they register for your session – it will not be shown to anyone who has not registered for your session, so it is less public than the regular notes. You can use this option to send your applicant the Zoom link for your remote session or specific directions to your physical location, but keep in mind that you will also need to copy over pertinent information from the public notes that you want emailed to the applicants. If the notes for applicants box is left empty, then the public notes will be sent instead.
Review your listing carefully and click [Save] when done.

To View Your Session on HamStudy

To view your listing on the web, navigate to the Session List and click on the session which you are interested in.
At the end of the title for the session look for a small link icon:
Click on the icon and the link to your session on HamStudy will automatically copy to your clipboard. You should be able to open a browser window and paste the url in and the address bar and hit enter. Send the link to others or posted to another website to advertise your session.
Search for your session by clicking on the Find a Session from the right side navigation on HamStudy. If the session is not hidden, then it should come up. Find all your sessions by adding your call sign to the end of the following link: https://ham.study/sessions/yourcallsign. Use this URL to link to all your sessions live on HamStudy. Include it in the session description or share in email. This link will not include hidden sessions.

To Edit an Existing Session

Return to Manage Sessions and click on Edit Schedule to update or change your listing. Do this within the session from the Current or Session List. Open your session. Along the top of the window, look for a button for EDIT SCHEDULE. This button will take you to the Edit Session window where you can make changes to your exam.

To Clone a Past or Future Session

Once you have a complete and accurate session listing, clone it for future sessions. From the left navigation, select Session List, locate the past or future session which you want to duplicate and click on the three vertical dots to the right of the Edit Schedule button. Select Clone from the drop-down.
Make any edits to the session and add a new Session Date under Schedule. Adding the date is required before you can save it.
Decide if you want to clone the VE list from the source exam session. Locate Clone VE List between Email address for notifications and Publicly visible notes and select YES or NO. Selecting Yes, will copy the entire Volunteer Examiners List from the source exam session. The VEs will see the session in their session list, have access to and retain the same VE permissions as they did in the original. If you have a small regular group of VEs who never miss a session, then cloning a session with those regular VEs would be beneficial and save you time. However, you may not want to clone a VE list from a random session across an entire year as the VE population changes overtime.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Before you finalize your session, double check your Volunteer Examiners list and remove any cloned or added VEs who did not show or participate in the session. Last chance to add any VEs who may have been missed. The Volunteer Examiner list becomes part of the session manifest in VEC ARCHIVE and should accurately reflect those VEs who were present at the exam session. Do not include all members of your team. Only those who were actually there.

Edit the VE List in an ExamTools Session

Mon, 07 Aug 2023 12:16:55 -0700

Add a Volunteer Examiner (VE) to an Exam Session

You must be a co-owner to add VEs to a session. Add VEs to the manifest at any time until the exam is finalized.

Login to ExamTools by clicking on [SIGN IN] under Assist with or Manage Exams.
In the second window Log in as a Volunteer Examiner, enter your Username or email and Password. Click the box next to I accept the Privacy Policy… and then [LOG IN].
ExamTools (ET) should open in the Session List.

To add a VE to an exam session, select a session from the Session List.

By default, the Applicant tab is active. Click on the Volunteer Examiner tab to the left of the active tab. At the top of the VE page, located and click the button + ADD VES.

Required on a New Session Listing: If you see “You are not part of this session” on a gold alert ribbon when you first access the session listing, make sure to click the JOIN button from the Applicant Tab. Next, click on the Volunteer Examiner tab. If fail to join the session, you will see that the session has 0 VEs and a blue box with “No Volunteer Examiners have been added to the session”. Return back to the gold ribbon on the Applicant Tab and click the JOIN button. Then, click on the Volunteer Examiner tab. You must then change your permissions to co-owner in order to add the rest of your team.

The Add Volunteer Examiners window should popup with a field in the upper right corner VE call sign (enter to add).

Type in the call sign of the VE who you would like to add. Hit Enter on your keyboard and then click SAVE on your screen. To add more than one VE, just keep entering call signs and enter until you have added all your VEs, then click SAVE to add them to the session all at once. ExamTools will not add a VE more than once even if you add them again.

VEs need to have an ExamTools account with VE Documents for the same VEC as the session is associated with. If you are presented with an UNREGISTERED to the right of the VE, the VE does not have what they need to be added to your session. New to ExamTools VEs will need to create an ExamTools account. VEs who have volunteered with a different VEC using ET may need to add additional VEC accreditation to their existing account.

Setting VE Permissions:

You have three different levels of permissions which you can sign to VEs. Volunteer Examiner, VE Admin and Co-Owner are explained on the VE Roles and Permissions in an ExamTools Session page. The team lead needs to have Co-Owner permissions to run the session.

