Amateur radio operator

An amateur radio operator is someone who uses equipment at an amateur radio station to engage in two-way personal communications with other amateur operators on radio frequencies assigned to the amateur radio service. Amateur radio operators have been granted an amateur radio license by a governmental regulatory authority after passing an examination on applicable regulations, electronics, radio theory, and radio operation. As a component of their license, amateur radio operators are assigned a call sign that they use to identify themselves during communication. There are about three million amateur radio operators worldwide.[1]

An amateur radio operator

Amateur radio operators are also known as radio amateurs or hams. The term "ham" as a nickname for amateur radio operators originated in a pejorative usage (like "ham actor") by operators in commercial and professional radio communities, and dates to wired telegraphy.[2][3] The word was subsequently adopted by amateur radio operators.

Demographics
Country Number of amateur
radio operators		 % population Year of
Report		 Source
 United States 761,317 0.233 2019 [4]
 Japan 435,581 0.343 2015 [5]
 Thailand 176,278 0.275 2006 [6]
 China 150,000 0.010 2019 [7]
 Germany 94,491 0.11 2016 [8]
 Canada 69,183 0.201 2011 [9]
 Republic of China 68,692 0.296 1999 [6]
 Spain 58,700 0.127 1999 [6]
 United Kingdom 58,426 0.094 2000 [6]
 South Korea 42,632 0.082 2012 [10]
 Russia 38,000 0.026 1993 [6]
 Brazil 32,053 0.016 1997 [6]
 Italy 30,000 0.049 1993 [6]
 Indonesia 27,815 0.011 1997 [6]
 France 14,160 0.02 2013 [6]
 Ukraine 17,265 0.037 2000 [6]
 Argentina 16,889 0.042 1999 [6]
 Poland 13,600 0.035 2020 [11]
 Australia 15,328 0.067 2000 [6]
 India 15,679 0.001 2000 [6]
 Sweden 12,934 0.115 2019 [12]
 Netherlands 12,582 0.07 2018 [13]
 Malaysia 10,509 0.04 2016 [6]
 Denmark 8,668 0.156 2012 [14]
 Slovenia 6,500 0.317 2000 [6]
 Austria 6,228 0.070 2019 [15]
 New Zealand 6,000 0.12 1994 [6]
 South Africa 6,000 0.012 1994 [6]
 Norway 5,302 0.106 2000 [6]
 Finland 5,000 0.090 2016 [16]
 Serbia 3,962 0.056 2020 [17]
 Romania 3,527 0.018 2017 [18]
 Ireland 1,836 0.040 2017 [19]

Few governments maintain detailed demographic statistics of their amateur radio operator populations, aside from recording the total number of licensed operators. The majority of amateur radio operators worldwide reside in the United States, Japan, and the nations of East Asia, North America, and Europe. The top five countries by percentage of the population are Japan, Slovenia, Taiwan, South Korea and Thailand. Only the governments of Yemen and North Korea currently prohibit their citizens from becoming amateur radio operators. In some countries, acquiring an amateur radio license is difficult because of the bureaucratic processes or fees that place access to a license out of reach for most citizens. Most nations permit foreign nationals to earn an amateur radio license, but very few amateur radio operators are licensed in multiple countries.

Gender

In the vast majority of countries, the population of amateur radio operators is predominantly male. In China, 12% of amateur radio operators are women,[20] while approximately 15% of amateur radio operators in the United States are women.[21] The Young Ladies Radio League is an international organization of female amateur radio operators.

A male amateur radio operator can be referred to as an OM, an abbreviation used in Morse code telegraphy for "old man", regardless of the operator's age. A female amateur radio operator can be referred to as a YL, from the abbreviation used for "young lady", regardless of the operator's age. XYL was once used by amateur radio operators to refer to an unlicensed woman, usually the wife of a male amateur radio operator; today, the term has come to mean any female spouse of an amateur radio operator, licensed or not. Sometimes the wife of a ham operator is called a YF (wife). Although these codes are derived from English language abbreviations, their use is common among amateur radio operators worldwide.

Age

In most countries there is no minimum age requirement to earn an amateur radio license and become an amateur radio operator. Although the number of amateur radio operators in many countries increases from year to year, the average age of amateur radio operators is quite high. In some countries, the average age is over 80 years old, with most amateur radio operators earning their license in their 40s or 50s.

Some national radio societies have responded to this by developing programs specifically to encourage youth participation in amateur radio, such as the American Radio Relay League's Amateur Radio Education and Technology Program.[22] The World Wide Young Contesters organization promotes youth involvement, particularly amongst Europeans, in competitive radio contesting. A strong tie also exists between the amateur radio community and the Scouting movement to introduce radio technology to youth. WOSM's annual Jamboree On The Air is Scouting's largest activity, with a half million Scouts and Guides speaking with each other using amateur radio each October.[23]

