John Smith I wrote:
wrote:
John Smith I wrote:
wrote:
...
Happy New Year!
N2EY
And, HAPPY NEW YEAR! to you, sir.
Thanks
Don't get me wrong. You do us a service by posting these figures.
Thnaks again.
Hmmm. You may, indeed, have more faith in the FCC figures than I do.
However, I do not dispute the figures.
Only wonder about them ...
What do you wonder about?
They are simply the number of licenses in the FCC database.
Of course a certain percentage of amateurs shown in the database
are dead, but their families have not notified FCC of the fact, and
their licenses will stay in the database and in the license counts
until they expire.
And a certain percentage are held by amateurs with health problems
such that they will never again be on the air, yet again their licenses
will stay in the database for years.
And a certain percentage are held by amateurs who, for a variety of
reasons,
have lost interest such that they will never again be on the air, yet
again their licenses
will stay in the database for years.
In the latter two examples, the licensee may renew the license even
though they don't use it. All it takes is a few clicks on the FCC
website, or the proper form, envelope and stamp. A well-meaning friend
or family member could do all the paperwork and simply get the licensee
to sign or OK the renewal, and there's another decade for one license.
So there's an unknown percentage of licenses in those numbers that are
temporarily or permanently inactive, yet they're still counted.
A couple of decades ago, back when the license term was five years, it
was required that the licensee certify that they'd actually used their
amateur license a certain amount, and could still pass the license
tests. All that is long gone.