From the dropdown located on the right side of the VE’s name, select the role at which you want the VE to participate in the session with. The Volunteer Examiner setting by default will allow VEs to authorize and certify exams and under MANAGE, view applicant information.

How to Remove a VE from an Exam Session:

Look for an x in a small solid circle located to the right of the VE within the VE list. Clicking on the x will result in a popup “Are you sure you want to remove VE Name (Call Sign) from the session?" Select YES. Do not remove VEs who are currently assigned to an applicant or have authorized exams. This may break something in your session.

In-Person Exams with ExamTools

Fri, 13 Mar 2026 12:24:57 -0700

In-Person Exams with ExamTools

For more complete instructions, please contact your VEC for documentation and guidance. We strongly recommend that you shadow other team leads and participate in many sessions before starting to run your own. You are encouraged to have an experienced team lead and experienced VEs join your first few sessions to help out. Initial sessions are recommended to be only one or two applicants until you’re comfortable with the whole process. Both leads and VEs should participate in remote online exams to learn how ExamTools works. ExamTools functions the same for both in-person and remote exams. Contact your VEC for help locating a team to train with.

Prepare for In-Person Exam:

Session Manager (SM) creates a session on ExamTools (ET).
Session Manager prints paper exams for use with GradeCam. Exams printed for use with templates will not work with GradeCam. However, you may use the Record External Exam feature under Manage to add exams which were graded without the use of ET.
Session Manager or team members prepare computers or tablets for applicant use or applicants will be notified what kind of devices are allowed.
SM (owner) or co-owner adds participating Volunteer Examiners (VEs) to the exam session. Only add VEs who are actively participating in the exam and not all the members of your team.

Applicant Registration:

PRE-REGISTER: Direct applicants to pre-register (and pay online, if required) before the exam by using the link on HamStudy. The session listing may be public or private. A public session will be listed on HamStudy and anyone may register for the exam. A private session will not be listed on HamStudy and applicants will need to be sent the link to the session listing in order to view and register. The SM selects the hidden option. Once a session has been listed publicly, applicants may able to navigate back to it even after the session listing has been edited hide on HamStudy.
WALK-INS or SAME DAY REGISTRATION: If you allow walk-ins on the day of the exam, assign a VE to help applicants register.

Highly recommended and easiest method: On https://ham.study, direct applicants to use their own device (a smartphone or tablet) or one provided by a VE to register. Applicants will receive a registration email which includes their pin and allows them to confirm their information. Tip: Use a QR Code linked directly to your session listing on HamStudy to allow people to register while waiting in line to check-in. For larger exam sessions, create a walk-in/registeration area staffed with a VE to assist. Provide a table, seating and tablets or laptops to be used for registration. Onced registered, canidates can join the check-in line.
If needed to resolve registration problems: In ExamTools, a VE with co-owner permissions can register applicants using the Add Applicant feature located in the upper right corner of the applicants list. Applicants added in this manner will not receive a registration email.

A VE should confirm FRNs and call signs on the ULS. Although ExamTools does have some automatic lookup features, all information should be confirmed by a real person. All applicants need a FRN to register on ExamTools. The FCC requires an email address which will used to contact the applicants about their license application. The applicant may need to log in to CORES to pay (within ten calendar days) or License Manager obtain a copy of their license, if they do not receive emails from the FCC.

Since ExamTools registers the applicant electronically, the 605 may not be required for in-person, but the applicant still will need to bring identification.

Paper or Device?

Paper exam booklets and answer sheets must be printed from ET by a SM or someone delegated to do so from within the ET team admin account. The paper exams are reusable, printed with or without figures, randomly generated and have unique test ID numbers. Font size is adjustable. Should be printed on white paper as some people have problems with reading on colored paper. Select exams to be graded by GradeCam. Instructions on Printing Exams for GradeCam Check with your VEC to find out if they may print or reimburse you for the exams. Suggestion: Use brightly colored folders or cover sheets to keep track of exams and elements.
Paper and grading templates provided to stocked teams may be used with ExamTools. Check with your VEC to see to what the procedure is for accepting ExamTools exports for these types of sessions. Supplemental files (i.e answer sheets) may be required.
Devices (computers, tablets, smartphones) may be owned by the applicants, VEs, team or VEC. The ET process is nearly identical to a remote session. Devices may or may not be reimbursable by your VEC. Tip: Ask your community for donations of unused devices. Many teams use 8inch Amazon Tablets.
Exam results may be shared depending on your VEC’s policy. Exam results are found on the Applicant Tab under PRINT FORMS in the expanded view of the applicant. On devices, exam results may be shared as each exam is randomly generated. When exams are graded by GradeCam, ET results may or may not be shared depending on the number of versions of the paper exam you have and if the exam is to be reused. It would always be safe to provide the question pool number (i.e. T6A07) to the applicant.

