On May 6, 8:07�pm, "George" wrote:
I'm totally surprised. I was under the impression that ham radio had
declined in popularity over the decades!

The numbers say otherwise. And they have for many years.

Note that the 1930s, which were dominated by the Great Depression,
saw an enormous rise in the number of US hams and the popularity of
amateur radio. Yet the 1960s, a time of prosperity, saw almost no
growth and an actual decline in popularity.

Some might blame the 1960s numbers on "incentive licensing", but those
changes didn't go into effect until very late in that decade (November
1968). And the growth came back in the 1970s and 1980s, when those
changes had their greatest effect.

73 de Jim, N2EY

On May 7, 2:08 am, wrote:
On May 6, 8:07?pm, "George" wrote:

I'm totally surprised. I was under the impression that ham radio had
declined in popularity over the decades!

The numbers say otherwise. And they have for many years.


1990: US population 249 million US hams 550,000, 1 ham per 453
Americans

2000: US population 281 million, US hams 683,000, 1 ham per 411
Americans

May 5 2007: US population (estimated) 301,773,107 US hams 655,219, 1
ham per 460 Americans


But something apparently has gone horribly wrong. Your numbers
indicate that in the past 7 years we have lost all the gains of the
90's and are apparently sliding backwards into the 1980's hams-per-
Americans ratios.

?? RDW

RDWeaver wrote:

But something apparently has gone horribly wrong. Your numbers
indicate that in the past 7 years we have lost all the gains of the
90's and are apparently sliding backwards into the 1980's hams-per-
Americans ratios.

This is to be expected, the big intake of the 1950s is now dying off.

--
g4jci

wrote in message
...
RDWeaver wrote:

But something apparently has gone horribly wrong. Your numbers
indicate that in the past 7 years we have lost all the gains of the
90's and are apparently sliding backwards into the 1980's hams-per-
Americans ratios.

This is to be expected, the big intake of the 1950s is now dying off.

--
g4jci




Not to mention the spread of the internet. Here we are typing instead of
talking on the radio.

Ed, NM2K

On May 6, 11:44�pm, RDWeaver wrote:
On May 7, 2:08 am, wrote:

On May 6, 8:07?pm, "George" wrote:

I'm totally surprised. I was under the impression that ham radio h
ad
declined in popularity over the decades!

The numbers say otherwise. And they have for many years.

1990: US population 249 million US hams 550,000, 1 ham per 453
Americans
2000: US population 281 million, US hams 683,000, 1 ham per 411
Americans
May 5 2007: US population (estimated) 301,773,107 US hams 655,219, 1
ham per 460 Americans

But something apparently has gone horribly wrong. Your numbers
indicate that in the past 7 years we have lost all the gains of the
90's and are apparently sliding backwards into the 1980's hams-per-
Americans ratios.

??

Not just 'my' numbers but any reliable numbers you look at.

What has happened in the past 7 years is this:

From 2000 to 2003, the number of US hams rose, but since 2003 the
numbers have been slowly declining, as expirations exceeded new
licenses.The recent rules changes seem to have stopped the decline in
numbers but they are only a few months old.

We can speculate on what's going on, but it's only speculation. So
here are some speculations:

1) In 1984 the FCC doubled the license term from 5 to 10 years. Which
meant that from 1989 to 1994 there were no US amateur license
expirations at all. That period is long gone now.

2) There are three basic reasons to become a ham: First, to legally
operate 2-way radios as an end in itself, second, to do technical
things with 2-way radios that aren't allowed in other radio services,
and third, to use low-cost electronic communication.

The first two reasons are pretty much unchanged. But the third has
changed radically in the past 10-20 years or so. Email, the internet,
cell phones and many other options have made amateur radio just one of
many ways that people can use low-cost electronic communication.

For example, back in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, we experienced a
steady stream of new hams who wanted to use the various repeater/
autopatch systems in this area for personal noncommercial
communications, particularly while mobile. Whole families would show
up at classes and VE sessions, and the repeaters were busy with their
activities. The term 'honeydo hams' entered the jargon. Some of them
became interested in other facets of amateur radio, some did not.
Nothing wrong with that, either way.

Then came inexpensive cell phones. They went from being a luxury to a
near-necessity in a decade or so. Inexpensive, long distance mobile
communications went from something unusual and exotic to ubiquitous -
and we lost that source of new hams. Very few people get amateur radio
licenses today in order to coordinate who is picking up the dry
cleaning on the way home and who has soccer practice carpool. In the
1980s it was common.

