Off Topic: W5YI....was: Re: [SECC] W4AN on CQ cover

[Lee Hiers]

On 21 Sep 2004 at 19:21, Daniel Jeswald wrote:

> I know they had a bunch of those 'South of the Border' types cancelled.  I
> was a VE with the ARRL.  Maybe still am,  but haven't done it in a while. 
> One of the local groups uses W5YI,  I don't think they will be a problem. 
> I seek advice from those that know if I should pursue doing the VE bit for
> the club under the W5YI program here???

Well, OK, I'll tell my W5YI story here, since Dan is asking about 
VEing and the story is about that and is tangentially related to 
contesting.

Back in '87 or '88 I was a VE for the ARRL.  I went to VP2M for the 
ARRL SSB contest with AA4NC and WB6SHD, neither of whom were VEs.  
Well, Will had an on-the-air buddy, a kid of about 16, who was stuck 
on VP2K with his family, and had no other kids to play with much - 
culture shock and all I guess.  Anyway, he operated the radio - a 
lot.  He was a good CW op, and a good contester.  But, being stuck in 
the Caribbean (yeah, stuck!) most of his amateur life, he hadn't had 
a chance to upgrade his license past Novice.  And it would be helpful 
for him, operating in certain DX countries to have a higher class 
license than novice.

The VE system was pretty new at that time, and when he mentioned that 
he'd like to upgrade while we were down there, Will and Rob didn't 
have enough time to become accredited by the ARRL-VEC.  But W5YI-VEC 
(W5YI himself) said it would be no problem.  So, Will and Rob got 
their W5YI VE credentials, and I ordered all the necessary tests for 
this kid for General through Extra.  

I spoke directly with W5YI on the phone, telling him that we had a VE 
exam set up and that I needed one of each of the tests.  He asked why 
just one, and I told him about the kid stuck in VP2K and that we were 
going to be in the neighborhood and were going to help him out by 
testing him.

I'll never forget W5YI's response:  "I'll do it this time, but don't 
*ever* schedule an exam for just one person again - we'll never make 
any money that way".  So much for the "volunteer" examination system 
W5YI-style.

No, I'm never surprised when there are problems with his exam 
sessions.

FWIW,

Lee


-- 
Lee Hiers, AA4GA
Cornelia, Georgia

"Have Dobro Will Travel"