Number of hams is REALLY growing!

[KR3LC]

Have you asked?

I am an Advanced Class Licensee and would like to be counted. Being disabled and homebound (due to an immune system deficiency) with no driver's license, I have yet to have any VECs volunteer to come over and test me for the Extra Class license. Maybe one day... 73, Dave K4EET

Dave, I see you are in Severn. I'm with a VE team in Anne Arundel County that is very active.I am sure we could muster up the required number of VEs and test you at home if that is what you need and desire. AS long as our presence doesn't lead to any health risk to you. Would you like me to run this by my team leader?

Rick
KR3LC

 

[Lawman51]

MrGClips, I think one reason you are seeing the up tick in licensing is due to the various state and county governmental agencies that are being required to provide backup comms in the event of a grid down situation. There has a been a big push recently in the western PA area to get back up comms situated now as several 911 centers are finding their aging equipment and associated infrastructure are deteriorating quickly and outages at the centers are becoming more frequent and last longer. One reason I got my Lic. this summer. ARES and RACES teams are becoming a larger priority in the over all scheme of things now, as they were kind of taken for granted before. Our county had a 911 outage 2 years ago that scared the hell out of them when there was only land line ability to dispatch emergency response units. CERT Teams are also getting larger memberships now that people recognize the need for community centered resources to deal with natural and man made disasters as they can not rely on government resources if the calamity is larger in scale. Also, if you look around the internet there are several prepper community sites that are pushing for all preppers to get a Lic now so they know what they are doing and have contacts prior to a SHTF situation, so they do not pick up something they bought on the internet and have no idea what to do with it or how to make contact with anyone.

Bruce
KC3FIH

 

[boscorocks]

I am studying now so I can finally take my Technician Test. I have had a scanner since 1997 as well as CBs, FRS and GMRS radios...but never overly "geeking out" on any one of those. It suddenly dawned on me the other day to just stop thinking about it and get my licence. My reason is a culmination of radio-related interests over the years and also for emergency preparedness. I am studying diligently and have already gotten passing grades on a couple of practice tests even though I haven't gotten through the whole study guide yet so I think I will be good to go by test time which is in three weeks. I for one am glad to see more people getting involved!

 

[KE0GXN]

Welcome to the forums!

New guy to ham here myself. Believe it or not this site along with the support and feedback of many members on here is what got me interested in ham radio. Great dudes in here!

Before that I was just a scanner buff. Now I am a full fledged radio buff.

Good luck with your studies and exam, if you ever need some new guy feedback don't hesitate to ask.

Lots of expercinced guys on here too, if you need some Elmer help that are more than willing to guide you in whatever you need advice on.

Take care and shoot for a 100 on that exam!

 

[K4EET]

Dave, I see you are in Severn. I'm with a VE team in Anne Arundel County that is very active.I am sure we could muster up the required number of VEs and test you at home if that is what you need and desire. AS long as our presence doesn't lead to any health risk to you. Would you like me to run this by my team leader?

Rick
KR3LC

Please see this thread about what Rick, KR3LC did...

 

[NDRADIONUT]

PREPPERS ?

 

[KE0GXN]

PREPPERS ?

Would be interested to hear folks' opinions on that.....good or bad?

I am far from one and its not the reason I got into ham. But I have read many preppers are getting their tickets....

 

[AA6IO]

I am a VE here in SE Lis Angeles County. Giving a technician exam this afternoon Jan 31. We have 24 people taking the exam. Our VE group has conducted four such exams since last April, and each time we have about 15 to 20 people taking exam. Pass rates been about 85 to 90 percent.
Various reasons why people have taken exam, but majority are doing it with emergency comms (preppers) in mind. Some are even military people from bases here in So. Calif. Many such VE groups in this region.

Steve AA6IO. Licensed since 1962. Extra Class since 1984.

 

[gewecke]

PREPPERS ?

.... Survivalists is a better term. :wink: 73, n9zas

 

[NDRADIONUT]

Same difference....

