Author Archive
The Case of The Shrinking Technicians
January 21st, 2025 | 
Author: My friend and colleague Frank/K4FMH has published several recent articles on trends in amateur radio licensing and demographics. This one, The Decline in ARRL Membership and Market Share, has some interesting data and observations about licensing trends in the US. (It also comments on ARRL membership trends, but that is not the subject of this post.) This post focuses on the decline in the number of FCC amateur radio licensees in the past few years. See the chart below.
By License Class
As Frank points out, breaking this out by license class is illuminating. Unsurprisingly, the Novice and Advanced class licensees are experiencing a slow, steady decline. This probably represents the natural decline of a set of licensees when no new licenses are issued. Advanced class licensees declined 4.7% per year from 2019 to 2024. Some of these licensees may be upgrading to higher class licenses, but anecdotally, I think this is a small effect.
The Technician class is more concerning, with a 7.2% cumulative decline starting roughly in June 2021. (The data is in 6-month increments.) Being the entry-level license and representing about half of the total licenses, it is a strong indicator of ham radio licensing activity, in general. One potential factor contributing to this decline is that COVID-19 restrictions on public gatherings started around March 2020. In most areas, the VE exam opportunities dropped off dramatically, which could have affected the number of new licensees. This triggered a new emphasis on offering online exams, so exam availability improved during the following years.
Fees and Dabblers
Another factor is that the FCC fee implemented a $35 application fee in April 2022. However, this came after the Technician decline started. Although the $35 fee is arguably “reasonable,” I expect it to decrease the number of licensees.
Many Technicians are only dabbling in ham radio.
Dabbler: someone who takes a slight and not very serious interest in a subject, or tries a particular activity for a short period.
These Dabblers may get their license in response to family or friends encouraging them to do it. Or they may have a work connection such as being a firefighter, law enforcement officer, or emergency medical technician. Or maybe they were curious about the hobby, but it did not quite take hold. When they get to the point of renewing their license, many Dabblers will likely decide not to spend the $35. One might argue that the Dabblers are not engaged in the amateur radio service so having them drop out may be just fine. Whatever the reason, the result is fewer licensees.
Frank points out that the General and Extra Class numbers are increasing, reflecting healthier activity in those license classes. However, the slope of those curves is pretty flat, and the General class declined slightly during the past year. From December 2019 to December 2024, the General class numbers increased by 3% and the Extra class by 4%. US population growth was about 3% during this time, so these two license classes are just keeping up with population growth. I’d argue there are fewer Dabblers in the General and Extra ranks as they have demonstrated enough interest and commitment to the hobby that they went to the trouble of earning a higher-level license. Accordingly, the $35 FCC fee would have less effect on these two license classes. (I don’t have data to support this, so it is just my own little hypothesis.)
Back in 2018, I made some comparisons between ham radio and other activities. These ratios have probably not changed much in 7 years.
In 2018, the number of amateur radio licenses in the FCC database was about 0.2% of the US population, which remains about the same today. Of course, not all those licensees are active, so this overstates ham radio activity. Birdwatching came in at 3% of the population, so it’s 10 times more popular than ham radio.
Conclusions
Technician decline is real and should be a cause for concern. I don’t think we should panic but if this trend continues, the ham radio population will wither away. I mentioned the probable impact from COVID-19, which should be a transient event that has now passed. The impact of the FCC license application fee (if any) could be long-lasting.
It is well known that the radio amateur population is skewed towards older individuals…mostly older men. Aging does cause people to leave the hobby over time, either by death or by reduced physical and mental ability. This is probably part of the picture, but why would it only affect the Technician numbers?
What do you think?
73 Bob K0NR
The post The Case of The Shrinking Technicians appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.
Erroneous Prepper Frequency Lists
Many “emergency frequency lists” showing up on the internet are a hodgepodge of frequencies scraped from various sources and assembled into what looks like a credible list. Some of these frequencies are useful, but too many are misleading and perhaps even dangerous. These lists gloss over training and licensing issues, as described here: The Talisman Radio.
Many of these lists are generated by copying other prepper lists or scanning various sources for “emergency frequencies.” Even this Wikipedia page about international distress frequencies includes some of this misinformation.
Important Disclaimer: People often point out that in many jurisdictions, a citizen without a radio license for a specific frequency can still make a call in case of a true emergency (usually defined as potential loss of life or property). This may be true, but it is generally not a good emergency communications strategy: See The Talisman Radio. Most of these lists do not address the issue of radio licensing at all, which is very misleading.
