[Elecraft] How Many Hams In USA?

[N2EY at aol.com]

In a message dated 9/14/07 11:05:26 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
daleputnam at hotmail.com writes:


> One might find it very interesting to compare the annual income per family, 
> during the times shown.

Yes, but it would have to be adjusted for inflation. Back in the 1950s, a 
gross family income of $5,000/yr was solidly middle-class, and $10,000/yr was 
Easy Street. 

 I would even further offer that it may be that the harder it is for families 
to make a 
> "good" living, the easier it is for folks to become hams. 
> 
You're obviously looking at the enormous growth of the 1930s, despite the 
Great Depression. I don't have a simple explanation of why there was so much 
growth then. 

But if the family-income theory is true, why so much growth in the 1950s and 
so little in the 1960s? Why the downturn in recent years?

It seems to me that the biggest change in "personal economics" in my lifetime 
has been a sort of inversion of the cost of necessities and luxuries. When I 
was a kid, 40-50 years ago) it seemed that necessities (food, clothing, 
housing, transportation, utilities, energy, health care) were relatively 
inexpensive. Particularly if you went for the basic model and took care of it yourself. 
But luxuries (TV, vacations, restaurants, ham radio, etc.) were relatively 
expensive, unless you were somewhat ingenious. 

Now it seems that the necessities are expensive and the luxuries inexpensive! 
Almost everyone can have a computer, iPod, etc., but the house to put them in 
is another story.

What this meant to ham radio was that, in the past, lots of folks had a home 
with room for a decent antenna and shack, but not a lot of money for a fancy 
rig. So there were lots of articles and examples of how to do ham radio on a 
shoestring budget, and they were practical because of the economics of the time. 
A lot of hams homebrewed, converted surplus and built kits because there was 
simply no other affordable option. (How many of us built an Elecraft to save 
money, compared to those who built one for its performance?)

I suspect that for every ham with an S-line on the air there were a dozen 
hams with ARC-5s and S-38s. Today it's the other way around!

I think there are lots of other factors, many of them complicated. For 
example, in the 1930s there were lots of inexpensive parts on the market, partly 
because of mass-production techniques developed for broadcasting and partly 
because of business failures. After WW2, and well into the 1970s, there was an 
enormous amount of war-surplus parts and equipment around at low prices.

Sunspot peaks and lows have a considerable effect.

I think a lot has to do with people's living situations. In the 1930s, 
putting up a wire for your radio set was something everyone did. Now it's forbidden 
in many places! 
In the 1950s, a lot of Americans were moving out to the 'burbs, with lots of 
room and no restrictions. That's changed greatly.

73 de Jim, N2EY






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