 

[AI7PM]

My guess is, that sooner or later there will be smart ham devices as well with the usual features, such as; touchscreen, apps, WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC, GPS and such, including messaging, group-talks and video transmissions (video chat) as well.

)

Those all already exist in Ham gear available today.

On the "100 to 1" bit, I mirror the points Seven-Delta Forty One made.

The Smart Devices are all infrastructure dependent, with phone communications only being one function of the device. Ham gives you phone capability anywhere on the globe. I spend a lot of time in the rural West. As good as wireless coverage has gotten, once you stray from a US highway or Interstate, the coverage drops off quickly. I've been 30 miles from any paved road in New Mexico, with no wireless coverage, yet could hit multiple FM repeaters (though also somewhat infrastructure dependent), or make a 6 to 80 meter contact directly.

I also cary HTs when I climb peaks in the various states. In Yellowstone this Fall, I had a converation with a station 75 miles away using an 5 watt HT. No cell service. Even in Colorado where I can stand at 13,000 feet plus and see multiple cities, my cellphone has no service. Cell antennas are not aimed upward, and it's a low power low propagation(RF definition) service.

I have met several hikers and climbers in these travels who've gotten their ticket for these reasons. Driving along I've answered a few "CQ" calls on 146.52 from folks up on peaks who just wanted to see if anyone could hear them. I specifically remember one in Utah. A newer Ham. He couldn't get over the fact that we were talking 50-60 miles apart, but he couldn't phone home.

Different machines.

 

[KE0GXN]

Some are even military people from bases here in So. Calif.

That's interesting, any idea what is drawing those folks?

When I was in I never heard anybody mention ham radio, wish they would have though.

 

[k6cpo]

Taking a break from my General Class studies, I checked the HamData.Com website and saw the rather large number of new ham operators.

To be honest, I was a bit surprised, especially in the face of the ever growing variety of smart devices, which, in my opinion, outperform any radio 100-to-1 hands down, so I'm not sure about the reason why so many people get into ham, but I find it very interesting.

Year to year, the number of hams grew by over 13,500 in the US, that's over 1,100+ a month:
- Technician: 4910
- General: 5253
- Extra: 3377 (WOW!)

On the other hand, I was surprised by the Total number of hams in the US to be ONLY 796,146, which I thought would be a LOT more, considering the large population.

- Total Tech: 389,930
- Total General: 183,019
- Total Extra: 143,685
(I did not include the values for the previous classes that had been discontinued.)

Based upon the upper figures it seems that after the Tech license, most people are upgrading towards the Extra. That is pretty cool!

So, what may be the reason to this rather drastic growth? Is it because ham radio is an interesting hobby, or because handy talkies are all over in electronics stores and people get interested in them, or more and more people think about some SHTF survival situation?

Well, whatever the reason, it's good to know that this hobby is definitely picking up steam.

The key to the hobby "picking up steam" as you put it, is not the numbers of licensed amateurs but how many are active. So many of the people that take and pass the Technician exam, never, ever get on the air. A lot never even pick up a radio.

I'm an active VE team leader and I always check to make sure the call signs get issued. I hear maybe 20% of those callsigns on the air once they are issued.

 

[gewecke]

Same difference....

No not so much because "preppers" like to advertise and true survivalists do not and also have skill sets to go with their gear ... big difference. :wink: 73, n9zas

 

[KE0GXN]

The key to the hobby "picking up steam" as you put it, is not the numbers of licensed amateurs but how many are active. So many of the people that take and pass the Technician exam, never, ever get on the air. A lot never even pick up a radio.

I'm an active VE team leader and I always check to make sure the call signs get issued. I hear maybe 20% of those callsigns on the air once they are issued.

I agree. In my opinion, the hobby does not advance unless folks are active. I am actually interested in becoming a VE in the future myself.

My VEs were the most accepting and inviting folks I met. As it should be. I imagine a VE a lot of times is the very first ham some come in contact with when they first enter the hobby. At least it was that way for me.

Their enthusiasm and the inviting nature of every one I have met so far is what has motivated me to stay as active as I can.