Training and Classes
In this section we will maintain a list of available HAM and related Classes and Training Sessions
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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 Gordon 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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TEST SESSIONS:
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Starting April 19, 2022 the FCC will be charging a new fee of $35 to apply for an Amateur radio license. This will apply to new licenses, renewals and vanity applications. Avoid the fee by getting your new license or upgrade as soon as you can. The FCC license application fee is paid directly to the FCC. You still pay the usual fee to the VE team when you take an exam.
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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 on the last Monday of each month at 7:00 PM, exceptions in May the second to last Monday due to Memorial Day being the last Monday and December which would be the week between Christmas and New Year.
ALL of our test sessions are IN PERSON only, not virtual or on-line. Our test sessions for 2023 are listed on the HamStudy.Org sessions list and will be held at the Taylorsville City Hall 2400 West Taylorsville Blvd (5400 S) in Taylorsville, UT.
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Test sessions coming up:
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Taylorsville: Monday January 30th at 7:00 PM
This is an “in person” exam session held indoors at the Taylorsville City Hall, 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 Wiscombe 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
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Taylorsville: Monday February 27th at 7:00 PM
This is an “in person” exam session held indoors at the Taylorsville City Hall, 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 Wiscombe 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
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Taylorsville: Monday March 27th at 7:00 PM
This is an “in person” exam session held indoors at the Taylorsville City Hall, 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 Wiscombe 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
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Taylorsville: Monday April 24th at 7:00 PM
This is an “in person” exam session held indoors at the Taylorsville City Hall, 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 Wiscombe 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
training programs related to Amateur RadIO
Classes and training directly related to Amateur Radio
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.
training programs provided by outside agencies
These are either on-line or in-person training programs
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/
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From the ARRL:
All-Hazards Communications Technician (COMT) Training Materials Available: Valuable for all ARES Operators
The All-Hazards Communications Technician (COMT) course trains emergency responders on practices and procedures common to radio communication technicians during all-hazards emergency operations. The course helps communications technicians work within the Incident Command System (ICS) organizational structure.
The Communications Unit, or COMU, falls under the Logistics Section of the ICS. The COMU leader is the COML, and a technician in the COMU is the COMT. Study materials available to help COMT students are also of significant educational benefit to amateur radio operators serving in the COMU, an AUXCOMM group and ARES. The materials include topics such as general terminology, units of measurement, radio wave propagation, voice vs. data systems, and radio system and antenna characteristics.
Below is a selection of training resources that would be valuable reading/training resources for any amateur radio operator engaged in an emergency communications program such as ARES, RACES, and AUXCOMM:
All-Hazards Communication Technician Pre-Course Study Guide -- 2007
Auxiliary Emergency Communications: Roles and Responsibilities Unit 2
Auxiliary Emergency Communications: Intrastate and Interstate Radio Networks Unit 10
Communications Unit Leader (COML): A valuable Resource for Incident Commanders Brochure -- 2011
All-Hazards Communications Unit Self-Paced Briefing
OEC: An Overview of the Communications Unit
Communications Unit Personnel Position Task Book Sign-Off Process /Template
Auxiliary Communicator Position Task Book
There are also more communications unit resources available.