K=D8HB wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...

K=D8HB wrote:

The growth in numbers of Amateurs over the past decade
has been overwhelmingly via the Technician license.

.... since about 1987 or so, most new hams
have started out as Technicians.

Jim, we can nit-pick the semantics if you really think that's
productive, but
the two statements above both seem to convey the same notion, which
we might
more clearly state "Most new hams since 1991 have entered via the
Technician
class which is now the largest single license class in the US,
comprising almost
half (47.7%) of the population of licensees in this country, nearly
equal to the
combined total population of the three higher classes.".

I'm not trying to nitpick semantics, Hans, just looking for solid info.


I do agree that most new hams since 1991 have entered via the Tech
license - in fact, by the mid-80s if not earlier, most new hams I
encountered bypassed the Novice and went straight to Tech. The main
reason they gave me was 2 meter and 440 repeaters - Techs could use
'em, Novices couldn't. The splitting of the Element 3 written test in
1987 and the dropping of the code test for Tech in 1991 just helped the
trend along.

AH0A's posted numbers only go back to June 1997, which is of course 8
years rather than a decade, but let's take a look anyway:

June 1997 (per AH0A.org):

Novice - 66,551
Tech - 174,924
TechPlus - 139,608
Tech/TechPlus combined - 314,532 (46.4%)
General - 116,629
Advanced - 107,024
Extra - 73,737
General/Advanced/Extra combined - 297,390 (43.8%)
Total all classes: 678,473



April 2005 (per AH0A.org):

Novice - 28,615
Tech/TechPlus combined - 318,318 (47.7%)
General - 136,808
Advanced - 76,418
Extra - 106,587
General/Advanced/Extra combined - 319,813 (48.0%)
Total all classes: 666,746

So in the past 7 years 8 months we've seen growth of 3,786 in the
Tech/TechPlus classes, pushing those classes' percentage of US hamdom
up 1.3%. But in the same time period we've also seen growth of 22,423
in the General/Advanced/Extra classes, pushing those classes'
percentage of US hamdom up 4.2%.

So when I read a claim that "The growth in numbers of Amateurs over the
past decade
has been overwhelmingly via the Technician license.", I would like to
see more data.

Now it occurs to me that you may have meant that "via the Technician
license" means most hams start that way, and I agree. Point is, it
seems to me that a lot of new hams don't *stay* Technicians forever.

--

I don't think there's ever been a time when ARRL had a majority of US
hams as members. The most I ever saw claimed was about one-third, and
that was many decades ago.

I think the big unknown in all this is the percentage of *active* hams
who are members - or even the number of active hams, period.

The number of ham radio licenses has always included a certain
percentage of SK and totally inactive hams, but with the increase of
the license term to 10 years back in 1984 and the general aging of the
US population, it's logical to think that the percentage of SK and
totally inactive hams has increased dramatically in recent years. From
1994 to 1999, no US ham licenses expired at all.

In the bad old days, those who lost interest quickly disappeared from
the license totals. Novices had one or two years to upgrade or leave
the air, and the other licenses were only good for 5 years. IIRC, it
used to be that if you didn't get your Form 610 to FCC before the
license expired, it was gone - no grace period. (Of course back then
FCC would renew a lot sooner than 90 days before the license expired,
upgrades caused automatic renewal and you could combine a renewal and a
modification.)=20



73 de Jim, N2EY

wrote:
K=D8HB wrote:
The growth in numbers of Amateurs over the past decade has been
overwhelmingly
via the Technician license.

Do you have any numbers to back that up, Hans? The license numbers I
post here every two weeks point back to 2000 but not to 1995.

I agree that since about 1987 or so, most new hams have started out
as
Technicians.

You're a bit early. The Novice was the entry level license at that
time. Technician was the consolation prize for passing the General
exam, but failing the 13wpm exam.

Maybe even earlier than that. But it's also true that many
of them have gone on to other license classes.

The total number of Technicians and Technician Pluses today is less
than it was 5 years ago.
=20
73 de Jim, N2EY

That doesn't surprise me.

bb wrote:



You're a bit early. The Novice was the entry level license at that
time. Technician was the consolation prize for passing the General
exam, but failing the 13wpm exam.

Which still granted one the Novice privilege. Someone earlier posted
that when the Novice upgraded he lost Novice priviledges. Not so.