3) The percentage of residences with antenna restrictions keeps
rising. In many areas you have to look really hard to find an
affordable newer home where you can put up something as innocuous as a
G5RV or a vertical.

4) The nature of free time has changed for many Americans. It's not
that people don't have free time, it's that their free time is less
predictable and comes in odd chunks. Many American families are
juggling two careers, child and elder care, and the expectation of
being available most of the time. Activities that requires solid
pieces of time, like amateur radio, aren't going to be as popular in
such an environment.

There are lots more, but I'm out of time!

73 de Jim, N2EY

wrote on Mon, 7 May 2007 08:12:02 EDT:

On May 6, 11:44?pm, RDWeaver wrote:

For example, back in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, we experienced a
steady stream of new hams who wanted to use the various repeater/
autopatch systems in this area for personal noncommercial
communications, particularly while mobile. Whole families would show
up at classes and VE sessions, and the repeaters were busy with their
activities. The term 'honeydo hams' entered the jargon.

I didn't know the term "honey-do ham" existed until seeing in
these newsgroups. :-) In knowing many licensed radio
amateurs in the southwestern USA, their spouses and/or
offspring got licenses for the purpose of amateur radio
participation, not for picking up dry cleaning or coordinating
soccer practice carpools. While it has been common for
some spouses to call the other spouse to pick up something
on the way home, that has been routinely done by the POTS
here from 1960 to the present time. shrug

3) The percentage of residences with antenna restrictions keeps
rising. In many areas you have to look really hard to find an
affordable newer home where you can put up something as innocuous as a
G5RV or a vertical.

I keep hearing about all that "trouble" and have yet to see it
around here in existing neighborhoods of the eastern San
Fernando Valley area of L.A. (SFV population about 1.5
million). The average home residence plot is 1/4 to 1/3 acre
in the majority; in the majority of those with antennas other
than K-band TV satellite service are the CB and scanner
antennas. The off-center-fed dipole (G5RV type) is more
noticeable than a CB or external scanner antenna or TV dish.
A beam antenna, even one that can be lowered to near
ground level will stick out like a sore thumb in a neighborhood
which doesn't have anyone else with such a structure.

Yes, I know such residential areas exist, but I say those are
still in the minority among the millions of residence units in
the USA.

In the common residence without any restrictions on large,
ungainly structures, hams have to face the very real
problem of some neighbors simply not tolerating
uncommon, highly-visible structures such as ham
antennas. Amateur radio is simply not their thing and
they consider their home as a home, not a small-scale
radio station. To get along with neighbors, hams have to
"sell" themselves to neighbors and completely damp any
indignation that neighbors don't like the idea of (to them)
ungly structures in the air next door. There's no way that
one can legislate away bad feeling that neighbors may
have about ugly (to them) ham antennas; it is their
neighborhood also.

4) The nature of free time has changed for many Americans. It's not
that people don't have free time, it's that their free time is less
predictable and comes in odd chunks. Many American families are
juggling two careers, child and elder care, and the expectation of
being available most of the time. Activities that requires solid
pieces of time, like amateur radio, aren't going to be as popular in
such an environment.

Being always older than the FCC, I just can't accept the above
excuse for "times changing." Every year for the last 50 or so
I've heard variations on that rationalization and every time it
has appeared always applied the "current generation." :-)
No generation owns that excuse nor has it "earned" it.

In every year I've observed human society in this country for
the last half century or so, those that wanted to do what they
wanted made the time. The motion picture industry made its
big business push during the Great Depression...when folks
didn't have much income. They wanted to be entertained,
didn't have TV, few had radios to listen to the a-borning
broadcast networks. Elder-care homes were not close to as
numerous as they are now and families were stuck with
providing for their aging relatives with no extra financial help,
no Medi-Care or (in CA) Medi-Cal. Wives kept up the homes
and took care of the children (if there were any) while
husbands worked (if they had jobs...28% didn't have steady
work at the peak of the Great Depression). Somehow most
survived that ordeal as they had for centuries past. Most of
my high school class of 1951 managed to show up at our
2001 Reunion even though some had to travel 1 to 2 thousand
miles to do so. Most of us looked like we could make it to
our 60th Reunion in 2011. :-)

