Yeah, I think you are hitting on a point.  I know there are lots of times 
during the day you can listen to a repeater and hardly hear anything.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lou Kolb" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 29, 2014 2:25 PM
Subject: Re: Amateur Radio Licensees in U.S.


> 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
> Messages On-hold:
> 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