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. About three million amateur radio operators are currently active worldwide.

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. The word was, in the 1920s, adopted by amateur radio operators.

Demographics CountryNumber of amateurradio operators% populationYear ofReportSource 748,519 0.223 2024 381,899 0.304 2021 101,763 0.147 2018 240,000 0.017 2024 63,070 0.073 2019 70,198 0.187 2018 58,700 0.127 1999 75,660 0.114 2018 42,632 0.082 2012 38,000 0.026 1993 32,053 0.016 1997 32,000 0.037 2023 30,000 0.049 1993 27,815 0.011 1997 13,500 0.019 2022REF preliminary callsign statistics 17,265 0.037 2000 16,889 0.042 1999 15,805 0.041 2024 15,448 0.060 2023 15,679 0.001 2000 12,790 0.113 2023SSA callsign statistics published in QTC 11/2023 12,582 0.07 2018Agentschap Telecom - Ministerie van Economische Zaken en Klimaat 11,273 0.03 2023 9,079 0.152 2022 6,500 0.317 2000 6,930 0.077 2022 6,000 0.12 1994 6,000 0.012 1994 6,818 0.125 2022Nkom callsign statistics5,3320.052023 5,000 0.090 2016 3,962 0.056 2020 3,527 0.018 2017 3,234 0.033 2023 1,945 0.039 20201,7450.0322023

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 Slovenia, Japan, the United States, Canada, and Denmark. Only the governments of Yemen and North Korea currently prohibit their citizens from becoming amateur radio operators. Although not officially outlawed, it is effectively impossible to become licensed in Eritrea as well, and there are no licensed operators in Eritrea. There are also very few if any operators in Turkmenistan and Myanmar. In other 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, while approximately 15% of amateur radio operators in the United States are women. 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 single female amateur radio operator can be referred to as a YL, from the abbreviation used for "young lady", regardless of the operator's age. A licensed married female is sometimes referred to as an XYL. The term "XYL" also often means the wife of a licensed amateur operator, whether or not she is herself licensed.

Age Most countries do not have a minimum age requirement in order 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 relatively high. In some countries, the average age is 68 years old.

The unfavourable age distribution has led to a slow decrease in amateur operator numbers in most industrialised countries due to attrition, but in countries which do not apply yearly licence fees, the effects are not immediately noticed. It has been estimated from German statistics, which are considered the most reliable, that the net decrease currently is in the order of 1 to 1.5% per year. The average age of most amateur radio operators is approaching 70 in most European countries.

Some national radio societies have responded to the aging ham population 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. The World Wide Young Contesters organization promotes youth involvement, particularly among 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. World Organization of the Scout Movement'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.

US amateurs by state State Total % Rank Club AA 4 0.00 59 0 AE 157 0.02 56 0 AK 3847 0.46 45 80 AL 13228 1.59 22 244 AP 144 0.02 57 1 AR 8914 1.07 31 129 AS 25 0.00 58 3 AZ 22166 2.78 12 249 CA 115787 13.93 1 1528 CO 20369 2.45 16 222 CT 8178 0.98 32 188 DC 587 0.07 52 54 DE 1930 0.23 50 38 FL 46856 5.64 3 610 GA 20650 2.48 14 390 GU 334 0.04 54 13 HI 4386 0.53 43 117 IA 6993 0.84 35 119 ID 10404 1.25 28 85 IL 21467 2.58 13 367 IN 16798 2.02 18 303 KS 7953 0.96 33 143 KY 10376 1.25 29 147 LA 6823 0.82 37 166 MA 14641 1.76 21 272 MD 12139 1.46 25 184 ME 4980 0.60 41 81 MI 22834 2.75 9 375 MN 12520 1.51 23 185 MO 16699 2.01 19 262 MP 353 0.04 53 18 MS 5849 0.70 39 131 MT 4450 0.54 42 63 NC 23549 2.83 8 337 ND 1729 0.21 51 53 NE 4083 0.49 44 81 NH 6035 0.73 38 112 NJ 14834 1.78 20 295 NM 7237 0.87 34 131 NV 8918 1.07 30 112 NY 29588 3.56 6 531 OH 30148 3.63 5 511 OK 10701 1.29 27 152 OR 22242 2.68 10 354 PA 26132 3.14 7 437 PR 5117 0.62 40 108 RI 2143 0.26 48 71 SC 10844 1.30 26 147 SD 2122 0.26 49 33 TN 20416 2.46 15 261 TX 58415 7.03 2 737 UT 19513 2.35 17 116 VA 22217 2.67 11 298 VI 298 0.04 55 27 VT 2307 0.28 46 59 WA 37494 4.51 4 515 WI 12178 1.47 24 215 WV 6854 0.82 36 78 WY 2281 0.27 47 37 NOTE:Amateurs by State generates a SSL_ERROR_UNSUPPORTED_VERSION error message 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 Province Total Rank AB 7700 4 NL 1473 10 ON 23270 1 YT 214 12 BC 18827 3 NS 2647 5 PE 311 11 ZZ 1774 7 MB 2161 6 NT 95 13 QC 19039 2 NB 1688 8 NU 28 14 SK 1624 9 NOTE: 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. The procedural signal "" (or "") has historically been used in Morse code as the last signal sent from a station before ending operation, 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.

Gallery

Notable amateur radio operators

References

External links Amateur radio reference guide - Technical specifications and manuals