The results of N8RMA’s 2019 State of the Hobby Survey are now in. As my ICQPodcast co-host, Frank, K4FMH, this isn’t a scientific study, as those who responded to the survey weren’t randomly chosen, but it’s still an interesting survey. Here are a few observations:
- 53% of the respondents are Extra Class operators. Since more than 50% of hams in the U.S. are Tech Class operators, this survey isn’t representative of all hams, but rather active hams. On a related note, respondents report an average of more than 30 years in the hobby. For all licensed hams, that’s got to be a lot less.
- The question, “Which common areas of an amateur radio test are most worrisome to you?” elicited pretty much the expected response. Technical topics top the list, although I am a bit surprised that antennas and feedlines scored so low.
- DXing continues to be the most popular activity, but digital modes is a close second. Of course, the two are, or can be, related. I wonder if digital modes will surpass DXing in future surveys? FT8 is far and away the most popular digital mode.
- Nearly half of CW operators say that a dual-lever paddle is their favorite key, while just over a third are still clinging to their straight keys.
- The questions, “How many hours per month do you spend operating?” and “How many contacts do you make per month?” also point to a survey base of amateur radio operators. The responses, respectively, are 27.64 hours and 67.45 contacts. That’s probably right around where I am, but I think that if I polled our club members, the numbers would be much lower.
- When asked about issues facing the hobby, the two tagged as being most problematic were “operator base ‘aging out'” and “general lack of interest.”
I’ll leave the rest for you to discover. I’d be interested in hearing what you may have found interesting or surprising.
On this week’s episode of the ICQPodcast, Frank points out that the ARRL really should be doing this on at least a biennial basis. Not only that, the survey data should be made public, so that more than just the ARRL can interpret it. Without this data, programs designed to help amateur radio operators and improve the hobby have a lot lower chance of success.
Steve~W8SFC says
Being of the “Aging out” category myself, I find it interesting that in the areas of concern between “older operators” and “younger operators”, there is something interesting in that the observation of younger operators is about twice the magnitude of older operators. Since I didn’t see the original question or survey format I wonder if this was actually the item titles in answer options as in a multiple choice type of question, or if this was the information coming from hams who took the survey?
Since you pointed out that the respondents were not proportional to the real world population of hams and it was responded to by fewer Technicians I wonder what this is really saying about us as hams. I would be interested to see a further analysis of this.
Chronologically I am in the Older Operator category, but experience wise I fit into the Younger Operator category as well. Does this mean my problems are my own fault, or am I making problems for the hobby? Maybe it means that we have a human tendency to be critical of others that becomes more apparent as we get older. I understand that people tend to become a little negative over time – human beings seem to become complainers when we get asked questions about activities we are involved in, and opinions vary, but I hope I am not becoming “that guy” with a curmudgeonly attitude. I have always tried to be positive even in adversity, but perhaps that makes me an optimistic oddball.
Interesting survey none the less.
Dave New, N8SBE says
It means that old codgers and folks that have long commutes are the only ones that listen to lengthy podcasts. I fit both of those profiles, and I haven’t gotten around to listen to ICQ, mainly because I already have a playlist that fills up my 15+ hours of commuting each week. TWiT, SecurityNow, and Ham Radio Workbench account for almost 9 hours of that.
If the ARRL ran a survey, it would be highly skewed towards those that are already ARRL members, which is still very much in the minority of all US licensed hams.