US Amateurs by State
StateTotal%RankClub
AA40.00590
AE1520.02560
AK38840.474575
AL132161.6122245
AP1390.02571
AR88161.0730133
AS240.00582
AZ222272.7010246
CA1163530.2911559
CO192532.3416201
CT82761.0132190
DC5630.075255
DE19210.235040
FL460225.593615
GA203552.4714378
GU3250.045412
HI44620.5442128
IA69930.8535121
ID95891.172980
IL216282.6311368
IN166422.0219312
KS80300.9833151
KY102481.2528149
LA68970.8437173
MA145871.7721268
MD120801.4724184
ME49480.604075
MI227852.779383
MN124791.5223187
MO166582.0218274
MP3840.055313
MS59870.7338136
MT42550.524364
NC227852.778340
ND17360.215151
NE40960.504476
NH59250.7239110
NJ150491.8320298
NM72750.8834132
NV84731.0331111
NY297443.626545
OH303093.685521
OK107671.3126160
OR214352.6113353
PA262133.197452
PR49410.6041105
RI21240.264875
SC106981.3027156
SD20600.254933
TN197372.4015264
TX579717.052769
UT188932.3017120
VA215522.6212305
VI2720.035520
VT23060.284657
WA368754.484496
WI120681.4725212
WV69890.853681
WY22050.274741

NOTE:[24]
AA..US Armed Forces Americas
AE..US Armed Forces Africa/Canada/Europe/Middle East
AP..US Armed Forces Pacific
AS..American Samoa
GU..Guam
MP..Mariana Islands
PR..Puerto Rico
VI..US Virgin Islands

Canadian Amateurs by Province
ProvinceTotalRank
AB77004
NL147310
ON232701
YT21412
BC188273
NS26475
PE31111
ZZ17747
MB21616
NT9513
QC190392
NB16888
NU2814
SK16249

NOTE:[24]
ZZ..Canadian amateurs outside of Canada

Silent Key

When referring to a person, the phrase Silent Key, and its abbreviation SK, is a euphemism for an amateur radio operator who is deceased.[25] The procedural signal "SK" (or "VA") has historically been used in Morse code as the last signal sent from a station before ending operation,[26] usually just before shutting off the transmitter. Since this was the last signal received by other operators, the code was adopted to refer to any amateur radio operator who is deceased, regardless of whether they were known to have used telegraphy in their communications.

  • An operator running high-speed telegraphy (HST)
  • An operator working HF
  • Amateur Radio station equipped for reception of VLF signals.
  • Shack of F6BLK in September 2008

Notable amateur radio operators

See also

References
  1. Silver, H Ward (23 April 2004). Ham Radio for Dummies. Indianapolis: Wiley Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7645-5987-7. OCLC 55092631.
  2. Hall, L. C. (January 1902). "Telegraph Talk and Talkers". McClure's Magazine. Vol. 18 no. 3. pp. 230–231.
  3. "Word Origins - Ham". United States Early Radio History. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019.
  4. "FCC License Counts". arrl.com. Archived from the original on 24 October 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  5. "JARL News. Amateur radio stations. 2015". Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  6. "Status Summary of Radio Amateurs & Amateur Stations of the World". International Amateur Radio Union (IARU.org). Archived from the original on 28 June 2007. Retrieved 13 July 2007.
  7. "业余电台操作证书核发信息公告（ABC类及香港B类）" [Amateur Radio Operation Certificate Issue Information Announcement (ABC Class and Hong Kong Class B)]. Chinese Radio Amateurs Club. June 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  8. "Amateurfunk". Bundesnetzagentur. 2019.
  9. "Hamdata Callsign Server". Hamdata.com. Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  10. "Triennial Report from KARL". iaru-r3.org. Archived from the original on 2 February 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  11. "UKE Radioamator". amator.uke.gov.pl. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  12. SSA callsign statistics published in QTC 3/2020
  13. Agentschap Telecom - Ministerie van Economische Zaken en Klimaat "Staat van de Ether 2018". Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  14. IT & Telestyrelsen Frekvensregister "IT & Telestyrelsen - Frekvensregister". Retrieved 11 January 2012.
  15. "Rufzeichenliste österreichischer Amateurfunkstellen". Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  16. "Mitä radioamatööritoiminta on?". SRAL.fi. Archived from the original on 1 June 2004. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  17. "YU Amateur Radio Call Book". yu1srs.org.rs. Archived from the original on 17 September 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  18. "ANCOM Callbook Radioamatori". ancom.org.ro. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  19. "COMREG Licensing Database". www.comreg.ie. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  20. Chinese Radio Sports Association (2004). "The Current Status of Amateur Radio in the Mainland of China". Proceedings of the International Amateur Radio Union's Region 3 Twelfth Regional Conference. Document No. 04/XII/057. Archived from the original on 6 March 2006. Retrieved 2 June 2006.
  21. Harker, Kenneth E (15 March 2005). "A Study of Amateur Radio Gender Demographics". ARRL.org. Archived from the original on 23 February 2007. Retrieved 13 July 2007.
  22. "The ARRL Amateur Radio Education & Technology Program". ARRL.org. Archived from the original on 25 June 2007. Retrieved 13 July 2007.
  23. "All about JOTA". Scout.org. September 2006. Archived from the original on 9 May 2008. Retrieved 30 April 2008.
  24. Amateurs by State
  25. "Reporting a Silent Key". Amateur Radio Relay League. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  26. "CW Operating Aids". AC6V. Archived from the original on 28 February 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
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