Which still granted one the Novice privilege. Someone earlier posted
that when the Novice upgraded he lost Novice priviledges. Not so.

It was true at one time, but the FCC realized the error and
fixed it so techs got to have novice privs. This was back around
1969 or so.

"Cmd Buzz Corey" wrote in message
...
bb wrote:



You're a bit early. The Novice was the entry level license at that
time. Technician was the consolation prize for passing the General
exam, but failing the 13wpm exam.

Which still granted one the Novice privilege. Someone earlier posted that
when the Novice upgraded he lost Novice priviledges. Not so.

Actually there was a time decades ago that it was so. There was a time that
people had to hold a separate Novice license and a separate Technician
license to participate in the privileges of both license levels. It was
before my (ham) time but I've read about it in some book or another on the
history of ham radio.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE

"KØHB" wrote in message
ink.net...
The growth in numbers of Amateurs over the past decade has been
overwhelmingly via the Technician license. This segment of the Amateur
population does not seem highly attracted to ARRL membership, nor
affiliative with the "national association" nature of ARRL.


Interestingly, however, these new Amateurs are "local joiners". They
attach some importance to public service communications events such as
disaster drills, SkyWarn, flood relief, marathons, parade communications,
and similar functions of a local nature. Interestingly, even though their
on-the-air participation is limited, they represent a significant portion
of the crew at Field Day, hamfest staffs, and similar "local" events. They
are also well represented on the rosters of many local clubs.


Following is a PBI (Partially Baked Idea) to favorably position ARRL (and
Amateur Radio in general) with these newcomers to our hobby.


I propose that the ARRL BoD consider an initiative to attract these
newcomers to an interest in ARRL by establishment of a new "Department of
Community Support".


The mission of this department of ARRL would be to organize, train,
support, and nurture a system of tactical communications teams on the
LOCAL level. I use the term "tactical" as opposed to "emergency"
intentionally to broaden the scope of the mission to include a wide
variety of community-level communications needs.


This "department" would be outside the current Field Organization, and
given VISIBLE and COMMITTED volunteer leadership at Director or Vice
President rank.


Did I hear someone muttering "Isn't that what ARES is all about?" or "Our
current field organization already provides for this." Good points -- ARRL
already has some of the pieces in place, and it looks good on paper.
Unfortunately these "pieces" tend to be scattered around the ARRL
organization and are not linked into a cohesive program. Support and
leadership responsibility, from Newington all the way down to the local
level, is often a collateral duty and the attention level is spotty and
often diluted by competing responsibilities and personal interests.
Leadership attention at the SM level is widely variable, and SM's have a
diminished mindshare of the general membership by the unfortunate H.Q.
decision to remove "Section News" from the national journal of our
Association. Without dwelling overlong on the shortcomings of the current
situation, I think we can all agree on four points:


1) A focused national program with Director (or higher) level leadership
would have more impact than the current fragmented attention to "local"
Amateur Radio.


2) Such a program, if successful, would give Amateur Radio valuable
credibility in the regulatory and legislative arenas, and with national
organizations like Homeland Security, FEMA, and the Red Cross.


3) Such a program, if successful, would serve to elevate the perceived
value of Amateur Radio with local civil authorities, perhaps softening
the effects of issues like tower ordinances, etc.


4) Such a program, strongly identified with the League, would provide a
membership "attractor" to those classes of Amateurs that are now only
locally "affiliative". Gaining some traction into this huge reservoir of
potential members would be a godsend to the health and growth of ARRL.


What would need to be done to implement such a plan. Here are some "off
the top of my head" thoughts.


-- Define the mission and organizational structure.


-- Many of the people (SEC/EC's, etc) are already in place. The
organization structure would need to include a short chain-of-command
headed by a focused leader at Newington.


-- Move Field Day and SET into this organization as "their" events.


-- Devise a recognition vehicle to give visibility to noteworthy work by
individuals and teams in this Department. This visibility (QST?) should
extend outside the organization to the "general population" of hams as a
recruiting tool.


-- Establish a new periodical (like NCJ for contesters and QEX for
experimenters) to help build a "sense of community" among the
participants.


-- Educate local civil authorities about this organization, their
capabilities, and how to best interface with them to take advantage of
their capabilities.