Check in Applicants:

Change the applicant status from Registered to Seen in ExamTools to indicate that the applicant has checked in and is testing. The applicant will move to the top of the applicant list depending on how it is sorted. During the check-in process, you may:

Check ID and collect any fee from applicants.
Use a paper roster provided to you by your VEC to track payment and ID check or download an applicant list from ExamTools and add columns for both. Defer to your VEC for direction.
Confirm any CSCE and add credit.
Confirm any existing license (current or expired). ExamTools will attempt to link to current licenses.
Resolve any alerts on the Applicant record. Some are just advisory and not resolveable.

Start Exam:

SM should click the Start Session button located in the upper right corner of the session. Only the co-owners can see it.

To Test with Paper:

Provide each applicant with an exam, a bubble answer sheet, pencil/pen and calculator, if needed. The applicant may choose to use the front and back of the answer sheet for scratch paper given they do not write in the box or backside of the box or the team can provide the applicant with a blank sheet.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Answer sheets can be prefilled with the exam’s Test ID number and the Applicant Pin. The answer sheet for the Tech and General are the same with 35 bubbles, but the Extra answer sheet has 50 bubbles. A new 35/50 question combo form is now available for download along with all supplemental resources in ExamTools under Generate Exam.

A VE may seat the applicant and give instructions on what to do when they have completed their exam.

Suggestion: Provide each applicant with an instruction or exam cover sheet to provide directions for the exam and what to do to have the exam scored.

To Test with a Device:

Provide each applicant with a sheet of blank paper, a pencil/pen and calculator, if needed. Inspect the device as you would for remote testing. The applicant needs only a web browser open and should be instructed to remain on that page only. Settings, profiles, and/or apps (i.e. Fully Kiosk) maybe used to secure VE team owned devices.

The applicant should go to https://exam.tools and join the session with the team identifier and the applicant pin. A VE will need to authorize at points during the exam as they would during a remote exam.

ExamTools in-app calculator: For applicants, it is located in the upper left corner of the ExamTools exam screen. VEs also have access to a caculator in the upper right corner of the screen while logged into ExamTools. The ExamTools calculator doesn’t replace an applicant’s need for their calculator or one provided by a team, it is only offered as an option. Teams and applicants should use what they are confortable with and in some cases, allowing an applicant to use the calculator which they have practiced with and are familiar with is the best option for them.

During Exam:

For both paper and device testing, VEs should be assigned to monitor the applicants. Walk around behind the applicants with devices, make sure that they stay on the exam page and provide assistance when needed. VEs will need to assign themselves or a VE Admin or higher can assign Certifying VEs to each applicant. This can be done during or after the exam is graded as ExamTools is flexible on when the VEs are assigned. Defer to the team lead’s instructions.

The team should determine how they want the applicants to signal when they are done with the exam. For an exam taken on a device, the applicant can hit the grade exam button and optionally, raise their hand so you can easily locate them. For those who are using paper, they may need to raise their hand or bring their exam and materials to a specific table to be graded. All materials including exam, scratch paper, pencil and calculator should be collected from the applicants.

Grading Exams:

For applicants using a device, they can proceed through the exam process as if they are being tested online.

For paper exams, use GradeCam to grade the exam. Navigate to the Manage Session page, and click the GradeCam button. VE will be prompted to choose the camera to use to scan. Center the filled out answer sheet within the camera window, and the software will grade the exam automatically. If ET cannot clearly determined which answer was selected, the VE will be prompted to visually confirm the answer. This can occur when an applicant does not cleanly erase a previous answer when changing it. Any device with a camera (tablet, cell phone, or computer) may be used for scoring. The SM and the rest of the VE team may want to practice this and test out different devices in the SandBox before your session. Lighting and shiney pencil lead can cause problems for ExamTools.

To Add a Score from a Non-ExamTools Exam:

A VE team may use existing exam booklets and scoring templates which were provided to them as a stocked team, if desired. Go to the applicant record and use the Record External Exam feature under Manage to add the element, score and any notes for the exam. Teams choosing this method should check with their VEC and confirm what additional documentation (i.e. original answer sheets) should be provided beyond the documents which ET exports.

Viewing 605 and Draft CSCE in ExamTools:

All successful applicants should be able to sign into ExamTools or remain signed in using their own device (a smart phone) or one (a tablet, iPad, computer) provided to them to view their score, finish and sign forms (view 605/CSCE and create an electronic signature). For paper exam applicants, you can skip right to the 605/CSCE and signature by changing the applicant status to Ready to Sign in ET.

