2019-10-18, 21:48:39
Page last updated on: Friday, October 18, 2019
Will a Beginners licence cure the slump in new radio amateurs?
The number getting their UK Foundation licence has slumped in the past 13 years. In this YouTube video RSGB VHF Manager John Regnault G4SWX discusses his proposal for a Beginners Amateur Radio Licence
1892 newcomers gained their Foundation licence in 2005 but there were only 1366 in 2018 a drop of 28%. At the same time the RadCom Silent Keys column shows the death-rate of amateurs has increased. Take into account the natural churn in the hobby as people leave to pursue other interests and it's clear the number of newcomers is insufficient to cover those being lost - the hobby is in decline.
It has been suggested we need at least 2,000 newcomers each year just to maintain current activity levels and even now the VHF/UHF bands can be very quiet most of the time. To grow the hobby and increase activity at VHF/UHF we need many more than that.
Watch A beginners UK amateur radio licence?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYGAmtClfzc
New UK Entry Level Licence proposed
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2019/oc...oposed.htm
Read the report on the Future & Growth of Amateur Radio presentations given at the RSGB Convention on October 13
https://www.essexham.co.uk/news/rsgb-con...-2019.html
Japan's Class 4 ham radio licence
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2019/oc...icence.htm
Can online ham radio exams improve accessibility?
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2019/oc...bility.htm
Ham Chat UK - Discuss the future of amateur radio
https://groups.io/g/HamChat
Will a Beginners licence cure the slump in new radio amateurs?
The number getting their UK Foundation licence has slumped in the past 13 years. In this YouTube video RSGB VHF Manager John Regnault G4SWX discusses his proposal for a Beginners Amateur Radio Licence
1892 newcomers gained their Foundation licence in 2005 but there were only 1366 in 2018 a drop of 28%. At the same time the RadCom Silent Keys column shows the death-rate of amateurs has increased. Take into account the natural churn in the hobby as people leave to pursue other interests and it's clear the number of newcomers is insufficient to cover those being lost - the hobby is in decline.
It has been suggested we need at least 2,000 newcomers each year just to maintain current activity levels and even now the VHF/UHF bands can be very quiet most of the time. To grow the hobby and increase activity at VHF/UHF we need many more than that.
Watch A beginners UK amateur radio licence?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYGAmtClfzc
New UK Entry Level Licence proposed
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2019/oc...oposed.htm
Read the report on the Future & Growth of Amateur Radio presentations given at the RSGB Convention on October 13
https://www.essexham.co.uk/news/rsgb-con...-2019.html
Japan's Class 4 ham radio licence
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2019/oc...icence.htm
Can online ham radio exams improve accessibility?
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2019/oc...bility.htm
Ham Chat UK - Discuss the future of amateur radio
https://groups.io/g/HamChat