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March 9 2007 License Numbers
These are the number of current,
unexpired FCC-issued amateur radio licenses held by individuals on the stated dates, and the percentage of the total number of active licenses that class contains. Percentages may not add up to exactly 100.0% due to rounding. These totals do not include licenses that have expired but are in the grace period, nor do they include club, military and other station-only licenses. Effective April 15, 2000, FCC no longer issued new Novice, Technician Plus and Advanced class licenses, so the numbers of those license classes have declined steadily since then. Also since April 15, 2000, FCC has renewed all existing Technician Plus licenses as Technician. It is therefore informative to consider the totals of the two classes, since the Technician class includes a significant number of Technician Plus licenses renewed as Technician. On February 23, 2007, the last Morse Code test element, the 5 wpm receiving test, was eliminated as a requirement. The ARS License Numbers: As of May 14, 2000: Novice- 49,329 (7.3%) Technician - 205,394 (30.4%) Technician Plus - 128,860 (19.1%) General - 112,677 (16.7%) Advanced - 99,782 (14.8%) Extra - 78,750 (11.7%) Total Tech/TechPlus - 334,254 (49.5%) Total all classes - 674,792 As of February 22, 2007: Novice - 22,896 (3.5%) Technician - 293,508 (44.8%) Technician Plus - 30,818 (4.7%) General - 130,138 (19.9%) Advanced - 69,050 (10.5%) Extra - 108,270 (16.5%) Total Tech/TechPlus - 324,326 (49.5%) Total all classes - 654,680 As of March 9, 2007: Novice - 22,725 (3.5%) Technician - 291,312 (44.5%) Technician Plus - 30,243 (4.6%) General - 132,863 (20.3%) Advanced - 68,837 (10.5%) Extra - 108,789 (16.6%) Total Tech/TechPlus - 321,555 (49.1%) Total all classes - 654,769 Changes: From May 14, 2000, to February 22, 2007: Novice - decrease of 26,433 Technician - increase of 88,114 Technician Plus - decrease of 98,042 General - increase of 17,461 Advanced - decrease of 30,732 Extra - increase of 29,520 Total Tech/TechPlus - decrease of 9,928 Total all classes - decrease of 20,112 From May 14, 2000, to March 9, 2007: Novice - decrease of 26,604 Technician - increase of 85,918 Technician Plus - decrease of 98,617 General - increase of 20,816 Advanced - decrease of 30,945 Extra - increase of 30,039 Total Tech/TechPlus - decrease of 12,699 Total all classes - decrease of 20,023 From February 22, 2007, to March 9, 2007: Novice - decrease of 171 Technician - decrease of 2,196 Technician Plus - decrease of 575 General - increase of 2,725 Advanced - decrease of 213 Extra - increase of 519 Total Tech/TechPlus - decrease of 2,771 Total all classes - increase of 89 --- 73 de Jim, N2EY |
March 9 2007 License Numbers
wrote in message ups.com... [snip] Total all classes - increase of 89 --- 73 de Jim, N2EY Well if we continue at this pace, that will mean 0.35% growth in one year. Dee, N8UZE |
March 9 2007 License Numbers
On Mar 10, 8:36�pm, Jim Higgins wrote:
On Sat, 10 Mar 2007 14:01:47 CST, wrote: These are the number of current, unexpired FCC-issued amateur radio licenses held by individuals Why don't you put this info in table form on a web site and post a link to it? *http://www.ah0a.org/FCC/Licenses.htmlprovides an excellent example. As it is it's hard to digest at a glance and provides no history, only a monthly snapshot. The problem with the website idea is that the information will only be available as long as the website is active. By posting to Usenet, the numbers will be generally available as long as Usenet is archived. I've been posting these numbers twice a month since 2002 or so, and anybody with internet access can reference the old numbers by a Google search. To keep the traffic level down, I'm going to once-a-month now, and a revised format to show changes relative to May 2000 and February 2007. Perhaps in the future, I will collect all those old postings and condense them into one, or a few, postings. Such as numbers-by-year. 73 de Jim, N2EY |
March 9 2007 License Numbers
In article ,
"Dee Flint" writes: wrote in message ups.com... [snip] Total all classes - increase of 89 --- 73 de Jim, N2EY Well if we continue at this pace, that will mean 0.35% growth in one year. Except it fails to take into account hams who die who's licenses will remain in the count for as much as 10 years afterwards. And statistics show ham radio is a very grey hobby and getting greyer all the time. bill KB3YV -- Bill Gunshannon | de-moc-ra-cy (di mok' ra see) n. Three wolves | and a sheep voting on what's for dinner. University of Scranton | Scranton, Pennsylvania | #include std.disclaimer.h |
March 9 2007 License Numbers
On Mar 10, 9:32�pm, (Bill Gunshannon) wrote:
