Laurel VEC — Training Series
I developed this training series as the Team Leader of the Patriot VE Team, to meet my own responsibility to train and mentor my team. Four self-study courses covering everything a Laurel VEC volunteer examiner needs to know — from foundational P&P knowledge through running ExamTools sessions and handling post-session file processing. Complete them in order; each builds on the one before it.
Nick Meacher, AA0NM — Team Leader, Patriot VE Team · Regional Coordinator, Region X
This is not required VEC training. These courses were developed primarily for the Patriot VE Team, but have been made generic so that any team can use them if they choose to.
Why this series exists. This training was developed primarily to help Team Leaders meet their P&P Appendix 4 responsibility to create, maintain, and train their team of Volunteer Examiners. It also supports part of the Regional Coordinator’s Appendix 3 responsibility to train and mentor Team Leaders.
No record of your progress is kept anywhere but your own browser. This platform does not store or report who has taken a course. Progress through each course’s lessons is tracked locally in your browser — if you close your browser partway through, or try to jump ahead to a lesson you haven’t reached, it will send you back to the beginning of that course. At the end of each course, you can choose to print a certificate (and are encouraged to) as your own record of completion.
New to the team? Start with VEC-01. It’s the prerequisite for every other course here, and covers the P&P knowledge every accredited VE needs regardless of role.
Reference: These courses link to a copy of the Laurel VEC Policies & Procedures throughout for convenience. The authoritative version of the P&P, and all official Laurel VEC documents, live in the Laurel Portal — refer to that copy if anything here appears out of date.
PVET History
Patriot VE Team is not a club-sponsored team — it is an independent group of Amateur Radio operators established for the sole purpose of providing classes and exams. Because of that, PVET provided classes across different parts of Colorado before COVID, not just in the Denver area.
PVET was formed in September 2015 by three hams to provide testing for ham radio classes a few of us were teaching. Growth was rapid from there: by the end of that first year we had 17 VEs; by 2017, 80 VEs conducting 15 sessions a year and testing over 300 applicants, alongside a full slate of Technician, General, and Extra classes — including one for the National Guard Special Operations Group. In March 2018, we were approved to pilot GradeCam for computer grading, cutting exam grading time from about 10 minutes down to a few seconds. By the end of 2019, PVET had grown to 109 VEs from across the state, running 19 sessions and testing 339 applicants that year alone, including classes taught for the Denver Office of Emergency Management and Denver International Airport. None of us knew yet how dramatically our teaching and testing was about to change.
PVET was approved to pilot web-based computer testing in May 2020, shortly after COVID began. As of June 2026, PVET has conducted over 390 exam sessions using ExamTools, making it the most field-tested implementation within the Laurel VEC system.
When COVID hit and most other test teams lost access to their usual facilities, PVET partnered with a veteran’s group to use their facility and kept offering exams. At one point, PVET was the only team offering exams in Colorado and all surrounding states.
Before COVID, applicants traveled up to 78 miles to test with PVET, averaging 18.9 miles. During the COVID years, that grew dramatically — the average rose to 31 miles, and one applicant traveled over 400 miles to test with us. In 2021 alone, PVET conducted 77 sessions with 525 applicants (257 in the first quarter); in 2022, 70 sessions.
As COVID restrictions eased, many clubs never resumed sessions afterward. Several approached PVET to partner on testing, usually because someone from their club had tested with PVET and liked the experience — including the paperless option. PVET now partners with six clubs: training some of their VEs, and letting VEs from any partner team travel to help test at any location when a local team needs support. This partnership also helps coordinate testing across different areas, so sessions are available roughly five times a month.
Since adopting ExamTools, PVET’s no-show rate has dropped from around 25% to 3%. Paper exams are now rare — about one every six months, fewer than 1% of applicants — and testing time has dropped sharply too: an applicant testing only for Technician is typically in and out in about 20 minutes. Grading time is less than a second, with zero errors. A printer is no longer required at a test location, as all forms — including the CSCE — are electronically signed, and the CSCE is emailed to the applicant directly from within the ExamTools ecosystem, which also validates the applicant’s email in real time.
Laurel VEC Policies, Procedures & Instructions
The foundation course. Covers the LARC VEC organizational structure, all VE roles, and the complete exam session workflow as defined in the P&P, with FCC rule citations throughout. Required before any other course in this series.
Content version: 20 July 2026
Team Leader & Deputy Team Leader Training
The qualifications, obligations, and accountability of running a VE team — session planning, team administration, the VE Portal, retest policy, accommodation, and post-session reporting and compliance.
Requires: VEC-01
Content version: 20 July 2026
ExamTools Operations
The operational guide for running exam sessions on the ExamTools platform — session setup, VE Admin check-in, applicant monitoring, computer and paper grading, signing, and CSCE delivery.
Requires: VEC-01, VEC-02
Post-Session Upload for Team Leaders
The TL/DTL workflow after every exam session — exporting from ExamTools, importing to Laurel session manager, handling pending FCC applications and element credit edge cases, and uploading to the Laurel VEC portal.
Requires: VEC-01, VEC-02, VEC-03