Here is a recent FCC action to consider: The FCC has ruled that a ham radio operator in Idaho must pay a record $34,000 penalty for interfering with wildfire communications on 151.145 MHz. This is a US Forest Service frequency not authorized for amateur radio licensees. So don’t be transmitting on unauthorized frequencies.
Misleading Frequency Lists
One of the worst frequency lists is shown here by Stryker Radios. This “Ham Radio Emergency Frequencies” list shows 29 frequencies, but only two are in the ham bands. The rest are a collection of airband, marine, FEMA, search and rescue, National Guard, US Air Force, etc. Most of these frequencies are not legal for the general public to use. An FCC amateur radio license permits operation on the two ham radio frequencies listed but nothing else. The 4Patriots has a similar list, leaving out the ham radio frequencies and calling the list “other emergency radio frequencies.” The Save Net Radio website also has a poorly thought-out frequency list. But they compound their errors with this statement:
It’s important to note that these frequencies aren’t just for professional rescuers and emergency workers; they can also be used by ordinary citizens who are equipped with the appropriate radio equipment.
This is incorrect and potentially dangerous.
Some Specific Frequencies
These emergency frequencies have three main uses: situational awareness (listening to learn what is happening in your environment), distress calls (calling out to anyone for help), and coordination with friends (communicating with friends and associates about supplies, health and welfare, transportation, weather, etc.)
We must consider our radio’s capabilities, specifically the frequency range (for transmit and receive, which may differ) and modulation type (AM, FM, SSB, etc.). The typical low-cost VHF/UHF radio that is so common (Baofeng UV-5R or similar) has a frequency range of 136 to 174 MHz (VHF) and 400 to 520 MHz (UHF). Many of these radios are shipped with their transmit frequency limited to the amateur (ham) radio bands: 144 to 148 MHz and 420 to 450 MHz. However, there may be a method to enable (or unlock) the entire frequency range for transmitting. Check the specifications of your radio model. These radios are almost always FM only, so no AM or SSB. Some radios can receive AM in the aircraft band but won’t transmit AM.
Listening to radio activity around you can be very helpful in understanding situational awareness. A good example is listening to your local fire or law enforcement channels. You can hear some of these frequencies using a low-cost VHF/UHF radio but a scanner that receives digital signals will be a lot more useful.
Let’s examine some of the frequencies in the Stryker list. I will skip the frequencies outside the typical VHF and UHF tuning ranges listed above, as your radio most likely won’t be able to tune them.
138.225 MHz: Primary FEMA channel for disaster relief operations.
This frequency is in the federal VHF band, but I could not confirm a specific usage.
To transmit on this frequency, you need federal authorization.
146.52 MHz: Ham radio frequency for non-repeater communications on the two-meter band.
This is the 2m FM calling frequency, which is generally lightly used. You may hear interesting traffic on this frequency but need a ham radio license to transmit on it.
151.625 MHz: Utilized by mobile businesses such as circuses, exhibitions, trade shows, and sports teams. Other channels in use are 154.57 and 154.60 MHz.
This is an itinerant business band frequency known as the Red Dot channel. The other two frequencies listed are MURS Channels 4 and 5. They may be useful to program in.
154.28 MHz: Local fire department emergency communication channel. Additional frequencies include 154.265 and 154.295 MHz.
These are Fire Mutual Aid channels (VFIRE21, VFIRE22, VFIRE23) set aside for when multiple fire districts need to communicate. Typically, each district has their own radio frequencies and only uses these when a large incident occurs with multiple agencies responding. An FCC license for these specific frequencies is required to transmit on them.
155.160 MHz: Local and state agency channel for search and rescue operations.
This is the most common VHF frequency for Search and Rescue. To transmit on it, you need an FCC license for this specific frequency.
155.475 MHz: Local and state police emergency communication channel.
This is a Law Enforcement Mutual Aid channel (VLAW31) set aside for when multiple law enforcement agencies need to communicate. An FCC license for this frequency is required to transmit on it.
156.75 MHz: International maritime weather alerts channel.
This is marine channel 15, receive only, reserved for listening to emergency locator beacons. This is not a normal communication channel and is probably not useful in an emergency.
156.80 MHz: International maritime distress, calling, and safety channel.
This is marine channel 16, the calling and distress channel, which may be useful in coastal areas, lakes, and waterways that have significant marine radio activity. This frequency is for marine / boating use using a certified VHF marine transceiver.
162.40 MHz to 162.55 MHz: Series of channels used for NOAA weather broadcasts and bulletins. Also 163.275 MHz.
These well-known weather broadcast stations cover a large portion of the US and are very useful to have programmed in your radio. Do not transmit on these frequencies.
