wrote:
146 From: John Smith I - view profile
Date: Tues, Jan 2 2007 6:15 am
Email: JohnFrom: John Smith I on Tues, Jan 2 2007 6:15 am

The reason why they would skew figures? I really can't point a finger
at anything.

Not a problem for me. :-) Case in point for amateur
radio is Joseph Speroni, AH0A, an obvious pro-code
proponent. Speroni boosts the use of "CW" on his
website www.ah0a.org and allows free download of a code
cognition training program, "Morse Academy."

Nothing wrong with that.

Speroni's "statistics" have always been slanted to
showing code testing in the best possible light and
downgrading the no-code-test class.

How?

Exactly how can the number of licenses be "slanted" to show any testing
in a good or bad light?

That happened on
the release of NPRM 98-143 regarding amateur radio
restructuring. A search of FCC Petitions and Comments
for same will show that Speroni has made several
Petitions and many comments to retain the code test,
all of the Petitions eventually rejected by the FCC
in following Reports and Orders.

Does posting license numbers somehow bar the person posting them
from his Constitutional right of free speech?

It seems to me that what you are saying, Len, is just a version
of the old ad-hominem fallacy. What you are saying is that
a pro-code person's numbers cannot be accurate, even though
you have absolutely no evidence that they're not 100% accurate.

A more honest set of statistics is provided by
www.hamdata.com which apparently has no preconceived
bias or mode favoritism. Maybe.

Exactly how can the number of licenses be "slanted" to show any testing
in a good or bad light?

The hamdata.com numbers are derived from the same FCC database as the
AH0A numbers and the ones I post.

The big difference is that the hamdata.com numbers include current
unexpired licenses *and* licenses that are expired but still in the 2
year grace period. They also include club, military and other
station-only licenses.

The numbers I post do not include expired licenses that are in the
grace period, nor club, military and other station-only numbers. This
is done so that the numbers indicate how many
currently-licensed-by-FCC amateurs are out there - just as is explained
in the postings I make with the numbers.

The AH0A numbers are derived by methods explained on the website.
www.ah0a.org

All three sets of numbers are equally accurate *IF* you know and keep
in mind what they
include and exclude.


Insofar as amateur radio data, the FCC ULS is pretty
complete and its not that hard to search individuals'
data. The only problem is the massive file size of
the single databases. Prior to the ULS the FCC had
smaller, regional databases which could, with lots of
time on-line, download at 2.4K rates.

Don't you have a connection faster than dialup, Len? Even I don't use
dialup anymore.