On 7/20/14, 11:13 AM, Foxs Mercantile wrote:
Elsewhere, an estimate from the ARRL was that 50% of the
licensed hams (Almost 360 thousand) are inactive.

50% That's an incredible number.

Also, it was noted that in response to a mass mailing of hams
in a locality, 50% of the mail came back as undeliverable.

To turn this around, the implication is that there are 180,000 active
hams in the US. Are there 3,600 active hams in your state? And what's
the definition of "active"? (Yes, I know that state population varies
widely, but it's an analysis helper.)

If the anecdotal evidence of a 50% return on a mailing is typical, that
means that 50% of the entries in the database don't even have a good
mailing address. But of the 50% that were successfully delivered, what
percent are active? This suggests that the percentage of active hams is
substantially less than 50%.

It would be interesting to know where the ARRL came up with that 50%
estimate. I don't consider them a particularly reliable or objective
source since it's in their interest to inflate the number of active hams.

73, Steve KB9X