RadioBanter - View Single Post

July 13th 04, 10:55 AM

In article , (Steve
Robeson K4CAP) writes:

"Steve Robeson K4CAP" wrote

So...ballpark the number of Amatuers at 650K...At $75/license
that is over $48M a year for the General Treasury coffers.

No it isn't, because the 650K would dwindle within a decade to somewhere
around 20K if a 10-year license renewal cost $750.00.

Then, with only 20K licensed amateurs the service would be folded up as
a poor reason to occupy the valuable spectrum it holds.

Bingo, Hans. Game, set, match.

Hardly, Jim.

Most of the allocations we enjoy are international allocations...not
domestic ones.

What Hans described would not take place overnight.

And I hardly think that even if our numbers fell by half that we'd lose
any significant part of our allocations...Not any more than what we stand to
lose right now anyway.

Hans' scenario is quite realistic. If every ham in the database had to pony up
$750 for a license renewal, plus every new ham had to cough up even more for
the VE fees plus license fee, I think we'd see significant attrition. Much more
than half. Heck, at the current level of fees we're barely growing!

What do you think a $750 fee would do to the recruitment of young people into
ham radio?

Once the numbers dropped significantly, FCC could reallocate the domestic
stuff. Look at 2 meters - half of it could be taken away without treaty change.

Then, when the next WRC came along, the administration would have plenty of
justification to chnage the rules so as to take a lot more.

73 de Jim, N2EY