2020-02-01, 09:25:03
(2019-08-05, 11:37:49)VE3WI Dave Wrote: Maybe the problem is due to how easy it is to get, and keep, a ham licence in Canada compared to the US and UK. I have seen a lot of people get licenced only to disappear and never get involved in the hobby. Perhaps if we looked at the ratio of active hams to RAC members we might see a different picture.
John VA3KOT (RAC member).
Amen to that and thanks to Todd for stepping up and voicing his opinion.
When I look at the numbers I am embarrassed to be a Canadian ham:
USA: ~760,000 callsigns in the registry, ARRL membership ~154,000 (20%)
UK: ~85,000 callsigns in the registry, RSGB membership: ~ 23,000 (27%)
Canada: ~70,000 callsigns in the registry, RAC membership ~ 4500 (6%)
By a straight ratio with the US, RAC membership should be ~ 14,000 (19,000 if you compare with UK). If you browse the big US ham forums (qrz.com & eham.net) there is a tremendous amount of vitriol poured on ARRL, yet their penetration is >30x RAC.
Are we REALLY that much more cheap and selfish than our US neighbours? I'd like to think not, but whenever I promote RAC membership to my fellow hams, I get mostly blank stares or hand-waving arguments (you know: "too expensive", "lousy magazine", "they don't do anything for me", etc etc ad nauseum).
And I'm sure those same hams will be the loudest complainers when we lose some of our little scraps of spectrum, despite the work of the RAC folks who are putting their hearts & souls into preserving it for us.
Join RAC!
73
Dave, VE3WI