163.4875 MHz: Nationwide emergency channel for the National Guard.
163.5125 MHz: National disaster preparedness frequency for the armed forces.
164.50 MHz: National communication channel for the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
These are federal frequencies requiring federal authorization to transmit on them.
168.55 MHz: Federal civilian agency channel for emergencies and disasters.
This frequency is assigned exclusively to smoke jumpers working on wildfire suppression.
Do not transmit on this frequency.
409.20 MHz: National communication channel for the Interstate Commerce Commission.
409.625 MHz: National communication channel for the Department of State.
These are federal frequencies requiring federal authorization to transmit on them.
462.675 MHz: General Mobile Radio Service channel for emergency communication and traveler assistance.
This is Channel 20 on GMRS and FRS radios. This frequency is probably useful, but it is subject to the GMRS and FRS rules.
Some of these frequencies may be useful to monitor in an emergency (situational awareness), but very few are available for distress calling or communicating with friends.
RadioMaster Reports Frequency List
This list originated on the Radiomaster Reports website and has spread around the web in various forms (see below). It is one of the better prepper frequency lists, but it still has some issues.
The FRS and GMRS frequencies are useful to have available. The PMR UHF frequency (446.03125 MHz) listed is actually in the 70 cm ham band in the US and is a non-standard frequency, so it should not be used at all in the US. (PMR is a European standard.) The CB frequencies listed are not available on your typical low-cost VHF/UHF handheld but are useful if you have a CB radio. The so-called CB Freeband frequencies are never legal for use and your standard CB won’t tune them.
The low-band VHF frequency of 33.4 MHz will also not work with your typical handheld radio. The FCC license database shows many businesses are licensed to operate on this frequency, including many fast food restaurants. I suppose if you want to order a hamburger in an emergency, it might work.
If you have the appropriate amateur radio license, the Ham VHF and HF frequencies listed are usable in the US. On the 2-meter band, 146.52 MHz is indeed the nationwide calling frequency and was discussed earlier. However, the frequencies of 146.42 and 146.55 MHz do not always conform to local band plans, depending on the area of the country you are in. So you may or may not find activity there. The Search and Rescue frequency (155.16 MHz) was discussed earlier. The two marine frequencies listed do not require a license but should only be used for boating and similar communications.
Summary
We could continue to examine the specifics of all these frequencies and discuss their equipment requirements, licensing requirements, and proper usage. However, the main message is that these frequency lists are just a collection of random stuff compiled and propagated around the web. None of them are well-considered and most will likely not do you much good in an emergency. And they might lead uninformed citizens into using a frequency that can get them into a heap of trouble.
I have been looking for a list to recommend but have not found one. Let me know if you come across one that is truly useful.
That’s what I found. Let me know what you think.
73 Bob K0NR
References
National Field Operations Guide (NFOG)
https://www.cisa.gov/safecom/field-operations-guides
NTIA Redbook
https://www.ntia.doc.gov/publications/redbook-manual
RadioMaster Reports Frequency List
https://radiofreeq.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/shtf_survivalist_radio_frequency_list.pdf
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Top Five K0NR Blog Posts for 2024
Closing out 2024, here are the top five blog posts at k0nr.com during the year. Some people may see this as a lazy way of creating one more blog post for the year without much effort, and they would be right. These posts are the top five viewed during the year but may have been written earlier.
Top Five Blog Posts
Leading the list is this blog post…a perennial favorite that seems to make the top five each year. This particular article is tuned for Colorado but also provides a link to an article covering the topic for the USA.
In second place, this is another popular article that introduces 2-meter SSB operating.
New to the list this year is an article I wrote in the latter half of 2023. It talks about the station I’ve been using for both SOTA and POTA activations, built around the Icom IC-705.
This post, which comes in fourth place on the list, explains how the FCC rules prevent having one radio that does everything.
In fifth place is this article describing the RH770 antenna for use with dual-band 2m/70cm handheld radios. This is a high-performing yet inexpensive antenna that should be in your toolkit.
Editors Choice
Just for good measure, I am including one more post that I think is notable. I started wondering when the name “Handie-Talkie” was first used to describe a handheld radio. This led me down a path that taught me about radios used in World War II. Interesting stuff.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
73 Bob K0NR
The post Top Five K0NR Blog Posts for 2024 appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.
HamCon Colorado 2025
Mark your calendars…
Flyer in PDF format
HamCon Colorado website
The post HamCon Colorado 2025 appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.
The Future of Emcomm
Here comes Starlink!
I’ve been reading a number of reports from the areas affected by the two major hurricanes (Helene and Milton). The North Carolina experience is particularly interesting because people have experienced the loss of communication and electrical service for several weeks. I can imagine this same thing happening in other parts of the country, including my area.
