Amateur licenses increasing in numbers?

Status
Not open for further replies.

N4JKD

Amateur Extra
Joined
Apr 22, 2010
Messages
360
Location
Coffee County, Tennessee
The debate has been going on for years. I say yes licenses are increasing. Numbers dropped I'm the 70s with the cb craze, until the late 90s. Since 9/11 and Katrina, people are getting their licenses more over to help out others, chat and emergency communications. Amateur radio is the only fail safe communications. As seen on 9/11, Katrina, Haiti that communications as cellphone and land line phones go down or get jammed. Amateur radio operators made emergency calls, assisted the emergency services and dispatched the red cross to places. People are realizing that even though our communications grid is strong, it is no match for nature, but amateur radio will always work.
 

DCB65

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 6, 2006
Messages
28
Location
Ulster County, NY
Technician for now but certainly could go for general after getting some more experience and advice, etc. :)
 

SCPD

QRT
Joined
Feb 24, 2001
Messages
0
Location
Virginia
It is really too bad that the Amateur service has gone to crap in the last few years. Ever since they got rid of the code portion any moron can get an amateur license and does it ever show. Just look at this ..... amateur radio at its finest.

Police: San Jacinto woman arrested after making threats on police radio

Most hams are reasonable and descent people but it is becoming more and more like CB. Who cannot memorize the questions and answers with 35 questions in the exam.

I have had my ham license for over 20 years, yes back in a time where it took some effort to get a license. Those were the days .....
 

DCB65

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 6, 2006
Messages
28
Location
Ulster County, NY
Guess I'll be one of those new morons then...all because I didn't have to do code. :roll:

Maybe I'll forgot all the theory I learned about radios and electronics over the years and just simply memorize the questions and answers and get my license too!!!!!

Getting rid of the code requirement was one of the best moves the FCC could have done. It opened up the world of amateur radio to a lot more people. Like it or not there are a lot of people who don't want to do code and would like to simply use voice.

And about the woman who was broadcasting on police and fire freqs...obviously an idiot with lots of issues. But don't lump a lot of newer hams in with her just because she has a technician license. She could have done what she did if she had a license or not...all she needed was the hardware.
 

KC1UA

Scan New England Janitor/Maintenance
Database Admin
Joined
Oct 27, 2002
Messages
2,048
Location
Marstons Mills, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
This debate rages on. Sadly it's the "good ole boy" network that believes the hobby belongs to them. They are unwilling to accept change. I'm an advanced class amateur that took the code tests and passed them. I was also a radioman in the USCG and was required to graduate radioman school with a minimum of 18 WPM copy.

Let's face it. It's the 21st century. Show me a kid that is going to sit down and learn morse code for global communications when he or she can do it on the internet. Dropping the code was the best thing that could have happened if this hobby is to be saved. Like it or not, it's the truth.

With regards to "CB like activity", sure it happens. However, why aren't hams self-policing this more? There are lines of communications that exist for that. Use them if you come across activity that is unbecoming of the amateur radio community.
 

rdale

Completely Banned for the Greater Good
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Feb 3, 2001
Messages
11,380
Location
Lansing, MI
The debate has been going on for years

How can you call it "a debate"? Your question is about the number of licenses issued annually - and you can look that up at the FCC and see the facts instead of debating who is right/wrong.
 

konnan69

Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2010
Messages
10
Location
Justin, TX
"This change eliminates an unnecessary regulatory burden that may discourage current Amateur Radio operators from advancing their skills and participating more fully in the benefits of Amateur Radio," the FCC said.
 

reedeb

Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2006
Messages
849
Location
Dallas Texas
I'm a [No Code] Tech since 1995 I could never get code [boy did I try ever since the 70's in Boy Scouts] As for all the CB like mentality, just go to some HF frequencies and listen to some of "real hams" they put ALL the CB potty mouths to shame!!
 

N1SQB

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 25, 2003
Messages
2,733
Location
Somewhere On Earth
Dinosaurs in the 21st century

It just doesn't stop!
That is one of the reasons why I waited to upgrade my ticket. The old breed treating everyone like an outcast because they did not do the "code" thing. The real "morons" are the old dinosaurs who refused to change with the times when the rest of the world realized that CW was archaic and extinct in the real world. They just cannot take defeat and spend all their time trying to degrade anyone and everyone who did not take a code exam. Get over it old dying dinosaurs, it's a new century, or haven't you noticed? LOL.....

Manny
 

zz0468

QRT
Banned
Joined
Feb 6, 2007
Messages
6,034
It is really too bad that the Amateur service has gone to crap in the last few years. Ever since they got rid of the code portion any moron can get an amateur license and does it ever show. Just look at this ..... amateur radio at its finest.

