wrote in
ups.com:

These are the numbers of current, unexpired
amateur radio licenses held by individuals
on the stated dates, and the percentage of
the total number of active licenses that
class contains:

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 General/Advanced/Extra - 291,209 (43.2%)

Total all classes - 674,792


As of May 15, 2006:

Novice - 25,182 (3.8%) [decrease of 24,147]
Technician - 280,160 (42.6%) [increase of 74,766]
Technician Plus - 39,130 (6.0%) [decrease of 89,730]
General - 133,240 (20.2%) [increase of 20,563]
Advanced - 72,315 (11.0%) [decrease of 27,467]
Extra - 108,005 (16.4%) [increase of 29,255]

Total Tech/TechPlus - 319,290 (48.6%) [decrease of 14,964]

Total General/Advanced/Extra - 313,560 (47.6%) [increase of 22,351]

Total all classes - 658,032 (decrease of 16,760)




I predicted and warned you all this would happen, but none of you wouldn't
listen.

Good Hams upset over all the Lids and CB'er like behavior on the bands as
a result of dumbing down license requirements are leaving the hobby. I
can't say I blame them and I hate to see them go.

On the bright side, there's a lot more ham gear on eBay you can bid on.

sc

So how many Ham died within that 6 year period. Remember we are a OLDER
population.


Slow Code wrote:
wrote in
ups.com:


These are the numbers of current, unexpired
amateur radio licenses held by individuals
on the stated dates, and the percentage of
the total number of active licenses that
class contains:

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 General/Advanced/Extra - 291,209 (43.2%)

Total all classes - 674,792


As of May 15, 2006:

Novice - 25,182 (3.8%) [decrease of 24,147]
Technician - 280,160 (42.6%) [increase of 74,766]
Technician Plus - 39,130 (6.0%) [decrease of 89,730]
General - 133,240 (20.2%) [increase of 20,563]
Advanced - 72,315 (11.0%) [decrease of 27,467]
Extra - 108,005 (16.4%) [increase of 29,255]

Total Tech/TechPlus - 319,290 (48.6%) [decrease of 14,964]

Total General/Advanced/Extra - 313,560 (47.6%) [increase of 22,351]

Total all classes - 658,032 (decrease of 16,760)





I predicted and warned you all this would happen, but none of you wouldn't
listen.

Good Hams upset over all the Lids and CB'er like behavior on the bands as
a result of dumbing down license requirements are leaving the hobby. I
can't say I blame them and I hate to see them go.

On the bright side, there's a lot more ham gear on eBay you can bid on.

sc

Slow Code wrote:
wrote in
ups.com:



I predicted and warned you all this would happen, but none of you wouldn't
listen.

Good Hams upset over all the Lids and CB'er like behavior on the bands as
a result of dumbing down license requirements are leaving the hobby. I
can't say I blame them and I hate to see them go.
no they are dying of old age with no new ones to replace them

On the bright side, there's a lot more ham gear on eBay you can bid on.

sc

Slow Code wrote:


I predicted and warned you all this would happen, but none of you wouldn't
listen.

Good Hams upset over all the Lids and CB'er like behavior on the bands as
a result of dumbing down license requirements are leaving the hobby. I
can't say I blame them and I hate to see them go.

On the bright side, there's a lot more ham gear on eBay you can bid on.

sc

And what do these numbers prove? Not a bleeping thing.

I don't think any correlation exists between them and current behavior
on HF, which I assume, possibly incorrectly, that you are refering to.

The biggest idiots on 20m, for instance, are on 14275, both sides are
guilty, and I am quite sure that they all got their tickets with CW
required. And the problem stations on 75 are quite the same. Which
also proves nothing either way.