Official Certificate of Successful Completion:

Once the applicant and three Certifying VEs have all signed, a co-owner should Mark Complete the applicant and send the CSCE. The applicant should check their email which they used to register and confirm that they received the CSCE. Only the co-owners have the ability to mark applicants complete, but any VE may send the CSCE. The Mark Complete button displays to co-owners in the expanded view of the applicant. All three VEs must sign before the Mark Complete button becomes active. Once the applicant has been marked complete, they will drop to the bottom of the applicant list. A VE can then click on the up arrow displaying just to the right of the applicant’s pin to send the CSCE. The session is not complete until every successful applicant has been sent their CSCE.

Applicants Who Did Not Pass:

Will not receive anything unless the team would like to either print or email the applicants the 605 from ET. Depending on the team’s point of view, returning the 605 is completely unnecessary as the applicant did not provide a 605 when registering. One common practice for the three certifying VEs is to remain assigned to the non-passing applicant. Although ExamTools will allow VEs to sign a 605 on which NO NEW LICENSE OR UPGRADE WAS EARNED, most all teams do not sign and some do not even keep VEs assigned for failed applicants. Check with your VEC for direction.

Closing the Session:

The SM cleans up the manifest by removing any non-participating VEs and add any that did participate. The VEs listed on the session are included in the offical documentation for the session and when they finalize the session they are confirming that everything about the session is correct including which VEs were in attendance and witnessed the exam session. Optionally, remove applicants who did not show. If they are submitting instead of refunding exam fees for no show applicants, best practice is to leave them listed on the session. Then, clicks Finalize Session.
Session Manager submits session docs (EXPORT>VEC Archive) to the Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC) along with any other requested documentation (i.e. expense report, CSCEs, etc). Most VECs have an upload portal to submit the session documents and do not require the materials to be mailed back. Everything that a VEC needs is included in the VEC ARCHIVE.

VEC Upload, Licenses and Upgrades:

Once the VEC has uploaded the batch file from the session, the FCC will start the process of reviewing the applications, sending out emails with information to pay and issuing call signs. Once this happens, the applicant should receive an email from ExamTools and the FCC, if everything goes well with the EBF upload. Once an applicant has paid or for upgrades, the email from the FCC comes overnight with a link to the official license. The applicant should download the license from the link and save it in a place where they can find it again. They may choose to print out a copy and keep it with their radio. If they do not get an email, they will need to go to the License Manager and download a copy.

Those who upgraded can use their existing call sign appended with /AG (General) or /AE (Extra) to immediately start using their new privileges. Those who do not have a license will need to wait until their call sign appears in the ULS. Occasionally, applicants need to wait an additional day or two while their application is in review.

The FCC issues call signs Tuesday through Saturday in the early morning. Weekend and holiday uploads are not processed until the next business day.

Flow of Applicants through Exam Site:

Tables should be set up to allow a logical flow through each station. This is an example below.

Registration
Payment of fee (if not free)
Check-in/Present ID
Receive Exam
Take Exam
Return Exam
Grade Exam (VEs sign/SM marks complete/send CSCE)
Receive CSCE

Applicant Email Address:

All applicants are required to provide an email address on all applications. The licensees will receive an electronic issuance of an official copy of their licenses upon application grant. Certain email preferences and email services may potentially block or filter incoming email attachments. Applicants should set their email preferences to allow incoming email from authorizations@fcc.gov before their applications are submitted.

If no email notification is received, the licensees will need to login to ULS and download their authorizations, as no paper copies are distributed. The instructions for downloading an authorization can be found at: https://www.fcc.gov/support/universal-licensing-system-uls-resources/how-obtain-official-authorizations-uls. Email questions about this process to ulsebf@fcc.gov.

Basic Qualification Question:

If an applicant answers Yes to this question not only should the SM confirm that the answer is correct, but also make it clear that there are additional steps to their application with the FCC. Providing the application file number and the instructions on the back of the 605 may be needed. This may be the first time the applicant has applied for an amateur radio license and may need a little extra explanation. ExamTools does provide instructions when the applicants register, but the information is currently not included with the session information notification email when they register.

Print and Grade Hard Copy Exams in ExamTools

Mon, 07 Aug 2023 12:16:32 -0700

Required to Print Exams

To generate and print exams in ExamTools, you must have team lead permissions or be a Volunteer Examiner (VE) on a team with Print Exam permissions. Some teams leads may need to contact their VEC to update their status. Make sure to check out the New Team Lead Information, if you do not see Answer Keys and Generate Exam in the left navigation of ExamTools.