In article , * * * * "Dee Flint" writes: wrote in message oups.com... [snip] Total all classes - increase of 89 --- 73 de Jim, N2EY Well if we continue at this pace, that will mean 0.35% *growth in one year. Which fits right into my prediction of 0% to 1% growth! And I'll take 0.35% growth over a decline. But what is completely unknown at this point is whether the growth will continue. After the 2000 restructuring, the license numbers climbed for about three years - and then began to decline, until now they are well below what they were before the restructuring of 2000. Except it fails to take into account hams who die who's licenses will remain in the count for as much as 10 years afterwards. * That's always been part of the statistics, Bill. It's part of the reason I exclude licenses that are in the grace period. And statistics show ham radio is a very grey hobby and getting greyer all the time. Those statistics need to be seen in the context of the US population. First, the US population is getting older, too. More people are living longer, having fewer children, and having them later in life. According to the Census Bureau, the median age for the US population (half older, half younger) is now over 39 years! From 1990 to 2000, it rose by more than four years. Second, while we occasionally read stories of young children earning an amateur license, in reality there are, and have always been, very few hams under the age of 10 years. So if we remove the under-10 population from consideration, the median age of amateurs should be somewhere around 50 years. 73 de Jim, N2EY |
March 9 2007 License Numbers
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March 9 2007 License Numbers
"Steve Bonine" wrote in message ... [snip] My personal opinion, based on looking around at gatherings of amateur radio operators and on-the-air contacts, is that the median age is closer to 60, at least for US ops. I wish we had real data. Keep in mind though that this also is not representative. It is the older operators and retirees that have the time and money to more actively participate in the hobby. This is true in many activities. For example, the average age of the members in the community band to which I belong is also in about the 50 to 60 year old range. Dee, N8UZE |
March 9 2007 License Numbers
On Mar 10, 10:46�pm, Jim Higgins wrote:
On Sat, 10 Mar 2007 20:19:22 CST, wrote: On Mar 10, 8:36�pm, Jim Higgins wrote: On Sat, 10 Mar 2007 14:01:47 CST, wrote: These are the number of current, unexpired FCC-issued amateur radio licenses held by individuals Why don't you put this info in table form on a web site and post a link to it? *http://www.ah0a.org/FCC/Licenses.htmlprovidesan excellent example. As it is it's hard to digest at a glance and provides no history, only a monthly snapshot. The problem with the website idea is that the information will only be available as long as the website is active. By posting to Usenet, the numbers will be generally available as long as Usenet is archived. I've been posting these numbers twice a month since 2002 or so, and anybody with internet access can reference the old numbers by a Google search. To keep the traffic level down, I'm going to once-a-month now, and a revised format to show changes relative to May 2000 and February 2007. Perhaps in the future, I will collect all those old postings and condense them into one, or a few, postings. Such as numbers-by-year. Your choice; you're certainly under no obligation. *For sure - at least IMO - the usefulness of the data will increase by several orders of magnitude if put in tabular form to allow seeing historical trends easily.- I agree! I invite and encourage you to collect the postings I have made on the "ARS License Numbers", put them in tabular form (say, monthly) and put them on a website of your choice. They're all in the Usenet archives, all posted by the same author (me). 73 de Jim, N2EY |
March 9 2007 License Numbers
On Mar 11, 12:21�pm, Steve Bonine wrote:
wrote: So if we remove the under-10 population from consideration, the median age of amateurs should be somewhere around 50 years. Is there any real data on the median age of amateurs? *Does a database exist that contains date-of-birth so that the actual statistic could be developed? I don't know of any. At various times, FCC has required date-of-birth information. But that policy has changed over time, so the license database contains DOB info on some, but not all, US hams, depending on when they were first licensed. So the FCC license database is not a reliable sample or source. My personal opinion, based on looking around at gatherings of amateur radio operators and on-the-air contacts, is that the median age is closer to 60, at least for US ops. The problem with using such observations is that they are not reliable samples either. For example, the hams you see at gatherings are those who have the time, interest and resources to go to them. The younger amateur who is raising children, taking care of elders, busy with a career or education, etc., is much less likely to go to a hamfest or club meeting. Similar concerns go with on-air observations. The younger ham with a car full of children is less likely to be operating mobile, for example. The ham with a 60-hour-per-week day job is not likely to be on the air at 2 PM on a weekday. Etc. *I wish we had real data. Me too! The numbers I see published lack even the most basic detail. For example, I've seen claims that the "average age of US hams is xx years" - without any info about how the number was derived, whether it's the mean, median, or some other number, nor how it compares to the US population as a whole. 73 de Jim, N2EY |
