November - December 2025
November - December 2025
 WIA Member Digital Edition Download
Editorial
No wonder the hobby’s dying!
How often have you read or heard that expression recently about ‘the state’ of amateur radio? Or even just, “the hobby is dying.”
I’m inclined to recall Mark Twain’s comment on erroneous rumours of his death, to which he said: “The report of my death was an exaggeration.”
I believe the same to be true in relation to the sort of errant remarks about amateur radio in the headline, at least in Australia.
In Issue 2 back in 2024, we published an article titled, Amateur radio isn’t dying – it’s persevering!, written by Marc Hillman VK3OHM, who is a regular contributor (WIA DX Awards each issue). That article is a statistical analysis of Australian amateur licence data from 2005 through 2022.
His article established a significant benchmark for amateur licensing just as the Radiocommunications (Amateur Stations) Class Licence 2023 was foist upon us; sorry, implemented.
Marc’s analysis provides a telling insight about what happened over the period from just after the ACMA’s 2003-04 “reform” of our licensing system, when five licence grades were collapsed to three, and the new entry level Foundation licence was introduced.
Over 2005 through 2022, the Foundation licence became the fastest growing segment, unsurprisingly. Total licensee numbers rose over the first five years, peaking around 2009-10 near 14,700, a figure that differed little since the 1990s.
A slow decline followed as Advanced licensees declined (left, went SK), but the total licensee numbers were held up by growth in Foundation operators, which trend showed a small boost to total licensees over 2020-21 (A Covid19 boost?).
Since the ACMA withdrew access to the amateur licensee data at the outset of Class licensing, and earlier withdrew permission to publish annual Callbooks, the amateur radio community has no means of seeing what’s happened since Marc’s benchmark; a great pity. As Marc summed up in his article, the analysis provided insight into what was happening, but it was impossible to posit why.
Marc’s work demonstrated that there are still significant numbers of people interested in becoming amateurs in Australia. Clubs are still running regular classes. Newbies appear on nets, across the bands, and amateur radio social media pages every week. DX reporter websites are regularly overwhelmed.
Whinges that amateur radio is dying a greatly exaggerated.
Nobody’s perfect: FO5GJ
No sooner had last issue landed in my hands than I cringed upon reading page 13 (of all pages). I made a gross historical error there, the lead-in page to the Adventures on Islands feature.
In the story about Marlon Brando FO5GJ, I set the context by highlighting the “Australian connection,” explaining that he played “. . the notorious Captain William Bligh in the 1962 film ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’,” when in fact Brando played the notorious mutineer Fletcher Christian.
I am haunted by the thought of gleeful laughter echoing from SBS film critic, Margaret Pomeranz, should she learn of my blunder. Also, my thanks go to Bill Maxwell VK7MX, who pointed out my error in re-assigning the characters in 1962’s Mutiny on the Bounty.
Table Of Contents
Technical
 Build this “digital dial” for your boat anchor rig - Jim Tregellas VK5JST
Installing a CTCSS card in your TR-7400A - Greg Mew VK4GRM
The time has come for digital voice the HF bands - Peter Marks VK3TPM
General
Amateur radio sport. Fun, exciting, and global! - Jack Bramham VK3WWW
The salutary tale of a club’s remote HF station - BDARS Club members
Experiencing HAM RADIO 2025 – Messe Friedrichshafen, Germany - Greg Mew VK4GRM
Wagga ARC and the Hume and Hovell Ultra Marathon - Lewis and Noeline Blume, VK2LBL and VK2GNM
2026 Contest Calendar Lift-out - Alan Shannon VK4SN
Page Last Updated: Tuesday, 25 Nov 2025 at 08:35 hours by Webmaster
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