On 8 Aug 2003 10:12:11 -0700, (N2EY) wrote:

From the end
of WW2 to 1963 (17 years) the number of US hams quadrupled. Then it
stopped dead and the numbers hung at about a quarter million for more
than 5 years in the '60s.

Oddly enough, growth started back up again when the incentive
licensing changes were enacted. Huh?

The ARRL first proposed what became incentive licensing in 1963. It
was *not* well received. The upturn after incentive licensing was
implemented appears to be more of a 'well, they actually did it.
Might as well get on with life.' reaction than a positive result of
the change.


A couple of thoughts from this:

1. It appears likely that the overall attitude of *existing* hams may
affect ham growth more than licensing changes. From what I see, ham
growth stopped not because of licensing changes, but because a large
segment of hams became disgruntled over what was merely a proposed
change (What appears to be a decent description appears in
http://www.qsl.net/ecara/wayback/page13.html and
http://www.qsl.net/ecara/wayback/page14.html). What that tells me
today is that the future of ham radio is probably going to be affected
more by the attitudes of existing hams than it is by the exact nature
of the entrance exams. If you want to see growth in the numbers and
character of the amateur radio community, it will probably depend more
on whether or not you and hams like you (whether NCTA or PCTA) will
welcome, train, and encourage new hams and prospective new hams than
on squabbling over entrance test requirements. Argue all you want
over the code requirement, but if you really care about the future of
the hobby, pay attention to your own attitudes to other hams and to
prospective hams.

2. If the ham community could 'get on with life' after the squabbling
over incentive licensing, we should be able to do the same after the
code requirement squabbling. It appears there may be hope for the
hobby after all.

Ben