The cleanest, most public oriented operators are on 2m and 70cm, and
many, or maybe most, of them did not have to pass any CW exam. They
participate in Skywarn, emergency drills, and tons of other things. By
and large they are good citizens. The bad actors I have seen come from
all parts of the amateur community, with probably the worst from the
longest licensed, who seem to feel they have some sort of rights from
being around a long time. My personal sample could be wrong, but I
don't think so; I've been around a while, too.

The older generation always predicts that the current one is going to
cause the end of the world. Or whatever imagined disaster they are
concerned about. And they are always wrong.

tom
K0TAR

Tom Ring wrote:
Slow Code wrote:


I predicted and warned you all this would happen, but none of you wouldn't
listen.

Good Hams upset over all the Lids and CB'er like behavior on the bands as
a result of dumbing down license requirements are leaving the hobby. I
can't say I blame them and I hate to see them go.

On the bright side, there's a lot more ham gear on eBay you can bid on.

sc

And what do these numbers prove? Not a bleeping thing.

I don't think any correlation exists between them and current behavior
on HF, which I assume, possibly incorrectly, that you are refering to.

The biggest idiots on 20m, for instance, are on 14275, both sides are
guilty, and I am quite sure that they all got their tickets with CW
required. And the problem stations on 75 are quite the same. Which
also proves nothing either way.

it does prove that CW testing is at best poor proof of screening out
bad ops


The cleanest, most public oriented operators are on 2m and 70cm, and
many, or maybe most, of them did not have to pass any CW exam. They
participate in Skywarn, emergency drills, and tons of other things. By
and large they are good citizens. The bad actors I have seen come from
all parts of the amateur community, with probably the worst from the
longest licensed, who seem to feel they have some sort of rights from
being around a long time. My personal sample could be wrong, but I
don't think so; I've been around a while, too.

none of them today HAD to pass one some certainly have

The older generation always predicts that the current one is going to
cause the end of the world. Or whatever imagined disaster they are
concerned about. And they are always wrong.
at least to date

tom
K0TAR

Slow Code wrote:
I predicted and warned you all this would happen, but none of you wouldn't
listen.

If none of us wouldn't listen, doesn't that mean that
all of us did listen?
--
73, Cecil http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp

Slow Code wrote:




I predicted and warned you all this would happen, but none of you wouldn't
listen.

None of us WOULDN'T listen? That means we all did, which is a lie...I
never heard your prediction before.



On the bright side, there's a lot more ham gear on eBay you can bid on.

But...what good does having a bunch of gear if there is nobody to talk
to or listen to? I guess it's good if you're starting a radio museum...


sc

On the bright side, there's a lot more ham gear on eBay you can bid on.


But...what good does having a bunch of gear if there is nobody to talk
to or listen to? I guess it's good if you're starting a radio museum...


Actually there is less of the good stuff on eBay than there was 2 years
ago. Plus prices for the rare stuff still keeps going up.

I don't think any correlation exists between them and current behavior
on HF, which I assume, possibly incorrectly, that you are refering to.

The biggest idiots on 20m, for instance, are on 14275, both sides are
guilty, and I am quite sure that they all got their tickets with CW
required. And the problem stations on 75 are quite the same. Which
also proves nothing either way.


it does prove that CW testing is at best poor proof of screening out
bad ops


Yup if you check it out most of the crap on HF is from old farts that
passed their tests with the CW requirement.

I am quite sure that they all got their tickets with CW
required. And the problem stations on 75 are quite the same. Which
also proves nothing either way.

it does prove that CW testing is at best poor proof of screening out
bad ops

There's no test for one important ham skill: typing. I didn't appreciate
how important it is until I learned that one of my pro-Morse buddies does
all of his sending with a computer. (He can send with a key but doesn't
know where his is.) He says he copies with the computer, too, although he
can follow along with the audio.

I asked around and found this practice is far from rare; I'm not sure
"common" is the right word, though.

We also might want to test for basic language skills, including punctuation.
While it's not always true, the disagreeable transmissions (and NG posts)
often make the speakers/writers sound pretty ignorant.