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Author Topic: Cheating on online exam  (Read 955 times)

K0RDG

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Cheating on online exam
« on: July 09, 2021, 08:49:38 AM »

This was posted today on another forum by the folks at Hamstudy.org:  "Since we started doing remote exams, we have known that no matter how much we do it would be still possible for someone to cheat on the exam -- it's not as easy as many assume, but it is possible.
I'm not going to share details publicly, but very recently someone lost their license because during analysis of the exam history it was proven that they cheated -- and yes, the FCC got involved directly. My (unconfirmed) guess is that the individual in question will never be allowed to have a license again.
If you are smart enough to -- even temporarily -- manage to cheat the exam, you are smart enough you could have passed it without cheating. Please don't be an idiot -- in the best case you'll always know that you didn't earn it, and the FCC takes cheating pretty seriously. There are more safeguards in place than are always elaborated, so even if you think you got away with it you may have only gotten a temporary reprieve.
I share this in hopes that it will save someone from making a similar mistake in the future."
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KA1CNK

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Re: Cheating on online exam
« Reply #1 on: July 09, 2021, 08:56:14 AM »

My first reaction to this was if you're clever enough to figure out how to cheat, you should be smart enough to pass.  Then again all you need to do is convince someone else that's clever enough to help you cheat.
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KC6RWI

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Re: Cheating on online exam
« Reply #2 on: July 09, 2021, 09:41:53 AM »

I've thought of that before, the most likely method to cheat is a cheat sheet with all the answers.
I would guess that body language of someone having to look away to a sheet would be different from someone with their head down concentrating on the exam.
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KM1H

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Re: Cheating on online exam
« Reply #3 on: July 09, 2021, 09:43:33 AM »

Hams cheat in many ways; power and contests are just a few others.
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K0RDG

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Re: Cheating on online exam
« Reply #4 on: July 09, 2021, 10:30:56 AM »

I've thought of that before, the most likely method to cheat is a cheat sheet with all the answers.
I would guess that body language of someone having to look away to a sheet would be different from someone with their head down concentrating on the exam.

generally there are enough VEs that one is assigned to watch the test subjects eyes for the kind of movements that indicate frequent looking away from the exam screen
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KC6RWI

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Re: Cheating on online exam
« Reply #5 on: July 09, 2021, 10:37:57 AM »

I was thinking of a paper exam, not thinking monitor, but still the same problem.
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K3UIM

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Re: Cheating on online exam
« Reply #6 on: July 09, 2021, 10:39:05 AM »

Carl,

And then there are those of us that busted our butts with the code and theory to climb the license ladder far enough to obtain the beautiful thing called THE GENERAL ticket, {Tah-Dah!!}which gave us the privilege of building, modifying and experimenting with just about full band privileges at the time.

Having accomplished that goal, (entering Ham Heaven), we, (satisfied as a hungry bed bug with new tenants in bed,) did our earned thing and locked ourselves into "doing it"! (Not the bed bug thing!!)

Ahhhhh.

Charlie

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Charlie. K3UIM
Where you are: I was!
Where I am: You will be!
So be nice to us old fogies!!

KM1H

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Re: Cheating on online exam
« Reply #7 on: July 09, 2021, 11:10:28 AM »

Once I passed the General code it was like I had the secondaries wide open on a big honking 4 bbl carb, 30 wpm and high speed traffic nets was a snap.
Took me 12 years and Incentive Licensing (thank you FCC) to take the Extra in July 68 as I refused to lose any frequencies where it mattered the most...the low end CW DX windows and similar on SSB.

I dont find CW ragchewing of any interest these days but copy W1AW 30-35 wpm when I feel the need. Ragchewing for me is mostly on AM these days.

Carl
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K3UIM

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Re: Cheating on online exam
« Reply #8 on: July 09, 2021, 11:44:05 AM »

Carl,
"I dont find CW ragchewing of any interest these days but copy W1AW 30-35 wpm when I feel the need. Ragchewing for me is mostly on AM these days."

AM?? You must be one of those Old Fogies ... Uh, wait a minute! I'm older than him ,,, Cancel my last remark!

Charlie  ;D ;D
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Charlie. K3UIM
Where you are: I was!
Where I am: You will be!
So be nice to us old fogies!!

