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HamRadioNow: That ARRL Entry Level License Survey

Discussion in 'Amateur Radio News' started by K4AAQ, Mar 2, 2017.

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  1. W1YW

    W1YW Ham Member QRZ Page

    I've had a chat the last few weeks following thru with many Techs I've run into at APCO and IWCE.

    It seems the surge of new hams--mostly 'just-in-case' hams-- is largely defined by professional public safety workers getting Techs.

    Nothing wrong with that; I am pointing out that these folks, by definition, are not young people.

    Again, how do we get YOUNG PEOPLE?
     
  2. KU4GW/SK2023

    KU4GW/SK2023 Ham Member QRZ Page

    You nailed it with your comments Harry! The tests are so easily passed now that all kinds of not so desirable people are showing up on the HF bands with no basic operating knowledge at all, materials that were in the old Novice exam when I took it 20 years ago. We had a KM4 call break in on our 75 meter group 4 nights ago who wanted to get a SWR check! We all cracked up with laughter and then elmered him to teach him what he should have already known with a General Class license. They've made it so easy with license applicants being able to just memorize the question pools without ever learning the theory. If they make it any easier than it already is now they may as well start putting licenses in the box with the radios and giving them away! I thought the FCC wanted incentive licensing. If they make a easier entry level license than the current Technician Class that pretty much defeats the point of incentive licensing. I talked to a 10 year old General Class licensee awhile back and think how much of a challenge can it be when 10 year old children have a General Class license? Also, it's nice to be able to get on the air and have a technical conversation, but it's already to the point now that Billy Bob, Jimmy Ray, Leroy, Bubba, and probably their billy goat can almost pass the license exam for worldwide privileges! Enough is enough! I hear the results of it on the air frequently! It's getting more and more like 11 meters with each passing day! That's what gave me the incentive to study for my ticket to begin with, to get away from some of the crazies, but now the entry level exam is so easy the crazies with their echo chambers, roger beeps, animal noises, whistling, and tuning up right on top of ongoing QSOs etcetera are showing up frequently on the lower HF bands. I know there are a few trouble maker lids that have been around for years also, but it happens much more frequently than it used to. I blame a lot of that too on the lack of rule enforcement by the FCC. Laura Smith certainly is no Riley Hollingsworth by any stretch of the imagination! When one man in the audience at her Pacificon speech stood up and complained about someone who had been harassing the HF group he hung out with for decades, even following them to the Extra Class part of the band where they went to try and get away from him since he didn't hold a Extra Class license he followed them there and continued it anyway and has been getting away with it for years. Laura Smith's response to the gentleman's comment was to basically brush him off and go on to the next question without any answer for him at all! You can watch it for yourself if you like at this link: Anyway, I say "NO" to another entry level license! It's too easy as it is!



     
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  3. KD8DEY

    KD8DEY Ham Member QRZ Page

    You will be Happy to know that my Goat has no interest in Amateur Radio.
    Sincerely,
    Bubba
     
  4. W0AAT

    W0AAT Ham Member QRZ Page

    Yet again the "I had to learn code group" shows up screaming it will be the death of ham radio...

    Give technicians data privileges on all bands they have code privileges on now! Kids are into computers and to interface with radio might gain interest. They are not interested in learning morse code that is dead and not used by anyone but hams these days(and far fewer of them as time goes by).

    And a major turnoff to many are the incessant contests on the HF bands. Hardly a weekend goes by where someone isn't screaming CQ contest into a microphone with the gain maxed out. The contesters don't care if you are rag chewing, they need the frequency so get lost or I will shout over you while running legal limit+++...
     
  5. N3HEE

    N3HEE Ham Member QRZ Page

    Contesting is a great way to get youth actively involved in ham radio. Contesters are some of the most technically advanced and experienced operators that we have. I can remember when I was a 14 year old general and was exposed to contesting for the first time. I learned allot and was very motivated to advance my license class because of it. Today contesting interfaces modern computer technology with ham radio which appeals to our youth. The competitive aspect of contesting also appeals to our youth. Contesting is much like playing a video game. It involves experimentation, station building, planning, strategy, technique and skill building. We have a youth operator in our contest club (PVRC) and he is amazing ! He is learning from the best of the best in ham radio. What could be better ?
     
    WB9VPG likes this.
  6. N1FM

    N1FM Ham Member QRZ Page

    US Amateur Radio Numbers Continue to Soar
    February 29, 2016
    ARRL NEWS


    Amateur Radio is alive and well! Growth in the US continued in 2015, with a record 735,405 licensees in the FCC’s Universal Licensing System (ULS) database by the end of the year. That’s up 9130 over December 2014, a 1.2 percent rise, continuing a steady increase in the Amateur Radio population in every year since 2007. In 2014, the Amateur Radio ranks grew by a net 8149 licensees. The figures, compiled by Joe Speroni, AH0A, on his FCC Amateur Radio Statistics web pages, exclude expired licenses that are within the 2-year grace period, and club station licenses. Compared with the same month 10 years ago, the Amateur Radio population in the US has expanded by 72,805 licensees — or nearly 11 percent.

    As expected, the biggest growth by license class was in Technician licensees, which rose by 6570 in 2015. General ranks increased by 3079, and Amateur Extra numbers went up by 3496. The 2015 overall numbers faltered a little in April before rebounding in July. The introduction of a new General class question pool on July 1 appeared to have only a slight effect on month-to-month numbers in that license class. ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM, said 2015 was another banner year for ARRL VEC-sponsored test sessions.

