On Mar 16, 10:31�pm, wrote:
Hi,

I wouldn't expect ham numbers to climb dramatically but I would expect
to see the Amateur Extra class increase in proportion so that it will
be the majority of ***active*** hams, ie active hams seeking out the
highest privilege level, this is typically what has happened in other
countries that kept multiple tier licenses after 2003.

Maybe - but I doubt it will happen.

Back in 2000 the FCC reduced both the written and Morse Code
testing. Anyone who held a Morse Code tested license could upgrade
to Extra with just some written testing - and the amount of written
testing was reduced too.

Yet here it is seven years later and several hundred thousand hams
hold General and Advanced licenses. Surely they aren't all inactive.
They just haven't gotten around to passing the written tests yet.

*Amateur radio
growth is limited by the internet. *We call relatives in Australia via
Skype and don't think twice about it, the world is a smaller place and
the excitement of radio contact is less.

I think that depends on why someone wants to be a radio amateur.

IMHO, there are three basic motivations to being a ham:

1) Operating radios

2) Messing around with technology

3) Communicating electronically

Most hams are motivated by a mixture of these three. Their
relative importance varies with the person.

There was a time when the average person's options for
electronic/electric communication were very limited. Those
days are long gone - not just because of the internet but
because of lowcost cell phones and long distance calling.
So those who are primarily motivated by 3) aren't going to
be hams any more.

But 1) and 2) are still going strong. The big difference is
that they represent the individual doing something that is
*independent* of a big commercial network. Being an
operator, not a user.

It's a bit like the difference between flying a plane yourself
and riding in an airliner. Both get you there, and the
airliner is almost certainly faster, safer and less expensive.
But it's not the same thing. Ask any pilot.

What amateur radio is really all about today is "radio for
its own sake". Radio as an end in itself, not a means to
an end.

That being said, I'm a new Extra and am just setting up a station.

Congratulations and welcome! I hope to work you on the air.

As for the numbers, I passed my Extra on March 4th and I'm still a
General in ULS, so be patient on the numbers.

Yup. It will take a while for the dust to settle. The big hamfest/VE
session season is only just beginning.

Thank you for your effort.

You're welcome. Next set of numbers will be in a week or so,
then once a month after that, on or around the 23rd of the month.

73 de Jim, N2EY