Printing Exam Sheets for Manually Graded Exams

Follow these instructions to print out randomly generated exams for use with a manual grading key:

Log into ExamTools using your user name and password
On the left navigation bar, click Generate Exam
The default selection is Manual Grading, indicated by a grey highlight.
Follow the option selections for the exams that you wish to generate
- Text Size - Choose the size of your text printing. Available selections are Miniscule, Tiny, Small, Regular, Large, Huge, or Ridiculous
- Question Pool - Choose the question pool for which you wish to generate exams. Available selections include current US Amateur Radio exams, several FCC Commercial Elements, and Canadian 2014 Basic and Advanced Qualifications in either English or French Canadian
- Language - Choose the language to generate exams. Available selections are English or (Spanish not available for all question pools)
- Number of Exams to Create - Choose how many unique exam sheets to generate. Use the slider to select a number between 1 and 50
- Omit questions with figures - Toggle on to generate exams that do not use questions containing figures suitable for administering to visually challenged candidates. Default is off (include figures)
Click Generate - You will have a PDF file generated that includes answer keys, blank answer sheets, and exam booklets in the quantity of exams chosen in the previous step. You may print off as many copies as you need. The exam number is printed on page 1 in the upper right hand corner as well as in the footer of every page. This number is used to determine which grading key to use.
To grade these exams, each VE will compare the candidate’s filled-out answer sheet against the grading key generated in the prior step. This candidate will then require a CSCE and Form 605 filled out and signed by hand. Alternatively, if the applicant has been registered into ExamTools, VEs may record the score into ExamTools by following To Add a Score from a Non-ExamTools Exam: instructions.

Printing Exam Sheets for Pre-Determined (VEC) Keys

Follow these instructions to print out randomly generated exams for use with a pre-determined (VEC) grading key

Log into ExamTools using your user name and password
On the left navigation bar, click Generate Exam
The default selection is Manual Grading, indicated by a grey highlight. Click on Pre-Determined Key
Follow the option selections for the exams that you wish to generate
- Choose Answer Key(s) - Choose the grading template that you are using. Includes pre-determined VEC-Specific grading templates such as ARRL: 1-1 through ARRL: 9-4. Multiple selections are allowed.
- Text Size - Choose the size of your text printing. Available selections are Miniscule, Tiny, Small, Regular, Large, Huge, or Ridiculous
- Question Pool - Choose the question pool for which you wish to generate exams. Available selections include current US Amateur Radio exams, several FCC Commercial Elements, and Canadian 2014 Basic and Advanced Qualifications in either English or French Canadian
- Language - Choose the language to generate exams. Available selections are English or (Spanish not available for all question pools)
- Number of Exams to Create - Choose how many unique exam sheets to generate. Use the slider to select a number between 1 and 50
- Omit questions with figures - Toggle on to generate exams that do not use questions containing figures suitable for administering to visually challenged candidates. Default is off (include figures)
Click Generate - You will have a PDF file generated that includes exam sheets in the quantity of exams chosen in the previous step. You may print off as many copies as you need. The answer key to use for grading each exam is printed on page 1 in the upper right hand corner as well as in the footer of every page
To grade these exams, each VE will compare the candidate’s filled-out answer sheet against the appropriate grading key provided by your VEC. This candidate will then require a CSCE and Form 605 filled out and signed by hand

Printing Exam Sheets to Scan with GradeCam(tm)

Follow these instructions to print out randomly generated exams for scanning with GradeCam(tm) software, which is accessible via the ExamTools website on any internet-connected device with a camera.

Log into ExamTools software using your user name and password
On the left hand navigation bar, click Generate Exam
The default selection is Manual Grading, indicated by a grey highlight. Click on Scan with GradeCam(tm)
Follow the option selections for the exams that you wish to generate
- Text Size - Choose the size of your text printing. Available selections are Miniscule, Tiny, Small, Regular, Large, Huge, or Ridiculous
- Question Pool - Choose the question pool for which you wish to generate exams. Available selections include current US Amateur Radio exams, several FCC Commercial Elements, and Canadian 2014 Basic and Advanced Qualifications in either English or French Canadian
- Language - Choose the language to generate exams. Available selections are English or (Spanish not available for all question pools)
- Number of Exams to Create - Choose how many unique exam sheets to generate. Use the slider to select a number between 1 and 50
- Print Answer Keys? - Choose to generate hard-copy answer keys for your exams Default is off
- Omit questions with figures - Toggle on to generate exams that do not use questions containing figures suitable for administering to visually challenged candidates. Default is off (include figures)
Click Generate - You will have a PDF file generated that includes exam sheets for the number of exams chosen in the previous step, and optionally bubble forms for GradeCam scanning. The exam number to write into the answer sheet is printed on page 1 in the upper right hand corner as well as in the footer of every page
To grade these exams, navigate to the Session Detail page, and click the GradeCam button. You will be prompted to choose the camera to use to scan. Center the filled out answer sheet within the camera window, and the software will grade your exam automatically. This candidate may then proceed through digital CSCE, Form 605, and electronic VEC submission steps