Police: San Jacinto woman arrested after making threats on police radio

Most hams are reasonable and descent people but it is becoming more and more like CB. Who cannot memorize the questions and answers with 35 questions in the exam.

I have had my ham license for over 20 years, yes back in a time where it took some effort to get a license. Those were the days .....

Here we go again. :roll:

That sort of thing happened before the code tests went away. The fact is, the level of effort required to get an entry level ham license hasn't really changed... 20 simple questions and a 5wpm code test vs. 35 slightly less simple questions with more emphasis on rules and regulations. You're telling me that's all that stands between quality hams and idiots?

I'm not buying it.

The Hemet incident was an anomaly, and not a reflection on hams in general.
 

gewecke

Completely Banned for the Greater Good
Banned
Joined
Jan 29, 2006
Messages
7,452
Location
Illinois
Here we go again. :roll:

That sort of thing happened before the code tests went away. The fact is, the level of effort required to get an entry level ham license hasn't really changed... 20 simple questions and a 5wpm code test vs. 35 slightly less simple questions with more emphasis on rules and regulations. You're telling me that's all that stands between quality hams and idiots?

I'm not buying it.

The Hemet incident was an anomaly, and not a reflection on hams in general.

What was the Hemet incident?? Is there a link to this?
I guess I'm not privy to some news articles here, who was the woman who broadcasted over public safety radio?
n9zas
 

N1SQB

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 25, 2003
Messages
2,733
Location
Somewhere On Earth
Every hobby has a few bad apples! You can't judge something because one or 2 people do idiotic things.

Manny
 

iMONITOR

Silent Key
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Sep 20, 2006
Messages
11,156
Location
S.E. Michigan
It is really too bad that the Amateur service has gone to crap in the last few years. Ever since they got rid of the code portion any moron can get an amateur license and does it ever show. Just look at this ..... amateur radio at its finest.

Police: San Jacinto woman arrested after making threats on police radio

Most hams are reasonable and descent people but it is becoming more and more like CB. Who cannot memorize the questions and answers with 35 questions in the exam.

I have had my ham license for over 20 years, yes back in a time where it took some effort to get a license. Those were the days .....


I honestly do not see how learning the code has any correlation to the quality of applicants receiving licenses. You don't have to learn how to use a typewriter to operate a computer, or crank start your engine, to obtain a driver's license.

I've seen a lot of hams in my lifetime that mastered the code, but had little or no morals or ethics while operating their radios.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Aug 9, 2008
Messages
268
Well put iMONITOR! Without these NEW hams ,the FCC could take away the spectrum and the hobby will DIE. Maybe thats what all the old farts want.I had some jerk on a repeater tell me I didnt ID the other day just because me and my friends were talking and he doesnt like younger hams.Im pushin 40,Im not that young....Anyways I tend to over-ID and this clueless buffoon should have minded his own business.That night I thought of dumping the radios all together,but nah,I'll stick around and be a thorn in his azz.
If you dont like what you hear,then DONT LISTEN!!!!!!!!!!Change the channel.If you dont like ham radio anymore then get a dam ant farm.Welcome new hams and let the hobby EXPAND already.Then we get MORE NEW RADIOS from all the companies that make em.Its a WIN-WIN.
 

iMONITOR

Silent Key
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Sep 20, 2006
Messages
11,156
Location
S.E. Michigan
Maybe thats what all the old farts want.I had some jerk on a repeater tell me I didnt ID the other day just because me and my friends were talking and he doesnt like younger hams.Im pushin 40,Im not that young.

I'm defiantly not young (turning 60 this month). Some of the 2-meter repeaters in my area are full of a bunch of hoity toity prima donnas, it's pathetic! They're so full of themselves. They tread new hams like crap! Some of the operators down south on HF really get out of hand.

That is what has kept me from pursuing a amateur radio license, certainly not the code!
 

PeterGV

K1PGV
Joined
Jul 10, 2006
Messages
754
Location
Mont Vernon, NH
Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry9630/5.0.0.591 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

Dude...there are creeps everywhere, and in every hobby.

The really great thing about ham radio is the vast breadth of the hobby. Got a bunch of creeps on the repeaters near you? Get into HF. Don't like the creeps on 75M phone? Turn the dial, go to another band, or fire-up a QSO on 20m PSK-31. Use your ham radio training for public service... Explore EME... Get into building...

The best thing about the hobby is the wide variety of what it has to offer.

So, ignore the creeps and get your license. You'll find plenty to enjoys.

Peter
K1PGV
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top