Hey all! Short story: I am looking for 2 VEs and a VEC to do some license testing up in Grass Valley at the Grass Valley fairgrounds January 2018. Do you brilliant people know where I could find a few?

Long story: I do a lot of off roading. Every year in January, California 4Wheel Drive Association does a huge snow weekend run up in grass valley. In 2017, we had over 650 rigs. It still amazes me at how many offroaders are hell bent on staying with CB over FM for trail comms and emcomms. So, I coordinated a booth this past 2017 event where I setup 2 HTs, 2 Mobiles, and a Yaesu 857... all operational. I also had 2 laptops setup with ARRL testing information, repeaterbook. And a tablet with flashcards for the tech test. The goal of the booth was just to spread the information and benefits of ham radio for offroading situations.

Needless to say, I got a much bigger response than I was anticipating. People loved it, but I found that there was a large number of people that are out on trails using their amazon purchased baofengs, doing simplex, with no license. Big Problem. I also had a number of people ask if I was doing the testing on the spot (which I was not). So, next year, I want to be able to get people tested that want to take the test... much like what goes on at Pacificon. I do NOT want to run a ham cram kind of thing with a test at the end. So, the VEs would only need to be there for Friday afternoon/evening, and Saturday evening during the weekend of the event... Usually the 2nd or 3rd weekend in January. 2018 dates are still TBD.

Would anyone from MLDXCC like to volunteer to come out and help me administer tests, and possibly run the booth too? Should I contact the Grass Valley clubs? Auburn clubs? I know the Northills repeater club does a ton of testing and volunteer stuff, should I get in contact with them? I pretty much know what I want to do, I just dont know how to do it, and I can't do it myself because I am not a VE. Thank you for your direction and advice!!


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Tyler Laursen
Technical Representative - NorCal
Wilson Sporting Goods
(559) 300-0144