March 9 2007 License Numbers
"Dee Flint" wrote in message
"Steve Bonine" wrote in message ... [snip] Keep in mind though that this also is not representative. It is the older operators and retirees that have the time and money to more actively participate in the hobby. I know plenty of licensed people a lot younger than that who have plenty of money to go on air but have simply lost interest. The internet has a lot to do with it IMHO, this discussion for example would probably have taken place on a packet radio BBS 10 to 15 years ago. Indeed I ran a packet BBS for 11 years, when I started it in 1993 I had around 100 users, when it closed in 2004 there were just three. They have just introduced a lifetime licence here in the UK, which means no more renewals will be necessary, although a licensee will have to confirm every 5 years if they still want to retain the callsign. This will still give a false impression of the number of people actually on the air, though. This is true in many activities. For example, the average age of the members in the community band to which I belong is also in about the 50 to 60 year old range. Dee, N8UZE There are also those who still hold licences but are inactive. Of the 20 or so people that I still keep in touch with from my old radio club, only 3 or 4 apart from me are still actively on the air, even though they still hold callsigns, plus I'm the only one of those who still has 2m/70cm equipment in the car. Age wise, most of them are anywhere between 30 and 50, with one or two approaching 60 and one who is 62. Ivor G6URP |
March 9 2007 License Numbers
On Mar 11, 2:58?pm, Cecil Moore wrote:
wrote: I agree! I invite and encourage you to collect the postings I have made on the "ARS License Numbers", put them in tabular form (say, monthly) and put them on a website of your choice. They're all in the Usenet archives, all posted by the same author (me). May I suggest that they be put in an Excel spreadsheet so that graphics may be generated? Great idea, Cecil! Be my guest. If my research is correct, the first "ARS License Numbers" posting I made was back in September 2001, comparing the numbers of September 22 2001 to those of May 14, 2000. 73 es TNX de Jim, N2EY |
March 9 2007 License Numbers
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March 9 2007 License Numbers
On Mar 14, 4:27�pm, Michael Coslo wrote:
wrote: On Mar 10, 9:32?pm, (Bill Gunshannon) wrote: In article , * * * * "Dee Flint" writes: wrote in message groups.com... [snip] Total all classes - increase of 89 --- 73 de Jim, N2EY Well if we continue at this pace, that will mean 0.35% *growth in one year. Which fits right into my prediction of 0% to 1% growth! And I'll take 0.35% growth over a decline. However, it is foolish to look at short-term results and assume they will continue. Day-to-day variations can be quite large. For example, the most recent numbers I have at hand are for March 12, 2007. Total current FCC-issued licenses on that date (as of 7 PM March 13) were 654,331. That's 349 less than the 654,680 on Feb 22. Of course tomorrow's numbers may be much higher. But what is completely unknown at this point is whether the growth will continue. After the 2000 restructuring, the license numbers climbed for about three years - and then began to decline, until now they are well below what they were before the restructuring of 2000. Here are some really rough calculations for my area: Presently licensed in the State College area: 231 - I'll have to subtract 3 club licenses 229 local State College Hams In the past 6 months, we've had around 2 hams per month added by club testing. Note that this includes testing under the old system. OK so far. The local University also has testing as part of one of the EE classes. I don't have the exact numbers, or even close. They test by semester. * * * * Given that about 12 hams have been added to the rosters by us in the last 6 months there is at least a 1 percent growth rate - disregarding the college group. Taking a rough estimate, they must be doing at least as well, as the classes continue. My guess is that the final growth in this area is around 2 percent. That is as just about at the top of the growth that I would like to see. That's all good stuff - for the State College area. But it may or may not be applicable to other areas. We really don't know for sure. * * * * We often speak of the effects that recent changes will have on the number of new Hams coming into the fold. * * * * I think this is a bit of a red herring attribute. * * * * I think that growth in the service is much more dependent on what we do to get people into it. I agree 100%. However, in recent decades, one of the main reasons given for changing the license test requirements has been to stimulate growth. Time and again, those pushing for the changes have said they were absolutely necessary in order for the number of US hams to grow in the future. So it's certainly worth watching to see whether they were right or wrong. We've been on a recruitment effort that allows the new guys and gals to not feel inadequate. We're teaching real basics, like how to solder, how to read color codes on resistors. That kind of stuff. Oh yeah, and how to operate that HF rig. I'm our club station manager, and we're turning one corner of the building into a classroom for the new folks. And we're being very careful to not sound like we know everything. (I don't have to work too hard at that) ;^) This is all good stuff.Excellent work, Mike! 73 de Jim, N2EY |
