Training and Classes

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HAM Licensing Classes

Below are the HAM Radio classes I know about.  If you are aware of a class that is not listed please send me an email with info.

Don't take a General class class if you are just getting started. To start you need to take a Technician class.

UtahSAG is looking to find someone who has experience writing grant requests and doing fundraising.  If you, or someone you know, has these skills please contact me at mickey@utahsag.org

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If you have any suggestions for this site, or if you know of an event that should be listed please send an email to mickey@utahsag.org.

Thanks to everyone!.  

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Getting your HAM Radio License

If you are interested in either getting your first Technician License or looking to upgrade to a General or Amateur Extra license, UtahSAG and W5YI Salt Lake Area recommends using HamStudy.  By registering on the site as a user (it's free), HamStudy can track your progress through the training materials and, therefore, allow the site to decrease the number of questions for topics that you've mastered while focusing on the topics that you need to work on.

Using HamStudy is easy, first - register as a user (it's free).  Next, select which exam it is you want to study for (Technician, General, Amateur Extra).  Now select Study Mode, this will randomly bring up the questions in the class question pool.  In the upper left corner of the page you'll see a line with a return arrow, the license level study mode and All Questions with a drop down arrow.  Click on All Questions and instead change it to (license class)1.  For example, T1 for Technician Chapter 1, G1 for General Chapter 1 or E1 for Extra Chapter 1.  

By selecting the chapter number you will go through the study mode following the chapter structure of the Gorden West training manuals.  When you are at 80% or above within a chapter then move on to the next chapter.  When you are at 80% or better in all chapters then try a couple of practice tests.  When you are at or above 75% on the practice tests you are ready to go to your local test session.

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IN PERSON TRAINING CLASSES:

Pending One day Ham radio Technician (entry level) class class Saturday April 24th 2021 in Payson, Utah at the Junior High school. This class is pending final authorization to use the facilities.  This authorization will not happen until April 12th.   

Register for now using the email nv7v@nv7v.org and when we know for sure the facilities are available for us to use you will receive an email with more instructions.

The class is free and in person.  Temperature checks, masks and social distancing will be observed.  Class instruction starts at 8am and goes to 1pm with a 10 minute break in the middle.  Lunch break is 1pm to 2pm.  Self study is from 2pm until you are ready to take the exam.  

An exam session will be held in the afternoon.  The exam fee is $14.

Seating is limited and reservations required.  

To register and reserve a spot email nv7v@nv7v.org

You will receive a confirmation along with details on what to bring and resources you can use to do some studying to help with the class.

Note.  Congress passed legislation in 2020 directing the FCC to charge for license application processing for the personal radio services like Ham radio.  The rules were finalized a a couple of months ago but no date of implementation has been set yet.  The new fee is $35 for a 10 year period.  

This means in the future it will cost $49 between the exam fee and the FCC fee to get a license.  It also means a lot of people are wanting to get licensed before the fee goes into effect so the class will fill quickly.  Don’t delay and please don’t sign up unless you will for certain be able to attend.

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Layton 5 weekly sessions Technician (entry level) class starting April 28th 2021

Wednesdays 6pm to 8:30pm in person.

http://www.arrl.org/courses/layton-ut-84041-5

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Orem via Zoom 4 weekly sessions Technician (entry level) class starting May 18th 2021

Tuesdays 6:30pm to 8:30pm

http://www.arrl.org/courses/orem-ut-84097-2

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Ogden Extra Class via Zoom Wednesdays April and May 7pm to 9pm.

http://www.ogdenarc.org/vetest.html

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TEST SESSIONS:

The Salt Lake Area W5YI VE group is back in session.  Due to the restrictions imposed in Salt Lake County caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic we are restricted to no more than 20 participants per test session, therefore we have decided to have two test sessions per month, the second Monday and the last Monday at 7:00 PM until further notice.  ALL of our test sessions are IN PERSON only, not virtual or on-line.  Our test sessions for 2021 are listed on the  HamStudy.Org list and are held in Taylorsville, UT.

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Other test sessions coming up:

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Taylorsville: Monday April 12th at 7:00 PM

This is an “in person” exam session held indoors and may require social distancing and wearing of masks. You must prepay electronically when you register. 

Cost is $14. and needs to be prepaid

Garth Wiscome W7PS is the contact VE. w7ps@arrl.net

To register go to: https://hamstudy.org/sessions

You will then receive an email with further instructions.

