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Ham Radio Licenses Top 700,000, An All-Time High

Posted by timothy on from the ok-everyone-call-bdale-garbee dept.

Velcroman1 writes "The newest trend in American communication isn't another smartphone from Apple or Google but one of the elder statesmen of communication: Ham radio licenses are at an all time high, with over 700,000 licenses in the United States, according to the Federal Communications Commission. Ham radio first took the nation by storm nearly a hundred years ago. Last month the FCC logged 700,314 licenses, with nearly 40,000 new ones in the last five years. Compare that with 2005, when only 662,600 people hammed it up and you'll see why the American Radio Relay League — the authority on all things ham — is calling it a 'golden age' for ham. 'Over the last five years we've had 20-25,000 new hams,' said Allen Pitts, a spokesman for the group."

11 of 358 comments (clear)

  1. But how many of those 700,000 are alive? by rwade · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The article indicates that there are 700,000 licensed radio amateurs. But how many of those that are licensed are alive? There is no provision for the FCC to investigate how many hams are alive -- and they expire only every 10 years. I've attended meetings of a number of local clubs and the average age has got to be 70 -- I would say that the count of living US radio amateurs is 3/5ths or even half that 700,000...

    1. Re:But how many of those 700,000 are alive? by Chrisq · · Score: 5, Informative
      From FTA:

      While the number of licensees has grown considerably over the years, we realize that these numbers include some who are no longer active in Amateur Radio. A recent survey of ARRL members, however, indicates that more than 80 percent of those responding are active.

    2. Re:But how many of those 700,000 are alive? by rwade · · Score: 5, Insightful

      From FTA:

      While the number of licensees has grown considerably over the years, we realize that these numbers include some who are no longer active in Amateur Radio. A recent survey of ARRL members, however, indicates that more than 80 percent of those responding are active.

      I did see that, but that data is irrelevant to the question of how many of those holding licenses are alive.

      This is not a survey of all active hams, but of ARRL members. And it only counts those responding to their survey -- ie. it doesn't even count those that are members of ARRL but didn't answer the survey. The dead won't respond to a survey. All that this data says is that 20% of the members that respond to a survey from an organization that you have to pay to be a member of are actually active in radio.

  2. N0NEA by Juneau · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I got my license over 20 years when I started work at an RF engineering company (I was the accountant). I wanted to learn what we were building and the owner and most of the engineers were hams. I don't use my license much, but I learned a lot about technology. I learned to solder, built my own packet radio rig, and made the assemblers and techs laugh about my skills. I still am able to carry on a decent conversation about radio and it's served me well in all areas of technology.

  3. What's the attraction? by walterbyrd · · Score: 5, Interesting

    With the internet, and cell phones, and all; what is the HAM radio attraction?

    1. Re:What's the attraction? by RustNeverSleeps · · Score: 5, Informative

      With the internet, and cell phones, and all; what is the HAM radio attraction?

      People ask me this all the time. Ham radio is a big hobby with lots of areas to be explored, it's not simply about communicating. Some people are interested in building their own gear, some in preparing for emergencies, some in public service (communications for marathons, parades, etc). Some people are paper chasers, working to earn awards for contacting stations in as many different countries as possible, others like to operate in ham radio contests (like this one: http://www.cqww.com/). Some hams even bounce signals off the moon, using it as a giant reflector satellite.

      When people ask me why I like ham radio when I could just call someone on my cell phone, I like to compare it to fishing or hunting or any number of other hobbies. After all I can just buy fish to eat at the store. Fishing strictly as a means to obtain fish probably doesn't make a lot of sense, but that's not why people do it. Likewise, strictly communicating with other people isn't really why people do ham radio. There's a lot to learn in ham radio, and it can be a really fun, satisfying hobby.

  4. Sunspot Cycle by trolman · · Score: 5, Informative

    It helps when the sunspot cycle is on the upswing. During the CQWW last month it was almost no effort to work Australia and Japan from Texas.

  5. It's not just about talking anymore... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm a younger ham (22) and yes, there aren't too many of us, but we're certainly gaining numbers. What I've found, is that becoming a ham is getting to be very common amongst experimenters. The FCC allows us to design and construct our own equipment, not have to have it type certified, and use it on the air. We get to use higher powers than the unlicensed bands do, and we have a variety of modes to communicate our message. Sure I hop on a repeater once in a while, or I'll talk to Japan on a quiet Saturday, but what I use MY license for most is designing and constructing telemetry systems for high altitude balloons and high power amateur rocketry. It's a lot of fun, and having my license provides a lot of opportunities.

    Also, basic radios are getting cheaper. You can certainly buy the multi-thousand dollar rigs, and they're certainly nice, but for less than $100 these days you can get a nice little handheld, dual band, and will cover most all your local repeaters. If you're at all interested, contact your local club, they would love to have you. In my experience, it's a very welcoming hobby.

    Nigel
    K7NVH

  6. Re:That's interesting by Muad'Dave · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If you limit your ham experience to talking to other humans by voice, then I can see where the internet/cell phones/etc would dull your enthusiasm.

    Things get quite exciting when you include using digital modes like WSPR to exchange messages half way around the Earth with less power than a nightlight, or using very high-speed digital modes like FSK441 to exchange messages using signals _reflected off of meteor trails_, or bouncing signals _off the moon_, or using PSK31 to dig signals out of the noise that human ears can't even detect, or work stations from your living room on a handheld transceiver via an amateur-built honest-to-God satellite.

    There's plenty of frontier left in the hobby - you just have to be willing to 'enhance the radio art' by experimenting and learning!

    --
    Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
  7. Not true -- techs have phone in 10m band by rwade · · Score: 5, Informative

    Keep in mind that technician class is limited to CW transmissions below 30MHz, so morse code is still somewhat required for shortwave.

    Well, that's not true. From this chart, technician licensees have phone (SSB) privileges in the 10-meter band at 28.3-28.5 MHz.

  8. Re:I am. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I have had my license for 40 years and I died last year.