[SFDXA] US Amateur Radio Numbers Reach an All-Time High

[Bill]

    US Amateur Radio Numbers Reach an All-Time High

Amateur Radio growth in the US continues to soar. At the end of 2014, 
the total number of radio amateurs in the FCC’s Universal Licensing 
System (*ULS* <http://wireless.fcc.gov/uls/>) database reached an 
all-time high of 726,275. The trend has continued in the first 2 months 
of 2015, which saw the ham population rise to slightly more than 
727,000. The figures exclude expired licenses that are within the 2-year 
grace period, and club station licenses. Outside of a little dithering 
last fall, growth in the Amateur Radio Service in 2014 was steady, 
according to *figures* <http://www.ah0a.org/FCC/index.html> compiled by 
Joe Speroni, AH0A, on his FCC Amateur Radio Statistics web pages. Over 
the past decade the number of Amateur Radio licenses in the ULS database 
grew by some 8.1 percent. But 2014 also was a banner year for the ARRL 
Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC).

“For the first time in the ARRL VEC program’s history, we have conducted 
more than 7000 Amateur Radio exam sessions in a year, an important 
milestone,” said ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM. “A total of 7216 
ARRL-sponsored exam sessions were administered in 2014, compared to 6823 
in 2013.”

Somma said the number of new licensees spiked to more than 33,000 in 
2014, up by about 15 percent from the previous year. Successful license 
upgrades rose last year by an unprecedented 13 percent over a year earlier.

At the end of 2014, there were 136,405 Amateur Extra, 169,524 General, 
and 357,236 Technician class licensees — all record numbers, Somma 
pointed out. While the number of Amateur Extra licensees grew in each 
month of 2014, the number of Technicians and Generals — and of licensees 
overall — faltered a bit last July and September. Last year’s overall 
upward trend quickly recovered, however, during the final quarter of 
2014. The General population also dipped briefly in May 2014, before 
rebounding.

Somma believes the July and September dips may have been a result of 
applicants’ adjusting to the new Technician question pool that went into 
effect last July 1. “We always expect an adjustment period when a new 
question pool is introduced to the public, as VEs, teachers, and 
candidates must prepare new study and exam materials,” she said, calling 
the dips “a normal part of the question pool cycle.”

Technician licensees comprise a little less than one-half of the US 
Amateur Radio population. As of December 31, some 51,000 Advanced and 
12,000 Novice licensees remained in the FCC database. The FCC no longer 
issues Advanced and Novice licenses, and their numbers continue to decline.

Once again, California far and away was home to the largest number of 
licensees among the 50 states, with 102,806 at the end of February. 
Texas was a distant second, with 51,022, Florida came in third, with 
40,743, Washington was fourth, with 30,511, and Ohio was fifth at 
28,256. With the exception of Ohio, the licensing trend in these states 
has been through the roof. In Ohio, ham radio numbers have begun to flag 
after holding steady for about the past 4 years.

The state with the fewest number of Amateur Radio licensees in 2014 was 
North Dakota, with 1477, but in an overall upward trajectory since 
around 2009. Others with small ham populations include Delaware (1715 
and growing), Rhode Island (1926 and drooping), Wyoming (1868 and headed 
up), and Vermont (2101 and slipping after a bump in 2013 and 2014). The 
numbers may go a long way toward explaining why these are rare 
multipliers in the ARRL November Sweepstakes and other events.

Club station licenses in the US number 11,501, according to Speroni’s 
web pages. /— Thanks to Joe Speroni, AH0A; FCC ULS licensing statistics
/

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