"Larry Roll K3LT" wrote:
writes:
As of May 14, 2000:
Novice - 49,329
Tech - 205,394
Tech Plus - 128,860
General - 112,677
Advanced - 99,782
Extra - 78,750
Total - 674,792
As of August 15, 2003:
Novice - 33,205 (decrease of 16,124)
Technician - 258,384 (increase of 52,990)
Technician Plus - 66,402 (decrease of 62,458)
General - 141,381 (increase of 28,840)
Advanced - 83,038 (decrease of 16,699)
Extra - 104,543 (increase of 25,793)
Total - 687,134 (increase of 12,342)
I regret to inform you that "Restructuring" the
US Amateur Radio Service's licensing system, to
reduce the code testing speed to 5 WPM for
General and Extra class, in addition to the
existing No-Code Technician-class license, has
resulted in a whopping 1.79 percent growth rate
in the ARS overall! (snip)
And without the 52,990 increase in non-code proficient Technicians, there
would instead be a 7.85 percent decrease in overall numbers. Of course,
that's a rough estimate - as rough as the numbers used in your argument.
What do you suppose we're gonna get from No-Code
HF? Maybe 2 percent?
Perhaps I should take this time to suggest a new
motto for the ARRL: Ham Radio -- Stick A Fork In
Us, We're Done!
If those with your views continue to deride modern Ham Radio, perhaps even
less then 2 percent. Those changes are part of Ham Radio today. If you
belittle those changes, you belittle today's Ham Radio.
Dwight Stewart (W5NET)
http://www.qsl.net/w5net/