RadioBanter - View Single Post

wrote in
ups.com:

These are the numbers of current, unexpired
amateur radio licenses held by individuals
on the stated dates, and the percentage of
the total number of active licenses that
class contains:

As of May 14, 2000:

Novice - 49,329 (7.3%)
Technician - 205,394 (30.4%)
Technician Plus - 128,860 (19.1%)
General - 112,677 (16.7%)
Advanced - 99,782 (14.8%)
Extra - 78,750 (11.7%)

Total Tech/TechPlus - 334,254 (49.5%)

Total General/Advanced/Extra - 291,209 (43.2%)

Total all classes - 674,792

As of May 15, 2006:

Novice - 25,182 (3.8%) [decrease of 24,147]
Technician - 280,160 (42.6%) [increase of 74,766]
Technician Plus - 39,130 (6.0%) [decrease of 89,730]
General - 133,240 (20.2%) [increase of 20,563]
Advanced - 72,315 (11.0%) [decrease of 27,467]
Extra - 108,005 (16.4%) [increase of 29,255]

Total Tech/TechPlus - 319,290 (48.6%) [decrease of 14,964]

Total General/Advanced/Extra - 313,560 (47.6%) [increase of 22,351]

Total all classes - 658,032 (decrease of 16,760)

I predicted and warned you all this would happen, but none of you wouldn't
listen.

Good Hams upset over all the Lids and CB'er like behavior on the bands as
a result of dumbing down license requirements are leaving the hobby. I
can't say I blame them and I hate to see them go.

On the bright side, there's a lot more ham gear on eBay you can bid on.

sc