On Feb 25, 9:02 am, "KH6HZ" wrote:
wrote:

If it were *really* a barrier,
we will see big jumps in both the number of new
hams and the number of upgraders. The ARS
License Numbers thread will tell the tale.

Right.

I disagree. Extremely few people are interested in amateur radio
these days. Those who were and were turned off or turned away by the
Morse Code exam have found other interests satisfied by the web or
massive amounts of cable/satellite television.

Who's going to tell them to give it another try? The ARRLs "Hello"
campaign just ended.

And my own anecdotal observations show me that the code test was
never a real barrier to entry. It isn't the code test that has turned people
away, it is simply that "radio" isn't "sexy".

Mike, it turns people off and it turns people away. Besides, amateur
radio isn't sexy.