March 9 2007 License Numbers
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. 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. That being said, I'm a new Extra and am just setting up a station. 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. Thank you for your effort. On Mar 14, 7:14 pm, wrote: On Mar 14, 4:27�pm, Michael Coslo wrote: wrote: On Mar 10, 9:32?pm, (Bill Gunshannon) wrote: In article , "Dee Flint" writes: wrote in message groups.com... [snip] Total all classes - increase of 89 --- 73 de Jim, N2EY Well if we continue at this pace, that will mean 0.35% growth in one year. Which fits right into my prediction of 0% to 1% growth! And I'll take 0.35% growth over a decline. However, it is foolish to look at short-term results and assume they will continue. Day-to-day variations can be quite large. For example, the most recent numbers I have at hand are for March 12, 2007. Total current FCC-issued licenses on that date (as of 7 PM March 13) were 654,331. That's 349 less than the 654,680 on Feb 22. Of course tomorrow's numbers may be much higher. But what is completely unknown at this point is whether the growth will continue. After the 2000 restructuring, the license numbers climbed for about three years - and then began to decline, until now they are well below what they were before the restructuring of 2000. Here are some really rough calculations for my area: Presently licensed in the State College area: 231 - I'll have to subtract 3 club licenses 229 local State College Hams In the past 6 months, we've had around 2 hams per month added by club testing. Note that this includes testing under the old system. OK so far. The local University also has testing as part of one of the EE classes. I don't have the exact numbers, or even close. They test by semester. Given that about 12 hams have been added to the rosters by us in the last 6 months there is at least a 1 percent growth rate - disregarding the college group. Taking a rough estimate, they must be doing at least as well, as the classes continue. My guess is that the final growth in this area is around 2 percent. That is as just about at the top of the growth that I would like to see. That's all good stuff - for the State College area. But it may or may not be applicable to other areas. We really don't know for sure. We often speak of the effects that recent changes will have on the number of new Hams coming into the fold. I think this is a bit of a red herring attribute. I think that growth in the service is much more dependent on what we do to get people into it. I agree 100%. However, in recent decades, one of the main reasons given for changing the license test requirements has been to stimulate growth. Time and again, those pushing for the changes have said they were absolutely necessary in order for the number of US hams to grow in the future. So it's certainly worth watching to see whether they were right or wrong. We've been on a recruitment effort that allows the new guys and gals to not feel inadequate. We're teaching real basics, like how to solder, how to read color codes on resistors. That kind of stuff. Oh yeah, and how to operate that HF rig. I'm our club station manager, and we're turning one corner of the building into a classroom for the new folks. And we're being very careful to not sound like we know everything. (I don't have to work too hard at that) ;^) This is all good stuff.Excellent work, Mike! 73 de Jim, N2EY |
March 9 2007 License Numbers
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 |
March 9 2007 License Numbers
wrote:
IMHO, there are three basic motivations to being a ham: 1) Operating radios 2) Messing around with technology 3) Communicating electronically (4) Was motivated in the past by one or more of the above but now just continues to renew his/her ham license while operating cell phones, sending emails, and posting to r.r.a.* groups. :-) -- 73, Cecil http://www.w5dxp.com |
March 9 2007 License Numbers
"Cecil Moore" wrote in message ... wrote: IMHO, there are three basic motivations to being a ham: 1) Operating radios 2) Messing around with technology 3) Communicating electronically (4) Was motivated in the past by one or more of the above but now just continues to renew his/her ham license while operating cell phones, sending emails, and posting to r.r.a.* groups. :-) -- 73, Cecil http://www.w5dxp.com In my opinion there is another motivator. To me, the main fascination is being able to communicate without the need for any infrastructure. All I need is my radio, the stuff to make a basic dipole, a source of power, and my mike or key. Nothing ties us together except the ionosphere. On top of all that, when conditions are moderately good, it can be done with relatively small amounts of power. i.e. It is the ability to basically do this independently. Dee, N8UZE |