KM1H

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Re: Cheating on online exam
« Reply #9 on: July 09, 2021, 05:49:31 PM »

I had built a DX-100 and it was ready for the smoke test as soon as the General arrived. My dad made me promise not to test it first beyond turning it on and checking the HV on the meter.
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K3UIM

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Re: Cheating on online exam
« Reply #10 on: July 09, 2021, 06:08:00 PM »

I would say that Pop knew what he was talking about! ;D ;D I've tested HV more than once in my day and it left me very impressed. (Surprised it didn't kill this fool!) Hi.
Charlie
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Charlie. K3UIM
Where you are: I was!
Where I am: You will be!
So be nice to us old fogies!!

N2EY

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Re: Cheating on online exam
« Reply #11 on: July 12, 2021, 02:06:32 PM »

And then there are those of us that busted our butts with the code and theory to climb the license ladder far enough to obtain the beautiful thing called THE GENERAL ticket, {Tah-Dah!!}which gave us the privilege of building, modifying and experimenting with just about full band privileges at the time.

Busted your butts? Really? The tests weren't all that hard. I've got several of the old License Manuals from 1948 to 1971, and the old tests were quite basic, really.

Heck, I earned the Advanced in 1968 in the summer between 8th and 9th grades. I'd been a ham less than a year then. No big deal. 

A year later I was ready for the Extra, but had to wait another year because of the old experience rule.

No formal electronics or radio education. No kindly Elmer spoon-feeding "how to be a radio amateur". Nobody in my neighborhood or family was a ham, and the local club wasn't much help at all. Just a few books on radio and a bit of self-education.

The hardest part of passing the license tests was getting to an FCC exam session. The FCC office was easy to get to - walk less than a mile, El ride downtown, walk a few blocks and up to the 10th floor. The problem was that the exam sessions were only held on a few weekday mornings, and skipping school was NOT an option. The tests themselves were no big deal if one knew the basic material.

----

Test cheating has always been rare in Amateur Radio, but it's not new. From the 1920s to the 1970s there was the Conditional license, which was a "General by mail" for those who lived far from an FCC exam point or were physically disabled. Such a license could be earned with a single volunteer examiner (note the lack of capitalization). There were....stories.....of how certain volunteer examiners who lived just beyond the required distance would "help" newcomers get their Conditional license.....

Then there was Dick Bash and his famous "study guides" which were almost word-for-word versions of the tests. He got the information by asking people who had just taken the tests what they remembered, and paying for the answers. FCC put him out of business with the VE system.

(One thing Bash revealed was that there weren't all that many different versions of the written tests. Someone who repeatedly failed a written test would soon discover they got the exact same test again.)



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K3UIM

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Re: Cheating on online exam
« Reply #12 on: July 12, 2021, 02:22:17 PM »

EY: Some of us didn't have enough gray matter I guess and it was a struggle. Especially the 13 wpm cw. :'( .... sigh ... I believe we earned the ticket while a "college ready" person would breeze through it. Those that struggled appreciate it and its benefits VERY much.
Charlie
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Charlie. K3UIM
Where you are: I was!
Where I am: You will be!
So be nice to us old fogies!!

W6BP

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Re: Cheating on online exam
« Reply #13 on: July 12, 2021, 03:49:38 PM »

The hardest part of passing the license tests was getting to an FCC exam session.

This.
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WW5F

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Re: Cheating on online exam
« Reply #14 on: July 13, 2021, 05:04:24 AM »

When I was 10 years old, my dad put a CB in his Datsun B210 and a CB in my bedroom.  Applied for a license (to follow the rules...).  KCN6537.  We would play around at how far apart we could communicate.  ... 10 to 12 miles, tops.

I quickly learned there were many people on the CB channels who didn't follow the rules and became disappointed in my fellow CBers.

Finally achieved a novice license when I was 13.  Extra when I was 23.  Life was good as a ham back then.  Achievement was celebrated by most back then.

When I showed up in Korea and the American hams there learned I was an extra class VE, they all cheered (there were finally three of us!) and we started testing every month.  On one test session, one of the friends of one of my fellow VEs said the the guy trying to upgrade needed to be in a quiet room by himself in order to pass the morse code exam.  I distinctly heard him starting and stopping the cassette player to copy morse code.  I said I couldn't be a part of this.  And all of a sudden, they didn't like me any more.

About 8 months ago, I started to feel the same way about ham radio as I felt about CB radio back when I was 10.

Achievement is no longer celebrated.  So it's difficult for many today to justify working for it.
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