N1BSD: My Path to Amateur Extra as a DL Ham
Sometime in mid-February 2024, in a conversation with Steve W8HF, the idea came up that I could remotely operate his shortwave station in Ohio via VPN. I liked the idea of getting a different perspective and being able to work from Europe. At first I assumed that as a holder of a German class A license I could work remotely in the USA according to the CEPT agreement and simply use the W8/DK1MI call. However, it quickly became clear that this is not possible. The CEPT agreement only applies if you are there in person. This gave me the idea to get the US license. Of course, it's not worth it for one or two remote operations, but I was suddenly fascinated by the idea of being able to carry a US call in addition to my DL call.
Preparation
The COVID period has also brought some good news: Since the pandemic, online exams for the US license are also available. There is also a dedicated group of VEs in Northern Germany called "ARRL VE Gruppe DL Nord" who offer such online exams. To see how difficult it would be for me, I registered with the excellent exam preparation site hamstudy.org and took the Amateur Technician and General tests first. As an active radio amateur, I managed to pass the Technician exam with only a few mistakes, and just missed the General exam. With this motivation I registered for the next possible Technician and General exam at the ARRL VE Group DL Nord. From then on I studied every day for the exam with the help of hamstudy.org and their excellent Android app. On March 16, 2024, the time had come and I was finally able to take the exam.
Amateur Technician and General Exam
Both the registration process and the organization of the exam can be described as very professional. Prior to the exam, I was informed several times by e-mail about the preparations that had been made and those that were still necessary. The ARRL VE Group DL Nord website also left no questions unanswered, so there were no surprises at any time. For the test, I chose a room in my house that contained the least amount of technical stuff that could be a distraction - the bedroom. I placed a table and chair in the room and set up a small tripod for the cell phone. During the test, which takes place via Zoom, you not only share your screen and have the laptop's camera activated, but you also dial into the same Zoom session with your smartphone and position it so that you can be observed from diagonally behind. There are clear rules to follow during the exam: Keep your eyes on the screen at all times, use the keyboard on your laptop only, no talking to yourself, no smartwatch, no external mouse, etc. The examiners were friendly, direct, professional and strictly followed the established procedure. Despite some nervousness, I was able to pass both exams in this first online exam with one mistake each and received the CSCE (Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination) by email shortly after the exam and thus had the General in my pocket.
The FCC
Preparation for the exam included registering with the FCC, including obtaining an FRN. This meant that once you had successfully completed the exam, all you had to do was wait for the FCC's email requests. This included paying the $35 fee for a sequentially assigned call sign. Shortly after paying, I received my call sign, which was KF8AOI. Although the FCC handles everything by e-mail, a US mailing address is still required. Fortunately I was able to use Steve's P.O. Box. As for the exams, they cost $15 per session.
Vanity Call
Since I wasn't really happy with the call I was assigned, I decided to invest another $35 and apply for a vanity call. I was told by several US hams that it would be fair not to apply for one of the rare 1x2 or other short calls. The choice fell on a 1x3 call, which has been available since 2000. Being an OpenBSD fan and liking the pronunciation, I applied for N1BSD.
Amateur Extra Exam
After the exam is before the exam, so I immediately started preparing for the Extra exam and registered for the next available date for the second online exam. The date was conveniently close (about 3 weeks after I registered), but a business trip was scheduled for exactly that time. Since the exam was scheduled for 19:00 on a Tuesday, I could easily take it from my hotel room after work. I packed a slightly larger tripod in my suitcase, which turned out to be essential. A hotel room is actually a pretty good place for an online test like this, if you ignore the incalculable risk of the hotel's WiFi. Fortunately, it was fast and reliable. As every hotel room is equipped with a TV, it had to be covered with towels before the test could take place. I was able to pass it quickly and without incident with one error. I received my CSCE for passing the Amateur Extra exam that same evening, April 9, 2024. The vanity call sign N1BSD was assigned to me on April 16, 2024.
Conclusion
In the end, it took about 8 weeks from the idea to getting the Amateur Extra license. Then it took a few days for the FCC database to be updated and a week later I received the vanity call N1BSD. But the latter was only because I had applied for it 2 weeks before the second exam, as it takes about 3 weeks for the FCC to issue such a vanity call.
I am proud to have these new privileges and have learned a lot while preparing for the exam. I think it is worth going this route because you can do it at your own pace and it is quite affordable.
Further Reading / Links
The following links helped me to understand the process or are valuable tools for the exam preparation as well as for finding a nice call sign: