Pioneer Valley VE Team

The Pioneer Valley VE Team (PVVET) will be hosting two FREE amateur radio license examinations soon. As of writing this, there is plenty of time to study.

Greenfield MA – Feb 24th

The Franklin County Amateur Radio Club (FCARC) has once again asked the Pioneer Valley VE Team to host a FREE examination. It will be held on Monday, February 24th, 2020 on the Greenfield Community College’s campus. Exam will start at 7pm.

Please Click Here for the Event . We do require that candidates pre-register and provide a valid e-mail address and/or phone number to be contacted with more details about the venue

MTARA Hamfest – Chicopee MA – March 7th

The Mt. Tom Amateur Repeater Association (MTARA) has asked the PVVET to help administer FREE amateur radio examination at their annual hamfest on Saturday, March 7th 2020 at the Castle of Knights in Chicopee MA. Exam will start at approx 10:30am.

Please Click Here for the event. We do require that candidates pre-register for the examination. We do not accept Social Security Number (SSN) under circumstance.

The Pioneer Valley VE Team will be hosting a FREE amateur radio examination at the West Springfield Public Library on Monday, December 16th at 6:00pm. We will be testing for all FCC amateur licenses.

Please see our events page for detailed information

We do require all those wishing to participate in the examination to pre-register.

The Pioneer Valley VE Team is teaming up with the Franklin County Amateur Radio Club and we’ll be hosting FREE amateur radio examinations in Franklin county.

The next exam will be held at the Greenfield Community College on Monday, November 25th at 7pm in the East Building. Room TBD

We also might be holding other FREE exams throughout the year in Franklin county.

As with any PVVET examination, we require all candidates to pre-register prior to the examination. Please provide valid information.

Please check out our events page for more information about the venue

The Pioneer Valley Volunteer Examination Team (PVVET) is currently working with the West Springfield Public Library (WSPL) to provide FREE amateur radio examinations to the public for 2019. We’re planning to host examinations in July, September and December. The venue has been recently renovated and it provides the perfect exam environment and the location is perfect (just minutes from I-90, I-91, I-290, route 20 and route 5). They have been wonderful hosts and hope to continue doing exams there.

With this announcement, it’s a perfect time to start studying for your exam if you haven’t done so already. There are multiple ways you can study. Since the PVVET is about providing FREE examinations so we strongly suggest to use Dan Romanchik’s (KB6NU) “No Nonsense Study Guide” along with the flash cards and practice exams at Hamstudy.Org . Both are free of charge as Dan gives out free PDF copies of his technician’s license guide. You can obtain your FCC Amateur Radio license absolutely FREE of any charge. If you want detailed information we also suggest the ARRL’s “Technician License Manual” ($29.95) for those who want to learn the material inside and out.

As with all PVVET examinations, we require candidates to obtain a FCC Registration Number (FRN) and pre-register prior to the examination. We will make an announcement when registrations are open. If you have any questions, please refer to our FAQ section

That’s right! The PVVET will be coming back to Franklin County to give another FREE amateur radio examination on April 10th. This time it will be following the Greenfield Community College’s and Franklin County Amateur Radio Club’s general class license course.

The exam will be open to the general public. As with any PVVET examination, we ask that candidates obtain a FCC Registration Number (FRN) and pre-register prior to the examination. Candidates must bring valid identification and those wishing to upgrade must bring a signed photocopy of their FCC amateur radio license that will be given to the team.

The exam will start at approximately 7pm at GCC. Building and room will be announced closer to the exam.

Check out our events page for more information. Also check out our FAQ section for details about the exam itself and the PVVET.

The PVVET has added two examinations to our events calendar. The Hampden County Radio Association (HCRA) and the Mt. Tom Amateur Repeater Association (MTARA) has asked the PVVET to provide examinations for their events.

HCRA Technician License Course Examination

On Tuesday, February 26th, there will be an examination following the HCRA’s Technicians license course at the Holyoke Medical Center’s auxiliary conference center. The public is welcome to attend the examination. Doors open at 7pm and exams will start after everyone has checked in.