March 9 2007 License Numbers
Dee Flint wrote:
In my opinion there is another motivator. To me, the main fascination is being able to communicate without the need for any infrastructure. Good luck at being in the right place at the right time when all other infrastructure fails. I've been a coded ham for 55 years and have yet to use CW for any emergency communications. The only HF emergency communications I ever needed to use was CB. -- 73, Cecil http://www.w5dxp.com |
March 9 2007 License Numbers
"Cecil Moore" wrote in message t... Dee Flint wrote: In my opinion there is another motivator. To me, the main fascination is being able to communicate without the need for any infrastructure. Good luck at being in the right place at the right time when all other infrastructure fails. I've been a coded ham for 55 years and have yet to use CW for any emergency communications. The only HF emergency communications I ever needed to use was CB. -- 73, Cecil http://www.w5dxp.com I did not mention or imply anything to do with emergency communications or CW. I merely stated that the fascinating part was to be able to contact people without the need for an infrastructure. There is a feeling of independence from being able to, as an individual, communicate around the world. Dee, N8UZE |
March 9 2007 License Numbers
"Dee Flint" wrote in message
[snip] I did not mention or imply anything to do with emergency communications or CW. I merely stated that the fascinating part was to be able to contact people without the need for an infrastructure. There is a feeling of independence from being able to, as an individual, communicate around the world. Dee, N8UZE I agree. People often ask me why I use 2m & 70cm in the car, for example, when everyone (well, nearly everyone) has a mobile phone (cellphone for you US types..!). I always answer that you can't put a blind CQ call out on a phone. That's the attraction for me, you never know who might reply to a call. 73 Ivor G6URP |
March 9 2007 License Numbers
On Mar 17, 3:38�pm, "Dee Flint" wrote:
In my opinion there is another motivator. *To me, the main fascination is being able to communicate without the need for any infrastructure. *All I need is my radio, the stuff to make a basic dipole, a source of power, and my mike or key. *Nothing ties us together except the ionosphere. *On top of all that, when conditions are moderately good, it can be done with relatively small amounts of power. *i.e. *It is the ability to basically do this independently. Dee, At one time I would put all that under "operating radios", but I think you have hit on something that deserves its own classification. Or at least more words. What you describe is a combination of independence and simplicity. It's partly about not being dependent on a communications infrastructure other than your station, the other station(s), and natural features like the ionosphere, troposphere, etc. It's also partly about the relative simplicity of an amateur station compared to the enormous but largely unseen complexity of other modern communications systems. Sure, I can call Australia on my cell phone - but the cell phone is only one small part of the enormous and complex infrastructure needed to make the call. In amateur radio, the complex infrastructure is replaced by a combination of luck (propagation) and operator skill. This makes for unpredictable communications at times - which is actually a big part of the attraction. When I call CQ, or listen for another's CQ, I don't know who I'll run into, whether I'll contact them or not, etc. IMHO, one of the things many people miss in modern life is a certain feeling of actually doing something start-to-finish. In most jobs nowadays, people are part of a team, or a process, contributing their specialized part to the result. This is how our complex technological society is able to function so efficiently. The downside is that very few people today can point to something in their work and say "I did that, start to finish, all by myself". In fact, many things that people used to do for themselves like car repair/maintenance and fixing things are either too complex for the DIY person, or are not meant to be fixed economically. Amateur radio (and many other DIY activities) offer a way for people to actually do something start-to-finish, all by themselves. That's a key point is 'selling' amateur radio. It's also a big reason behind homebrewing - the homebrewer knows every part of the radio, how it works, and how to fix it. That it may not be state-of-the-art or have all the features of a manufactured item is besides the point. That's something that simply cannot be bought. 73 de Jim, N2EY |
March 9 2007 License Numbers
On Mar 17, 5:25�pm, Cecil Moore wrote:
