On Jan 28, 5:32�pm, robert casey wrote:

(N2EY wrote):

Then in 1965 the growth suddenly slowed to a trickle. In the next
decade or so, the
numbers hovered around 250,000, with some years a little up and some a
little
down. That was the year the Conditional distance went from 75 miles to
175 miles,
and the FCC added enough exam points so that almost all of CONUS was
covered.

Do you think that change might have affected growth?

Wasn't that about the time "incentive licensing" kicked in? *

Nope.

The Conditional distance changed from 75 to 175 miles on April 15,
1965. The changes known as "incentive licensing" did not become
effective until November 22, 1968 - more than three and a half years
later. The growth stoppage was noted in 1965. So it seems
very unlikely that those changes had any effect.

There were other factors besides the Conditional distance change,
IMHO. For example,
one of the main sources of new hams used to be SWLs and others who
would hear
hams using 'phone on their "shortwave" receivers, and would want to
join the fun. But
by 1964, SSB had become the most popular HF 'phone mode, and SSB was
unintelligible on most SWL receivers.

Another factor was the rise of the "counterculture" among young
people, who had fed the growth of ham radio all through the 1950s. Ham
radio was considered too "square" by many of them, too allied with the
military-industrial complex.

It's said
that hams were less than happy about having to upgrade to get back
frequencies they had the use of before.

Some were unhappy. Others simply took on the challenge and upgraded.
But those changes took place more than 3-1/2 years after the
Conditional distance changed.

And here's the kicker:

The "incentive licensing" restrictions took place in two stages, on
November 22, 1968 and November 22, 1969.

During the 1970s, the number of US hams grew much faster than they did
in the 1960s. By 1979 there were at least 350,000 US hams.

73 de Jim, N2EY