In order to build some critical mass and gain traction, the outreach
effort to build these teams should not initially stress ARRL membership
for "grassroots" level players, but rather depend on a strong ARRL
identity to build esprit de corps and lead to an attitude of support and
affiliation with the parent organization. Perhaps appointment to team
leadership positions would be conditioned on ARRL membership.


Obviously a lot of this proposal needs a great deal of "fleshing out" and
refinement, but I present it in the spirit of a "topic for discussion".
I'm sure that the minds gathered here will not be bashful about improving
my PBI.


73, de Hans, K0HB
--
http://home.earthlink.net/~k0hb

Overall I like the ideas. So who is going to take on the job of
spearheading this. It's going to take someone willing to take the time and
effort to work with bulldog determination to work with the ARRL (and push
the ARRL) and make it happen.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE

"Dee Flint" wrote in message
...


Overall I like the ideas. So who is going to take on the job of spearheading
this.

As many of us as possible!

But it might not be as big a battle as you'd guess. I posted this same idea on
QRZ.COM this morning and within the hour received a phone call from W5JBP. We
spent a full half-hour exploring the PBI.

73, de Hans, K0HB

"KØHB" wrote in message
nk.net...

"Dee Flint" wrote in message
...


Overall I like the ideas. So who is going to take on the job of
spearheading this.

As many of us as possible!

But it might not be as big a battle as you'd guess. I posted this same
idea on QRZ.COM this morning and within the hour received a phone call
from W5JBP. We spent a full half-hour exploring the PBI.

73, de Hans, K0HB


Didn't say it would be a battle. However, even multititudes participate in
trying to get this implement, you still need a leader to keep the herd
going.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE

"KØHB" wrote in message
ink.net...
The growth in numbers of Amateurs over the past decade has been
overwhelmingly
via the Technician license. This segment of the Amateur population does
not seem
highly attracted to ARRL membership, nor affiliate with the "national
association" nature of ARRL.

That's because most new hams can recognize a garden
variety classic New England "mutual admiration society"
of wannabe blue-bloods who's only reason for existence
is to maintain their monuments to the past which nobody
cares about anymore and to keep a magazine going
which is composed of 80% advertising.

Face it boys. the ARRL blew it BIG TIME when they had
the chance to eliminate the dammed Code for HF way
back in the early 1980's with the "Plain Language" rewrite
of the amateur rules. Today most of the ham fossils who
opposed this are either in their graves or waiting to expire
and we're stuck with an obsolete hobby as a result.

Thanks boys! (posthumously)

"Robert L. Giggles (Mrs.)" wrote in message
groups.com...

"KØHB" wrote in message
ink.net...
The growth in numbers of Amateurs over the past decade has been
overwhelmingly
via the Technician license. This segment of the Amateur population does
not seem
highly attracted to ARRL membership, nor affiliate with the "national
association" nature of ARRL.

That's because most new hams can recognize a garden
variety classic New England "mutual admiration society"
of wannabe blue-bloods who's only reason for existence
is to maintain their monuments to the past which nobody
cares about anymore and to keep a magazine going
which is composed of 80% advertising.


The ARRL has fought and continues to fight to protect our spectrum, hardly
the action of a "mutual admiration society". They might be able to do a
better job if some of you non-members would get off YOUR high horses, join
the group, and start working towards what you would like to see them doing.
So long as you stay on the outside, they have no reason to represent you or
your views.

You obviously have not investigated their various classes for all levels of
interest in areas of ham radio activity such as the many emergency courses,
etc. It is all too apparent that you speak from preconceived notions and
haven't bothered to get involved. You simply sit there on the outside and
whine and complain.

You want it to be different? Get in there and do the work to change it.
Oh, that's too hard you say. Then you are just a parasite waiting for some
one else to do the work so you can benefit without having contributed.

Face it boys. the ARRL blew it BIG TIME when they had
the chance to eliminate the dammed Code for HF way
back in the early 1980's with the "Plain Language" rewrite
of the amateur rules. Today most of the ham fossils who
opposed this are either in their graves or waiting to expire
and we're stuck with an obsolete hobby as a result.


Do a better job of reading up on history. The ARRL had NO chance of
eliminating the code in the 1980s as the US was signatory to an
international treaty that mandated code for HF privileges.


Thanks boys! (posthumously)


Dee D. Flint, N8UZE