Steve,

judging by the lack of activity on VHF and UHF, I suspect that most newly 
licensed hams are not active at all. I know the league is delighted to tout 
these higher-than-ever numbers, but how much good do they do the hobby if 
most aren't even on the air? 73, Lou  WA3MIX
Lou Kolb
Voice-over Artist:
Radio/TV Ads, Video narrations
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www.loukolb.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 29, 2014 2:14 PM
Subject: Amateur Radio Licensees in U.S.


> BlankPhil,
>
> You got me curious.  Here is the number of licensed hams from 1971 to 2012
> by decade
> . December 1971: 285,000
> . December 1981: 433,000
> . December 1991: 494,000
> . December 2001: 683,000
> . December 2012: 709,500
>
>
> Clearly, the biggest jump occurred after the code requirement was reduced 
> to
> 5 WPM for all classes of license.  No code certainly contributes to the
> number of operators.  There are now 130,000 Extras.
>
> I suspect though, judging from what I hear on the HF bands, that activity 
> of
> the newer hams is more likely on VHF and above.
>
>
> Steve, K8SP
> Lansing, MI