Supplemental Resources

These supplemental resources are for use with generated exams

Bubble forms for GradeCam (camera-based) scanning - these are blank fill-in-the-bubble forms to be used by candidates to answer questions on exams to be graded using GradeCam software
Figures which go with exams - These are the labeled figures to be provided to candidates taking generated exams. Update: The figures are now included with the question referencing it in the printed exam booklet.

How to Use Zoom for Online Exams

Mon, 07 Aug 2023 15:19:10 -0700

Overview of Using Zoom

Zoom is by far the most popular video conferencing software used for running online ExamTools sessions. Its many features can be quite daunting to set up and use to run an exam session. There are two basic ways Zoom is used: single- and multi-room (i.e. breakout rooms). Think of single-room sessions like small in-person VE exams with 4 or 5 VEs and a handful of candidates and multi-room sessions as what you might see at a large hamfest.

Single-Room Zoom

Many teams run small exam sessions with a half-a-dozen VEs and applicants and sequentially test one applicant at a time. This is the simplest way to use Zoom and is highly recommended for new teams to start out with. Even this single-room model has a lot of moving parts that you’ll need to master in order to run a successful VE session.

In this model, the VEs use the main room to administer the exam. All VE introductions, applicant pre-checking, testing process, etc. are done in the main room while the waiting room serves as a holding pen for applicants.

The single room model is a good starting point. As your team becomes comfortable with Zoom and ExamTools, you may want to explore the use of breakout rooms which will allow you at least the use of an additional room for testing, if you want to keep it separate from main.

Multi-Room (Breakout Rooms) Zoom

Some teams use a multi-room approach, with dozens to hundreds of VEs and applicants in a single session that still allows for a VE to applicant radio of 4:1. Multi-room Zoom is described further toward the bottom of this page.

Get a Zoom Pro Account

Zoom pricing varies from free to a couple of hundred dollars. A free Zoom account, limited to 40 minutes, is not recommended as you don’t want to rush or have your Zoom session end during an exam.

The recommended version, at least for smaller teams, is Zoom Pro. Zoom Pro meetings can have up to 100 participants and meetings are not time-limited. Per FCC Rule §97.527 use of Zoom to run your exam sessions is considered one of the “out-of-pocket expenses incurred in preparing, processing, administering, or coordinating an examination for an amateur operator license.” You’ll just need to make sure to comply with your VEC’s policy for retaining fees and will likely have to prorate your recovery of the Zoom cost over several applicants and/or sessions.

Your single Zoom Pro license only permits one meeting at a time. In practice this should be fine if you are the team lead. Only you need to pay for the Zoom Pro license. Your VEs and candidates are guests and do not pay.

Establish a non-Zoom means of communicating among VEs

We strongly recommend against using Zoom Chat for VEs to chat amongst themselves. Find another (free) chat tool such as Slack, Discord, Google Chat, Hamshack Hotline (IP Phone), etc. There is a risk that the VEs will chat with the applicant by mistake.

Zoom Account Settings

Zoom has a large number of optional settings – and they keep changing as Zoom continuously develops new features. Following are some recommended settings for a single-room session. Note that you set these at https://zoom.us – not in the Zoom desktop app.

Personal/Profile

Personal/Profile settings:

You can make your display name different from your first/last name. For example, put your first name and call sign in your display name.
Consider setting an appropriate profile photo. This will be displayed when you turn your camera off. Leaving it blank will show your display name. The admin of the Zoom account can disable to ability to display profile photos, if desired.

Other personal profile settings include your time zone and confirm that it is correct.

Personal/Settings

In Personal/Settings set these:

Security:

Waiting Room enabled.
Waiting Room Options: Everyone will go in the waiting room.
Waiting Room Options: Customize waiting room and add some help text for people in the waiting room. Something like this:
```
Your session host will let you in shortly.
If there is a problem, text ‪(123) 456-7890‬ or email ve@example.com.
```
Embed passcode in invite link for one-click join enabled.