    “For the second year in a row, we have conducted more than 7,000 Amateur Radio exam sessions in a year, an important milestone for the ARRL VEC,” she said. “A total of 7358 ARRL-sponsored exam sessions were administered in 2015, compared to 7216 in 2014. The number of exam applicants was down slightly in 2015, compared to the previous year, and the number of examination elements administered also dipped slightly, she noted.

    “Since 2014 was a record-setting year, the numbers of 2015 examinees didn’t drop so much as return to more typical levels,” she explained.

    Somma pointed out that the ARRL-VEC also processed and filed nearly 10,100 license renewals and address changes for members in 2015. This is a free service to ARRL members.

    Technician licensees still comprise a little less than one-half of the US Amateur Radio population. As of December 31, some 47,850 Advanced and 10,800 Novice licensees remained in the FCC database. The FCC no longer issues Advanced and Novice licenses, and their numbers continue to decline.

    Once again, California far and away was home to the largest number of licensees among the 50 states, with 103,938 at the end of 2015, up from 102,735 at the end of 2014. North Dakota remained the state with the fewest number of Amateur Radio licensees, with 1510, up very slightly over the previous 12 months. Club station licenses in the US number 11,599, according to Speroni’s web pages.

    — Thanks to Joe Speroni, AH0A; FCC ULS licensing statistics
     
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  7. N1FM

    N1FM Ham Member QRZ Page

    I ask again; where is the data indicating that there is any problem, whatsoever, with the current license regime, which would necessitate the creation of an easier license, a new class, or a class with greater privileges?

    1. What is/are the issue(s)? Please provide objective evidence.
    2. What is/are the solution(s)? Please provide a clear nexus between the evidence and solution(s) data sets.

    Month-------Extra-------Adv------Gen---------Tech--------Nov--------Total ARS
    Dec-2016---143,337---45,071---172,807-----371,560-----10,012------742,787

    Jun-1997----73,737----107,024--116,629 ----314,532-----66,551-----678,473

    02/24/2017
    By Joe Speroni
     
    Last edited: Mar 20, 2017
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  8. N5IPA

    N5IPA Ham Member QRZ Page

    Now there is some data!!
     
  9. KD4LT

    KD4LT Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    Look at that ARRL
     
  10. N1FM

    N1FM Ham Member QRZ Page

    Here's more data, relative to observations regarding on-air activity.

    ARRL says ham radio is healthier than ever, and based on published license numbers that appears to be true. Others say there is less activity on the bands. Based strictly on published and objective data, can anyone tell me why there seems to be less activity?

    Anyone?

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    Last edited: Mar 20, 2017
  11. W1YW

    W1YW Ham Member QRZ Page

    The problem with the current licensing regime is the same problem that has plagued the ARS since 1976-- the decline and fall of young ham demographics.

    Specifically, the problem with the regime is the volumetric bloat of the question pool for the present entry exam . This bloat is a huge turn off to young people and is in opposition to the process of 50 years ago, when young hams joined the ranks in relatively healthy numbers, producing the present elderly but mostly experienced ham population.

    The entry exam of 1966 was the Novice, which had 44 study questions.

    Period.

    Not an EXAM or 'dumb down' issue...its a question pool BLOAT issue.
     
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  12. W4HM

    W4HM XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    Exactly the same thing , if you run away from a bloated Technician class question pool you are dumb/dumbed down, "and" lazy. We are never going to get large numbers of young people interested in hamateur radio ever again and we don't need them either. They are not interested in our hobby anymore.

    We need mature men and women in their 40's and 50's that are not lazy and are near or at retirement age that own their home and have disposable income to join the hamateur radio ranks. I always vote for quality over quantity.

    And I'm a very active ham that works SSB, CW and virtually all current digital modes. Every single day I make many contacts and never go for wanting a contact on any band that is open propagation wise. I don't see the empty bands that you people talk about and the 40-160 meters bands will just get more crowded not less as solar cycle 24 wanes and solar cycle 25 sputters. That happens at the bottom of very solar cycle.

    Once again the few of you are looking for a problem to apply your solution too.
     
    Last edited: Mar 20, 2017
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  13. KB1PA

    KB1PA XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    What we need to see is a breakdown of number of hams vs the general population, if possible by age. I suspect the percentages have stayed the same. I think the US population is getting older. There are probably fewer young people (normal population cycles). The schools now just teach to the test. They probably don't teach calculus or trigonometry anymore, and algebra gives students hives. They don't teach civics or geography in a lot of places. Some areas are trying to teach STEAM but they are few and far between. This has reduced the potential ham radio pool (the "nerdy" subjects were prime classes to recruit new hams).

    We need to take what we have and teach new hams how to become participants in the hobby. This is whats not being done.

    We need to find out from those recently licensed why they became licensed. We need to find out from groups like "makers" why they are not getting licensed. Once we have that info we can analyze it and
    see 1) if there is a problem and 2) what can be done to solve it.

    Throwing material at a wall and seeing what sticks does nothing.
     
  14. WF9Q

    WF9Q Ham Member QRZ Page

    The main problem is ham radio lacks violence, satanic rituals, drama, all the crap that is popular on TV. Then it is out in the open, ability to be "sneaky" drives user engagement, as in snap chat, facebook, texting and more...... So how do you teach or drive participation of something that lacks appeal relative to modern culture?
     
  15. W4HM

    W4HM XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    I don't know man I hear allot of what you just described on 7200 kHz around the clock. ;):eek:
     
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