Dee Flint wrote: In my opinion there is another motivator. *To me, the main fascination is being able to communicate without the need for any infrastructure. Good luck at being in the right place at the right time when all other infrastructure fails. I've been a coded ham for 55 years and have yet to use CW for any emergency communications. The only HF emergency communications I ever needed to use was CB. I was under the impression that the "CW-vs-every other mode" stuff was over. Nes pas? Steve, K4YZ |
March 9 2007 License Numbers
wrote:
I've been a coded ham for 55 years and have yet to use CW for any emergency communications. The only HF emergency communications I ever needed to use was CB. I was under the impression that the "CW-vs-every other mode" stuff was over. My ham experience is mostly limited to CW so I cannot speak for the other modes. -- 73, Cecil http://www.w5dxp.com |
March 9 2007 License Numbers
wrote in message ups.com... These are the number of current, unexpired FCC-issued amateur radio licenses held by individuals on the stated dates, and the percentage of the total number of active licenses that class contains. --- 73 de Jim, N2EY The Changing Operating Classes Over the past year the Technician class has increased at an average rate of 13/day. The Tech Plus class has decreased at an average rate of 27/day. The Novice class has decreased at an average rate of 9/day. The General class has increased at an average rate of 7/day. The Advanced class has decreased at an average rate of 12/day. The Extra class has increased at an average rate of 6/day. Club Stations have increased at an average rate of 1/day. 73, Ace - www.WH2T.com .. |
March 9 2007 License Numbers
"Dr.Ace" wrote:
The Changing Operating Classes Over the past year the Technician class has increased at an average rate of 13/day. As the de-facto entry-level license in ham radio, I would expect it to increase the most of all the license classes. The Tech Plus class has decreased at an average rate of 27/day. The Novice class has decreased at an average rate of 9/day. The Advanced class has decreased at an average rate of 12/day. Since the FCC is no longer issuing any of these licenses, it is mathematically impossible for them to "increase" at all. The very best they could do would be to maintain their exact numbers, assuming a 100% renewal rate and a 0% upgrade rate out of these classes into others. The General class has increased at an average rate of 7/day. The Extra class has increased at an average rate of 6/day. Or, a combined rate of 13/day, the same daily rate of increase in the Technician class license. An interesting statistical fluke? 73 kh6hz |
March 9 2007 License Numbers
On Mar 31, 8:57?am, "Dr.Ace" wrote:
wrote in message ups.com... These are the number of current, unexpired FCC-issued amateur radio licenses held by individuals on the stated dates, and the percentage of the total number of active licenses that class contains. --- 73 de Jim, N2EY The Changing Operating Classes Over the past year the Technician class has increased at an average rate of 13/day. The Tech Plus class has decreased at an average rate of 27/day. The Novice class has decreased at an average rate of 9/day. The General class has increased at an average rate of 7/day. The Advanced class has decreased at an average rate of 12/day. The Extra class has increased at an average rate of 6/day. Club Stations have increased at an average rate of 1/day. 73, Ace -www.WH2T.com The above is identical to the home page data shown at www.hamdata.com and reflects the changing class numbers one month (plus a few days) after the ending of US amateur radio license code testing. In the year prior to cessation of code testing, the no-code- test Technician class license growth had been in the vicinity of 28 to 30 per day average...with General and Amateur Extra class growth at half (or so) the values shown above. The only conclusion I can draw from that growth is the upgrading of Technicians to General or Extra, lessening the "growth" of Technicians due to their class change. Curiously, there has been a growth of Club licenses granted in the last year. I would have thought that Club licenses were relatively static since the overall licensee totals showed little growth or decline in numbers? 73, Len AF6AY |
March 9 2007 License Numbers
On Mar 31, 11:57?am, "Dr.Ace" wrote:
wrote in message ups.com... These are the number of current, unexpired FCC-issued amateur radio licenses held by individuals on the stated dates, and the percentage of the total number of active licenses that class contains. The Changing Operating Classes Over the past year the Technician class has increased at an average rate of 13/day. The Tech Plus class has decreased at an average rate of 27/day. The Novice class has decreased at an average rate of 9/day. The General class has increased at an average rate of 7/day. The Advanced class has decreased at an average rate of 12/day. The Extra class has increased at an average rate of 6/day. Club Stations have increased at an average rate of 1/day. Ace, The numbers you posted above are derived from the hamdata.com website. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but those numbers include licenses that are expired but in the grace period. The numbers I post are current/unexpired licenses. Here's a comparison of the 361 days between April 2, 2006 and March 29, 2007, using the numbers of current, unexpired licenses held by individuals on those dates: (first number is April 2, 2006, second is March 29, 2007 Per-day changes are rounded to the nearest integer) Novice: 25614 \ 22473 decrease of 3141 (~9 per day) Technician: 278860 \ 288960 increase of 10100 (~28 per day) Technician Plus: 40534 \ 29402 decrease of 11132 (~31 per day) General: 133682 \ 136061 increase of 2379 (~7 per day) Advanced: 72819 \ 68507 decrease of 4312 (~12 per day) Extra: 107768 \ 109371 increase of 1603 (~4 per day) Total all classes: 659107 \ 654774 decrease of 4333 (~12 per day) 73 de Jim, N2EY |