There are two important technology disruptions showing up in North Carolina: satellite-based internet (Starlink) and mobile-phone-to-satellite (SMS) text messaging. Starlink is having a significant impact during this incident, while mobile phone satellite messaging is still emerging. Steve N8GNJ has some worthy thoughts on these topics in Zero Retires 173. Although I have served in many ARES/RACES deployments over the years, I don’t consider myself an expert in this area. I’d appreciate comments from Emcomm folks who have spent more time thinking about this.
Types of Emergency Communication
Most relevant emergency comms lump into 1) short-range comms (< 5 miles) between family, friends, and neighbors. 2) medium-range comms (50 miles) to obtain information and resources. 3) long-range comms (beyond 50 miles) to connect with distant family, friends, and resources.
- Short-Range Comms: This is the type of communication that is well served by mobile phones, except when the mobile networks are down. This is happening a lot in North Carolina. Lightly licensed VHF/UHF radios such as FRS and GMRS can be used to replace your mobile phone. Think: wanting to call your neighbor 3 miles away to see if they are OK or can provide something you need. (I have a few FRS/GMRS radios in my stash to share with neighbors. See TIDRadio TD-H3) VHF/UHF ham radio is, of course, even better for this, except the parties involved need to be licensed. (OK, you can operate unlicensed in a true emergency, but that has other issues. See The Talisman Radio.)
- Medium-Range Comms: This is a great fit for VHF/UHF ham radio using repeaters or highly-capable base stations. GMRS repeaters can also serve this need. These communications will typically be about situational awareness and resource availability in the surrounding area. For example, someone on the local ham repeater may know whether the highway is open to the place you want to drive.
- Long-Range Comms: Historically, this has been done by HF ham radio and a lot of emergency traffic is still handled this way. The shift that is happening is that setting up a Starlink earth station feeding a local WiFi network can help a lot of people in a very effective manner. Compare passing a formal piece of health-and-welfare traffic via ham radio to letting a non-licensed person simply get Wi-Fi access to their email or text messaging app. Hams are doing this, but many unlicensed techie folks have set up these systems and freely shared them with the public.
Mobile Satellite Messaging
Various providers now offer a basic text messaging capability using smartphones talking to satellites. Today, this capability is often limited to emergencies (“SOS”), and it is relatively slow. With time, this capability will certainly improve and basic satellite texting will be ubiquitous on smartphones. This will be great for checking in with distant friends and families, but it may not be that useful for Short Range and Medium Range comms. Someday, it might include voice comms, but in the near term, it is probably just text-based.
Evan K2EJT provides some useful tips based on his experience here in this video. However, he doesn’t address the Starlink capability.
Summary
While much of the public appreciates the usefulness of ham radio during emergencies, I am already hearing questions like “Doesn’t Starlink cover this need?” My view is that Starlink (and similar commercial sats) is very useful and will play an important emcomm role, but it does not cover all of the communication needs during incidents such as hurricanes, blizzards, wildfires, earthquakes, etc. Emcomm folks (ARES and RACES) will need to adapt their approach to take this into account.
Those are my thoughts. What do you think?
73 Bob K0NR
The post The Future of Emcomm appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.
Which Modes Have You Operated?
For our local 2m net, the Net Control Station asks a Question of the Night to stimulate some discussion. Recently, the question was:
Do you have any interest in CW. If yes, Do you currently operate CW or do you plan to learn? If you have no interest in CW, what other modes besides voice do you operate on or would like to?
I am not a huge CW fan, but I do use it from time to time, especially when it comes to squeezing out difficult contacts on VHF or UHF. However, this question had me thinking about the various modes I have operated, so I made a list:
SSB - quite often on HF, VHF, UHF CW - not nearly as often but on HF, VHF, UHF FM/PM - lots of VHF activity here, 2m FM is the Utility Mode AM - a few times, just to check it out RTTY - I used to do this often but my interest has faded PSK31 - I used to do this often but my interest has faded FT8 - this one has taken over my digital operating FT4 - a faster alternative to FT8, often better to use Q65 - I just started using this for weak-signal VHF/UHF MSK144 - for meteor scatter, but I haven't done that for a while AX.25 - VHF packet radio, including APRS DMR - the most common digital mode in Colorado D-STAR - I used D-STAR when it first came out but lost interest C4FM - Yaesu Fusion, I've used it a few times
Each one of these modes has a story behind it…often I was just looking for something new to try. (If you find yourself getting bored with ham radio, it might be time to try a new mode.)