Amateur radio is really a niche activity in American society
when viewed in the entirety of all activities available. Of course,
the downside of that same society is a divorce rate that has
continually increased since the end of WWII...which is oddly
(but not so much so) coincident with the fantastic rise in
availability of mass media advertising plus the escapist fare
of TV and motion picture entertainment. I won't bother to
mention the increased new-home foreclosures or the rising
debt from easy credit card spending. ["credit cards" didn't
exist a half century ago] Like it or not, advertising space
sales make it possible for amateur radio publications to exist
even if just to break even for membership organizations. Those
ads are bought by producers of goods and services for the
amateur radio market, producers hoping to sell things even to
those who already have radios and some services. Everyone
needs to honestly ask themselves a number of questions:

Do you really HAVE to trade up to a new, bigger home in order
for more antenna space? Do you really HAVE to get a new
transceiver to replace the one you've used for ten years? Do
you HAVE to spend all that time on the hobby at the expense
of time with family and friends? If you have a spouse, does
she/he HAVE to work to help support your hobby? Do you
HAVE to use ham radio to communicate with others or can you
possibly use another form of communications?

Those questions are all individual. Insert any hobby's name
in those questions, same thing there. Amateur radio is a
voluntary activity, not a basic necessity of life. The USA as
a nation won't collapse if a ham misses a contest or can't
make a Field Day "readiness exercise." Let's put it all into
a proper perspective of viewing amateur radio as a whole,
not just from an individual-experience viewpoint.

73, Len AF6AY

"AF6AY" wrote in message
ups.com...
wrote on Mon, 7 May 2007 08:12:02 EDT:

On May 6, 11:44?pm, RDWeaver wrote:

For example, back in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, we experienced a
steady stream of new hams who wanted to use the various repeater/
autopatch systems in this area for personal noncommercial
communications, particularly while mobile. Whole families would show
up at classes and VE sessions, and the repeaters were busy with their
activities. The term 'honeydo hams' entered the jargon.

I didn't know the term "honey-do ham" existed until seeing in
these newsgroups. :-) In knowing many licensed radio
amateurs in the southwestern USA, their spouses and/or
offspring got licenses for the purpose of amateur radio
participation, not for picking up dry cleaning or coordinating
soccer practice carpools. While it has been common for
some spouses to call the other spouse to pick up something
on the way home, that has been routinely done by the POTS
here from 1960 to the present time. shrug


When I licensed back in 1992, the majority of the people in the class and at
the various test sessions as I went up the ladder were these "honey-do" hams
and the family group communications types. This type of use was heavily
promoted to non-hams by hams of the day. I heard a lot of chit chat on the
repeaters, including discussions on errands etc, between family members as
they traveled around town. While there is no issue with this, the downside
was that many became inactive as they got cell phones. Only a few seemed to
carry forward into other areas of ham radio activity.

Dee, N8UZE

On May 8, 3:36�am, "Dee Flint" wrote:
"AF6AY" wrote in message

When I licensed back in 1992, the majority of the people in the class and
at
the various test sessions as I went up the ladder were these "honey-do" h
ams
and the family group communications types. This type of use was heavily
promoted to non-hams by hams of the day. I heard a lot of chit chat o
n the
repeaters, including discussions on errands etc, between family members as
they traveled around town. While there is no issue with this, the down
side
was that many became inactive as they got cell phones. Only a few seem
ed to
carry forward into other areas of ham radio activity.

Well, I was curious about that, wondering if it was some kind of
local or regional thing. Here in the populous southwestern corner
of the USA there didn't seem to be too much of that. In the
Greater Los Angeles area (population roughly 8 million and spread
out over a large area), the LOS repeaters were carrying lots of
club activities with those clubs involved in amateur radio doings
rather than the "honey-do" kind of thing.

73, Len AF6AY

On Mon, 07 May 2007 22:38:07 -0400, AF6AY wrote:

I didn't know the term "honey-do ham" existed until seeing in
these newsgroups. :-)

In 44 years and a half dozen call signs I have to say I've never heard the
term either.

I'm wondering if it is something that was invented on the Internet, sort
of like the current popular practice of capitalizing HAM as though it were
some kind of an acronym.

"Rick (W-A-one-R-K-T)" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 07 May 2007 22:38:07 -0400, AF6AY wrote:

I didn't know the term "honey-do ham" existed until seeing in
these newsgroups. :-)

In 44 years and a half dozen call signs I have to say I've never heard the
term either.

I'm wondering if it is something that was invented on the Internet, sort
of like the current popular practice of capitalizing HAM as though it were
some kind of an acronym.


I heard it first in 1992. The internet was not a significant factor then.

Dee, N8UZE