March 9 2007 License Numbers
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Hash: SHA1 In . com "AF6AY" writes: [...] Curiously, there has been a growth of Club licenses granted in the last year. I would have thought that Club licenses were relatively static since the overall licensee totals showed little growth or decline in numbers? 73, Len AF6AY I agree that this is a very non-intuitive result at first glance. One reasonable explanation would appear to be that there was a lot of pent-up demand for club licenses from over the relatively long period of time during which they were not issued, which was from at least 1978 to 1995. The official FCC answer on the subject of club and special (i.e., "Vanity") callsigns during that time was that it was too much of an administrative burden to grant them. The FCC was also using a relatively inflexible, legacy Honeywell system to track and issue amateur radio licenses. Those that held licenses during that time, licenses that were impact-printed on smudgy carbon "burst" forms, might note that they were only issued one day a week (Thursday, I believe). Existing club licenses could be renewed, but if they expired and passed out of their grace period without renewal, they could not be reissued. I understand that the grandfathered club licenses were tracked by the FCC manually in an index card catalog. I can attest personally to the fact that when members of the local amateur radio and USAF veterans' communities noticed that the FCC was going to allow club licenses and vanity callsigns again, they jumped at the chance to recover a couple of them that had expired many years ago. This included the base MARS/military-recreation station at Offutt Air Force Base, K0AIR, and the personal Nebraska callsign of General Curtis LeMay when he was the Commander-in-Chief of Strategic Air Command, K0GRL. The club that was formed to hold these callsigns, and use them for special events like Veteran's Day/General LeMay's birthday, has a home page at: http://www.sacmarc.org Other local clubs availed themselves of the opportunity to obtain special, distinctive callsigns for repeaters, contest stations, to honor deceased members who made significant contributions to the hobby/service, and the like. I think that the FCC has struck an appropriate balance between allowing a reasonable number of such club callsigns for legitimate use (such as to identify different stations or operational missions and resources) on one hand, versus discouraging callsign hoarding/banking on the other. I feel that it is appropriate to recover distinctive callsigns to honor deceased amateurs who made significant contributions to the hobby/service, and place them in special trust/usage. As long as it doesn't degrade to the point that huge swaths of desirable callsigns are taken out of use for other amateurs. I recall a "Tank McNamara" comic strip some years back with two team managers looking out over the starting lineup of a baseball game. One says to the other something like, "Maybe we should stop retiring numbers," as all of the players had increasingly lengthy, and tiny, numbers on the backs of their uniforms. - -- 73, Paul W. Schleck, K3FU http://www.novia.net/~pschleck/ Finger for PGP Public Key -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.5 (SunOS) iD8DBQFGETG/6Pj0az779o4RAiVXAKCrlovWcjUiSM0BoQckrt2/5/CaqQCaA3JD kJYc9DXgHed2iFvsRPMfKR8= =4UVM -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- |
March 9 2007 License Numbers
On Apr 2, 10:21�am, Paul W. Schleck " wrote:
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 In . com "AF6AY" writes: *[...] * Curiously, there has been a growth of Club licenses * granted in the last year. *I would have thought that Club * licenses were relatively static since the overall licensee * totals showed little growth or decline in numbers? * 73, Len *AF6AY I agree that this is a very non-intuitive result at first glance. *One reasonable explanation would appear to be that there was a lot of pent-up demand for club licenses from over the relatively long period of time during which they were not issued, which was from at least 1978 to 1995. *The official FCC answer on the subject of club and special (i.e., "Vanity") callsigns during that time was that it was too much of an administrative burden to grant them. *The FCC was also using a relatively inflexible, legacy Honeywell system to track and issue amateur radio licenses. *Those that held licenses during that