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Taylorsville: Monday April 26th at 7:00 PM

This is an “in person” exam session held indoors and may require social distancing and wearing of masks. You must prepay electronically when you register. 

Cost is $15. and needs to be prepaid

Garth Wiscome W7PS is the contact VE. w7ps@arrl.net

To register go to: https://hamstudy.org/sessions

You will then receive an email with further instructions.

Those of you interested in joining the Utah Department of Public Safety, Division of Emergency Management's official RACES Roster you can find the Registration Form here.  RACES is a public service that provides a reserve communications group within government agencies in times of extraordinary need.  During these times of need the Federal Government has the option of shutting down all radio and television broadcasts reserving the airwaves for official government broadcasts.

For more information on the RACES program click here.

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Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES)
The Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES) consists of licensed amateurs who have voluntarily registered their qualifications and equipment, with their local ARES leadership, for communications duty in the public service when disaster strikes.

ARES Membership Requirements

Every licensed amateur, regardless of membership in ARRL or any other local or national organization is eligible to apply for membership in ARES.  Training may be required or desired to participate fully in ARES.  Please inquire at the local level for specific information.  Because ARES is an Amateur Radio program, only licensed radio amateurs are eligible for membership.

Those of you interested in the Utah ARRL Section ARES Statewide Group can find the Registration Form here.

Storm Spotter Training -

If you want to have Kevin come to your club meeting to do an in person training:

If you are a HAM radio club officer and you would like Kevin to come to one of your meetings to do the Storm Spotter training and get your HAM operators listed on the activation email list send Kevin an email.

If you want to take the online training:

There are two modules that must be completed to get your Storm Spotter certification, it should take between 1.5 and 3 hours to get through both modules.  When you click the Enroll Now button you will be taken to the Comet MetEd web site.  Click the Enroll button and you will be taken to a registration form.  The key to getting proper credit for your certification is to make sure you put Kevin's email address into the "Supervisor/Instructor email" box on the form.  His email address is kevin.barjenbruch@noaa.gov. 

The first module is "The Role of the Skywarn Spotter" and is available here: https://www.meted.ucar.edu/training_module.php?id=817#.XM9cYehKiUk

The second module is called "Skywarn Spotter Convectivce Basics" and is available here:

https://www.meted.ucar.edu/training_module.php?id=816#.XM9cZ-hKiUk

Once you have gotten your storm spotter training if you would like to be added to the Storm Spotter Activation Email list please  go to this page to sign yourself up. 

To report weather events you can follow one of these options:

1)  Storm Reports via the web

2)  For immediate and severe weather incidents 800-882-1432 X1

3)  Email (best for reporting information after an event)

4) Twitter

5) Facebook

In addition, there are two more ways to report weather events, the first is the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS), a membership based reporting site at cocorahs.org.  The CoCoRaHS program requires that you have some level of weather station equipment set up to participate.  The other option is an App for use with your Android or IOS Mobile device, the mPING program.  Information on mPING is available here.

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FEMA NIMS ICS On-Line Training Courses

The basic certifications you need to be considered ICS trained are the ICS-100, ICS-200, ICS-700 AND ICS-800 COURSES

What is the National Incident Management System (NIMS)?

NIMS is a comprehensive, national approach to incident management that is applicable at all jurisdictional levels and across functional disciplines. It is intended to:

• Be applicable across a full spectrum of potential incidents, hazards, and impacts,

regardless of size, location or complexity.

• Improve coordination and cooperation between public and private entities in a variety of incident management activities.

• Provide a common standard for overall incident management.

Why do we need NIMS?

NIMS provides a consistent nationwide framework and approach to enable government at all levels (Federal, State, tribal, and local), the private sector, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to work together to prepare for, prevent, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of incidents regardless of the incident’s cause, size, location, or complexity.

Consistent application of NIMS lays the groundwork for efficient and effective responses, from a single agency fire response to a multiagency, multijurisdictional natural disaster or terrorism response. Entities that have integrated NIMS into their planning and incident management structure can arrive at an incident with little notice and still understand the procedures and protocols governing the response, as well as the expectations for equipment and personnel.

NIMS provides commonality in preparedness and response efforts that allow diverse entities to readily integrate and, if necessary, establish unified command during an incident.

What are the Components of NIMS?

NIMS Components link together and work in unison to form a comprehensive incident management system. NIMS Components include:

• Preparedness

• Communications and Information Management

• Resource Management

• Command and Management

• Ongoing Management and Maintenance

https://training.fema.gov/nims/