Click Here for the event page for the February 26th Exam. Make sure to provide contact information. Please note this exam date may change if there are any cancellations during the 6 week course.

MTARA Hamfest License Examination

On Saturday, March 9th, there will be an examination during the MTARA Hamfest at the Castle Of Knights in Chicopee. The exam will start at 10:30am. The MTARA has acquired a bigger venue this year to provide ample space for candidates. There will be no entry fee for those taking the examination. However, entry fees will apply if you decide to attend the Hamfest itself.

Click here for the event page for the March 9th examination at the MTARA Ham fest.

Pre-Registration Required For Both Exams

As always, both exams will be FREE of charge! However, we do require that those wishing to participate in the exam to obtain a FCC Registration Number (FRN) and to pre-register. Both which can be done very easily on this website and only takes a couple minutes. At the exam you will need to bring Identification and if you are upgrading, you will also need to bring a signed copy of your FCC amateur radio license. If you have any questions, please look at our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) as most questions are answered there. If you still have a question, you can always contact us

The Pioneer Valley VE Team (PVVET) conducted it’s FREE examination on Monday December 10th at the West Springfield Public Library. We had 4 candidates with a 100% pass rate.  Out of the session we have a new tech, new general and two upgrades to general. Licenses were issued within the hour. Fast turnaround is what makes the PVVET great!

Big thanks to Bob (W1QA), Steve (N1SR), Kurt (KU1RT) and Brian (N1FI) for spending their time volunteering as examiners.  The PVVET is made up of all volunteers. 

Please check back to our website for future examination dates. Have a safe and happy holidays! 

Are you interested in getting your amateur radio license? Have you been studying to take an exam? Have you been practicing taking examinations online and constantly passing? If you answered yes to any of these, we have some news for you. The Pioneer Valley Volunteer Examination Team (PVVET) is hosting a FREE amateur radio licensing examination on Monday, December 10th at the West Springfield Public Library. Those who wish take the exam must obtain a FCC Registration Number (FRN) and pre-register at our website. It’s easy and only takes a couple minutes.

Candidates must bring valid identification. Those wishing to upgrade must also bring a signed copy of their FCC amateur radio license that will be given to the team for submission.

For detailed info about the event, CLICK HERE

Any questions about the PVVET or the examination itself could be possibly answered by viewing our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). If you still have any questions, you are more welcome to contact us.

Don’t want to travel down to Hampden County to take an examination? Don’t worry, the Pioneer Valley VE Team will come to you!

We will be hosting an examination after the Greenfield Community College’s (GCC) amateur radio classes on Thursday, October 25th. The public is welcome to attend the examination. Of course it’s free!

If you live in Franklin County area and you are interested in the class, you can visit the GCC’s class registration page to sign up.

For details about the event, please check out our Events Page.

The PVVET will be holding an examination in approximately one month at the West Springfield Public Library . You still have plenty of time to study. We ask that all applicants pre-register prior to the date of the examination.

The check-in process starts at 5:30pm and the examination will start at 6:00pm. Due to time restraints, examinations will end at 8:30pm , re-takes will be given at the discretion of the team.

Details about the examination can be found here. If you have any questions about the examination or the PVVET, we ask that you check out our FAQ’s before contacting us.

If you need help studying for the examination. The PVVET suggests HamStudy.org. It’s an excellent (and free) website that will help you obtain and/or upgrade your amateur radio license. You can even register for PVVET’s examinations through their website.

We also suggest suggest Dan Romanchik’s (KB6NU) No-Nonsense study guides. They offer explanations of each possible question. There is a free eletronic PDF version available to those taking the entry level technicians exam.

For those wishing to learn all the details about amateur radio, We would suggest the ARRL’s License Manual. They cover everything you need to know about the examination in great detail.

Please check your study materials. The NCVEC updated and edited the element 2 (technicians) examination as of July 2018. They have removed/added/edited around 63 question and answers. It’s suggest that you upgrade to the current study material for 2018-2022