This list also reminds me that I need to get back to chasing grids on the 2-meter band, using CW, SSB, FT8, MSK144, and Q65. I have a new tower up that I’ve not taken full advantage of for VHF/UHF.
That’s my list of modes used, what does your list look like?
73 Bob K0NR
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Handie-Talkie or Walkie-Talkie?
In ham radio, we often use Handie-Talkie or HT to describe a compact, handheld transceiver. My first exposure to the term Handie-Talkie was when I first became a licensed radio amateur in 1977. While I was a student at Purdue University (W9YB), the absolute coolest VHF radio to have was the Motorola HT-220. Even a used one commanded a high price so they were out of my price range and I never owned one. These were 6-channel crystal-controlled transceivers…back then you had to set up the radio with the particular 2m frequencies you wanted to use. Because it was such an iconic radio, there are many HT-220 enthusiasts still around with websites with tons of useful information. See the HT-220 Page.
Motorola trademarked the name Handie-Talkie and used that nomenclature for many years with its line of portable radios. However, this trademark has expired, so now Handie-Talkie is a generic term.
The First Handie-Talkie
But the HT-220 was not the first Handie-Talkie, so I started poking around to find out how this name originated. Back in World War II, the SCR-536 was a portable “hand-held” transceiver developed in 1940 by Galvin Manufacturing (later Motorola, Inc.) I put “hand-held” in quotes because, by today’s standards, it was a Hand FULL. But most people consider the SCR-536 to be the first modern, self-contained HT transceivers. The Wikipedia article for the SCR-536 describes the radio quite well. The radio put out about 360 mW of RF power on 3.5 and 6.0 MHz (Oops, I mean 3500 to 6000 kilocycles) using Amplitude Modulation (AM). The circuitry relied on smallish vacuum tubes, creating quite a design challenge. Motorola has a page on its website that talks about the origins of the radio. IEEE Spectrum also published an excellent article: The SCR-536 Handie-Talkie Was the Modern Walkie-Talkie’s Finicky Ancestor. The January 2005 issue of QST has an interesting article by Gil McElroy, VE3PKD, A Short History of the Handheld Transceiver. It provides more history and insight to this fun topic.
The First Walkie-Talkie
A few years later (1942), a backpack portable radio was introduced, called the SCR-300. I always assumed that the backpack-style radio would have come first and the more compact radio SCR-536 would be later. (Actually, there were previous backpack radios, such as the SCR-194). This new backpack-style radio was referred to as a Walkie-Talkie. According to the manual, the SCR-300 was “primarily intended as a walkie-talkie for foot combat troops”. I suppose the emphasis was on how you can walk and talk, with a radio on your back.
This article: SCR-300 WW2 Radio Backpack: The “Walkie Talkie” That Shaped the War describes this radio as a game-changer for frontline troops. The radio weighed a heavy 35 pounds, and used Frequency Modulation (FM) on 40 to 48 Megacycles.
Of course, with technology development, there is always the question of “who was first”? The SCR-194 that predated the SCR-300 might be considered the first walkie-talkie. However, the SCR-300 and the SCR-536 seem to get all of the glory, probably due to their impact on the war effort. However, take a look here if you want to dig deeper: TALK the WALK or WALK the TALK: Who actually developed the first Walkie-Talkie?
This article describes the development and use of the SCR-300 and mentions some of the limitations of the SCR-194: SCR-300 History Development Employment and Details Final Draft This is a big file with many photos but worth reading if you have the time.
Today’s Terminology
Fast forward to today and we see that the HT and Handie-Talkie nomenclature is common in the amateur radio world. The photo to the left shows a modern 2m/70cm HT, the Yaesu FT-4X.
The term “walkie-talkie” has morphed to something quite different and is used generically to describe a handheld radio. This term covers a wide range of radios, from low-cost Family Radio Service (FRS) radios to higher-quality professional radios. This is quite different from the original Walkie-Talkie, a backpack radio weighing 35 pounds.
The military has progressed with improved communication technology, still using backpack-style radios, now referred to as manpack radios. These are amazing radios that pack extensive capability into a relatively small package. The AN/PR-158 shown below covers 30 to 2500 MHz in frequency, satellite comms, advanced encryption, narrowband and wideband modes: AM, ASK, FM, FSK, PSK, CPM, GMSK, and plenty more. This radio weighs 12.7 pounds with the battery installed, so a lot lighter than the old SCR-300.
So that’s a quick tour through some radio terminology along with a bit of historical perspective. I discovered there is an infinite supply of information out there on the history and technology of military radios. If you want to dig deeper, go for it!
73 Bob K0NR
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