Host Key You can also turn off your waiting room in order to use a Host Key to claim Zoom Host. Then enable to waiting room. This allows VEs and maybe even applicants to join the meeting before the host arrives. One of the admin VEs or alternate lead can claim host and start to get organized. This best models the parking lot before the exam where you are waiting for the person with the keys to arrive to unlock the door.

Video in Waiting Room: Some teams now play a video for the applicants to watch while in the waiting room.

In Meeting (Basic):

Chat enabled. (See more about pros and cons of enabling chat, below.)
Sound notification when someone joins or leaves – Play sound for everyone. Or disable it.
Co-host enabled.
Screen sharing enabled.
Who can share? All Participants.
Allow removed participants to rejoin enabled.
Allow participants to rename themselves enabled.

Create a Zoom Session

In Personal/Meetings settings click Schedule a Meeting and set these:

Select Recurring meeting with Recurrence: no fixed time.
Set a pass code.
Enable Waiting Room.
Video off for host and participant. This is the initial value. We want no surprises when some connects from the waiting room.
Meeting options: Allow participants to join anytime and Mute participants upon entry.

Running the Exam Session with Zoom

Log in to the desktop Zoom app and start the session you defined above.
Click on the Participants button which will bring up the Participant list on the right-hand side.
Wait for your VEs and applicants to start showing up. Since you’ve allowed “join before host”, they may already be there in the waiting room (or in main if you have turned off your waiting room and are using a Host Key). This is what the waiting room looks like when it’s been customized with a text message and icon image:
One-by-one admit your VEs from the Waiting Room. Be aware that the waiting room only displays a small number of names. You may have to scroll up and down.
Designate one or two as co-hosts by clicking on their name and selecting the Make Co-Host option. Think of a co-host as Alternate NCS in case your Zoom session fails. You can alternatively make all of the VEs or just room leads Co-Hosts. If a VE is not a co-host, you will need to move them. Otherwise, as a co-host, they can move themselves
Make sure all your VEs have a good video presence and background – either real or using a Zoom Virtual Background. We want our applicants to experience a friendly, positive, apolitical image of our VE team, our VEC, and the Amateur Radio Service. VEs enter their Zoom display name to include their call sign (or you can do it for them). Let them try to change it themselves. Many want to learn and don’t really appreciate being moved around and being renamed in Zoom.
Once all your VEs are present, admit your first applicant. Make sure to set Side-by-Side Gallery mode so you can see all the VE and applicant video angles.
After introductions, checking candidate ID, and so on, have the applicant share their complete desktop, make sure you are ready to start the exam, and then have them enter http://exam.tools in their browser. Depending on the number of VEs, you may need to slide the bar between the shared desktop and video windows so as to see all the video views.
If your team requires or needs two devices (cameras), the candidate joins the second device with audio not connected. Otherwise you will likely get audio feedback from the speaker of the second device to the microphone of the applicant’s main computer. In Zoom for iOS (and likely other versions) have the applicant click on ... More near the bottom right and then Disconnect Audio. See screenshots, below.
Before you approve the applicant to start their exam, have all the VEs mute their audio and either turn off their video or leave it on depending on your team. The applicant’s audio and video should always be kept on. The applicant should be in view at all times. If they drift out of view, the lead should ask the applicant to adjust their camera. Generally, all VEs should be visible and videos should all come back on before exam is graded.

Breakout Rooms

When you are ready to run a larger session, breakout rooms will allow you to run multiple exams at the same time in different rooms. It highly recommended that you have someone who is very familiar with how Zoom breakout rooms work to assist you with your exams in the beginning. The VEs will need to be trained as well unless they are coming from other teams who use breakout rooms. You can either invite VEs and applicants to join rooms or make some or all of them co-hosts. The applicants will always be invited or moved to a breakout room, but co-hosts can move themselves. They also can close all the breakout rooms. The red button should be discussed and everyone be told not to press it. Even if you do not want to run multiple exams at the same time, this feature would allow a team to run exams in another room which would leave main free to bring applicants in from the waiting room to prep for the exam and provide a location to visit with completed applicants.

Tips and Tricks

You will invariably run into some issues. Here is the (beginning of) a list of Tips and Tricks:

Zoom Chat

Use Zoom chat only to send messages to Everybody which includes all the VEs and the current applicant. This can be useful if, for example, the applicant is unable to hear you. Do not use Zoom chat to talk among the VEs – this can be distracting to the applicant. Some teams disable Zoom Chat to prevent this.

You can also use Zoom Chat to send a message to Everybody in the Waiting Room. You can use this to drop in helpful status updates if your session is running behind schedule, for instance. Be careful when you send these messages as:

everyone in the waiting room will receive the message. Avoid sharing applicant names, etc.
you might inadvertently send the message to everyone in the meeting instead.

