Questions Frequently Asked by Students

All of our course sessions start on a Friday. Some course sessions begin on the first Friday of each month; others begin on the third Friday.  Click on the Registration Calendar to locate the course you want and find the next course session and registration date. Registration periods for sessions close approximately 2 weeks prior to the start date of the session.

You can register for any of our courses on-line.  Click on the Registration Calendar to find the course session you want, and click on the course number to register.

CTDLC stands for Connecticut Distance Learning Consortium.  CTDLC hosts the on-line courses that we have developed for our Continuing Education Program.  The courses reside on the CTDLC server which is the reason why you will receive a Log-on ID and password from CTDLC after you register with ARRL to take a course.

The Sample Course  will help familiarize you with the course template and tools used for all our online courses so you will know what to expect when you sign up for a course.

All courses are provided on-line. This means that students log on to the course via the Internet. After you register and pay for the course, you will receive a log-in and password to give you access to the Connecticut Distance Learning (CTDLC) server where the courses are hosted.

Classes are accessible seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

Courses are typically presented in 10 to 20 "Learning Units". Students read information on a topic, then a review. Most learning units also have activities that students will do offline to experience some aspect of the topic. A quiz made up of multiple-choice questions concludes each unit. At the end of the course a 25 question online final assessment is taken. Students work at their own pace and convenience; however all work must be completed during the class period. The average student will spend 20 to 25 hours over an 8-week period working on a typical course. Antenna modeling is a 16-week course that takes about 50 hours to complete. Graphics, photos, audio clips, and movie clips are used throughout our courses to help illustrate specific points. Internet links to additional sources of information and related materials, e.g. downloadable software, are also commonly used.

Each student is assigned to a volunteer mentor. Mentors are very dedicated hams that have taken the course they mentor and additional mentor training, and are usually very experienced in their topic. Some mentors were contributors to the development of their course(s). Volunteer mentors are key to the success of the Continuing Education Program. They review and comment on the results of student activities, and are there to help their students when needed. They also keep track of their students' progress. Mentor -- student interaction is normally by email, but telephone contacts are also made when necessary.   

The Technician Licensing course does not have individual student mentor support; however students may post questions on an on-line student forum to receive help from a mentor who monitors and responds to questions.

Mentors are expected to get in contact with you within a few days after the course session begins.  If you have not heard from your mentor there may be a problem with communication or your mentor may be away for a brief period.  Please notify us at  cce@arrl.org so we can follow up and determine what the problem is.  If at any time during your course session you lose communication with your mentor or have an issue that needs to be resolved, please contact us with a description of the problem so we can find a timely solution.

To receive a certificate of course completion, students are required to complete all learning units and student activities, pass assessments including a Final Assessment (exam) of 25-multiple choice questions with a score of 80% or better. All students who successfully complete the course requirements and pass the assessments earn a course completion certificate.

Once you register for a course you will not receive any additional information until the week the course starts.  You will receive a Welcome email from the ARRL on the Wednesday before the course starts.  You will receive an email the day the course starts by no later then 3:00p EST from CTDLC, with your student ID and Log in information.

All student information including the Welcome email and student IDs are sent to the email address that you provide when you register.  If you have entered the email incorrectly or if you have filters set on you inbox that prohibit mail from cce.org or ctdlc.org from reaching your inbox, you will not receive the information.  Please contact us at cce@arrl.org to advise us of a different email address or to ask us to resend the log-in and password information.

A full refund can be issued if you withdraw from a course before it begins.  If you withdraw from a course within 10 days of its start, you will not receive a refund, but we can hold your registration fee for a future course.  If you wish to withdraw from a course after the first 10 days, you will not receive a refund or a credit for a future course.

Students have the option of printing information pages within the courses and reading them offline. The emergency communications and antenna modeling courses also have printed, bound course books available as an option and for additional cost.

Amateur Radio Emergency Communication Course.

This course will help you become a better emergency communicator. You will learn to work effectively with the public and with volunteer agencies during a communications emergency.

One of the basic tenets of Amateur Radio is to provide a pool of experienced communicators during emergencies. All Amateur Radio operators are encouraged to become certified in emergency communication, and this course is suitable for newly licensed operators. Those who have been actively operating Amateur Radio for perhaps a year or more will find much of the terminology and many of the practices more familiar and easier to assimilate. This should not discourage the newly licensed individual, but should merely inform you of what to expect.

One such resource is the chapter on traffic handling found in the ARRL Operating Manual (#7938). (Even a very old copy will do.) Another excellent resource as a companion to this course would be the very affordable ARRL ARES Field Resources Manual (#5439). It contains many of the traffic handling tips and bits of information in handy chart form.

Use the Field Class/Exam Search for scheduled listings of classes or exams which are listed alphabetically by state. 

If there is no listing for a class or exam in your local area and you would like to contact a local instructor or examiner to find out if a class or exam session is being planned, you can conduct a search by state or by zip code and a given radius on the Field Instructor/Examiner Search page.

Off line, field courses and exams, are a little different from on-line courses.  Field Examiners forward the exam session paperwork to the ARRL to record it into our database.  If you have provided an email address on your exam registration, you will receive an email notifying you of successful course completion.  The email will include a link so that you can print a certificate.  Or, you can wait to receive a certificate and ID card via regular mail in 4-6 weeks.

 

 

For further information, e-mail your questions to cce@arrl.org.