time, licenses that were impact-printed on smudgy carbon "burst" forms, might note that they were only issued one day a week (Thursday, I believe). Existing club licenses could be renewed, but if they expired and passed out of their grace period without renewal, they could not be reissued. I understand that the grandfathered club licenses were tracked by the FCC manually in an index card catalog. The period between 1995 and 2007 is twelve years. In that interim there have been a number of abuses of the Vanity callsign system, most notably by Roy Tucker of southern California who once had the Tucker family holding 41 callsigns, all at the same street-city address. That is now down to a mere twenty or so. :-) History of the Vanity callsign system noted, the FCC now has a nice page on its website for applications of Vanity callsigns as well as renewals and other administrative changes. The FCC will immediately accept and process credit card fees for a Vanity call ($20.80) through another govenment agency link but they also explain that "it may take weeks to fully process [them]." 73, Len AF6AY |
March 9 2007 License Numbers
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Hash: SHA1 In .com "AF6AY" writes: On Apr 2, 10:21�am, Paul W. Schleck " wrote: -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 In . com "AF6AY" writes: *[...] * Curiously, there has been a growth of Club licenses * granted in the last year. *I would have thought that Club * licenses were relatively static since the overall licensee * totals showed little growth or decline in numbers? * 73, Len *AF6AY I agree that this is a very non-intuitive result at first glance. *One reasonable explanation would appear to be that there was a lot of pent-up demand for club licenses from over the relatively long period of time during which they were not issued, which was from at least 1978 to 1995. *The official FCC answer on the subject of club and special (i.e., "Vanity") callsigns during that time was that it was too much of an administrative burden to grant them. *The FCC was also using a relatively inflexible, legacy Honeywell system to track and issue amateur radio licenses. *Those that held licenses during that time, licenses that were impact-printed on smudgy carbon "burst" forms, might note that they were only issued one day a week (Thursday, I believe). Existing club licenses could be renewed, but if they expired and passed out of their grace period without renewal, they could not be reissued. I understand that the grandfathered club licenses were tracked by the FCC manually in an index card catalog. The period between 1995 and 2007 is twelve years. That's true. So, it's probably not the only explanation, especially if annual growth of club licenses has been increasing recently. In my opinion, other plausible explanations based on more recent trends could include: - More amateurs being aware of the opportunity to establish club stations (I know there's been recent debate in many forums regarding how long it takes word of FCC action to trickle down into the general amateur radio population and become common knowledge. It's probably not twelve years, but it might not be 30 days, either.) - Fewer bureaucratic hurdles to obtaining amateur radio licenses in general, due to a debugged Universal Licensing System, VEC handling of club licensing applications, and clearer documentation by the FCC, the ARRL, and other entities regarding how to apply for and renew licenses - An aging amateur radio population that desires to establish more legacies for callsigns held either by clubs or notable individuals - A fear that another embargo of similar or greater length might happen in the foreseeable future - A desire to establish club stations for Elmering/recruiting purposes, or to give amateurs of modest means or those under antenna restrictions access to more capable stations at all bands including HF, especially in light of licensing requirement changes - Or even just clearer and more permissive feedback from the FCC concerning clubs obtaining 1 or more callsigns, both by statement, and by enforcement action, or lack thereof (see link below) In that interim there have been a number of abuses of the Vanity callsign system, most notably by Roy Tucker of southern California who once had the Tucker family holding 41 callsigns, all at the same street-city address. That is now down to a mere twenty or so. :-) In addition to flexing some welcome enforcement muscle against obvious abusers like the Tuckers, the FCC was also kind enough to make a clarification of policy about 8 years ago: http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/99/0709/#hollingsworth so club license applicants may no longer feel that they would be making themselves the "guinea pig" or "test case." - -- 73, Paul W. Schleck, K3FU http://www.novia.net/~pschleck/ Finger for PGP Public Key -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.5 (SunOS) iD8DBQFGEpO76Pj0az779o4RAqIfAKCNQ7IAXjzwK1/MzpXD5khtPlYTOACfU+i3 9hGEBlhBUGdWxSJvSxGJMBA= =fSCn -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- |
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