Unknown Person in the Waiting Room

While in the Waiting Room, a person is unable to change their display name, but you can rename them if you figure it out. If you aren’t sure, then you’ll need to admit them and see who they are. They can’t fix it until they’ve been admitted to the main room.

Wrong person admitted from the Waiting Room

You can send them back to the Waiting Room by selecting Put in Waiting Room.

Applicant has difficulty or forgets to leave Zoom session

You can remove the applicant but make sure to uncheck the box to Report to Zoom – that’s for reporting Zoom bombers and other inappropriate behavior. You can alternatively just put them back in the waiting room.

PC Camera is too blurry to read photo ID

Frequently desktop/laptop cameras don’t focus well on photo IDs. Try using a second device (phone) camera. Having a second camera can be helpful, even if it isn’t required, for room scans, IDs, and just feeling comfortable testing an applicant in a challenging environment. Most people who have a laptop computer with a camera also own a Zoom-capable phone.

Zoom Second Device Audio Feedback

When using a second device (usually a phone), applicants frequently connect audio, which leads to audio feedback from the speaker of the phone into the microphone of the main computer. Have the applicant click on ... More near the bottom right and then Disconnect Audio.

Recording with Zoom

The ARRL/VEC and others have asked that we not record candidate sessions. If you choose to record, be certain to never record personally-identifiable information (PII) such as photo ID and only record if the applicant has given explicit permission to do so. If you need to record, you have the option of pausing or stopping the video. The paused video recording will result in one mp4 file. If you stop and start recording, then you’ll get multiple mp4 files.

When the Zoom meeting ends or the participant who recorded exits, Zoom will start rendering the saved video into an mp4 file. When it’s done, a file browser will pop up with several files offered. You might only want to retain the mp4 file. You can upload and store the rendered recorded video to Google Drive (mp4’s do not count against your storage quota) or your favorite cloud storage (i.e. Drop Box).

Sandbox Exams and Dummy VEs

Mon, 07 Aug 2023 15:20:54 -0700

Sandbox/Training Environment

For training purposes, use the ExamTools (ET) sandbox environment at https://examtools.dev. Training sessions which are created in the sandbox will be found on https://hamstudy.dev. To get started, checkout the instructions on how to create a team and how to create a session in ExamTools. You may want to reference the in-person exam instructions for how you may want to register your applicants and run your training session.

Sandbox ExamTools Accounts:

Volunteer Examiners (VEs) who want access to the sandbox will need to register for a sandbox ET account even if they already have a production ET account. Team leads will need to request session manager permissions be added to their sandbox account in order to create a team and run training exam sessions. All features available in production can be tested out and mastered in the sandbox before a live session is scheduled.

Fake Applicants:

Use hamstudy.dev to register fake applicants for your training session and experience what an applicant would experience. Alternatively, practice registering applicants in ExamTools, if you allow walk-in applicants at your exam session. Click the Add Applicant button in the upper right (opposite the sort order selector) of the applicant list. To create your own fake applicant, enter ten zeros (0000000000) in the FRN field or use a real FRN or call sign to automatically lookup the record from the ULS. To populate the fields with a fake applicant’s information, look to the upper right corner of the dialog box and click on the Action dropdown. Then, select Create Fake.

Dummy VEs:

If you do not have enough real VEs to train with, you can use dummy VEs. Dummy VEs can only be used with assigning to an applicant and signing; they use a special callsign format like E92USR – E means “Extra class” (and G means “General”), 92 can be any 2 digit number, and USR is just a common suffix eg. G23USR, E12USR, etc.

The password for each dummy VE is passwordNN where NN is the number, so for E46USR, the password is password46. If you put in the wrong password, ET will prompt with a hint.

Rules for Dummies:

Use E or G for the license class prefix.
The two digits can range from 01-99.
Suffix should always be USR (user). E01ABC is not a valid dummy VE.
You cannot login to ET with a dummy account.

If you use a “T” as a prefix, you will get the tech error and you will not be able to use the dummy VE. If you try to add someone who does not hold a General or Extra class license, you will get the same error in production.

Creating a Dummy VE:

Add a dummy VE as you would a VE in a live session.

Using the Dummy VE:

Click the Assign VE button and select the VE who you want to sign from the dropdown. Once the exam is complete, hover over the Manage VE Signatures icon, select the VE who you want to sign again and enter in the password.

Acing the Exam:

A VE will need to log in at https://examtools.dev as an applicant using another browser window or device to use for the training exam session. Once you’ve started the exam, use the equal symbol (=) on your keyboard to answer the question correctly and advance to the next question. Or answer each question on your own and see how you do!