Frequently Asked Questions
General
Why is the Census so long?
Some could be forgiven for wondering why anyone would be willing to spend 44 minutes filling out a survey if there was no reward at the end.
Unlike the more skeptical in our ranks, we believe that this is what amateur radio is all about. It's about sharing our knowledge freely. It's about helping others to know more about the practice and about their own preferences.
So no, you get no reward for filling out the Census. You get nothing tangible by spending an average of 44 minutes to complete all six parts. All you get is the answers, everyone's answers, for free. You get insight into the practice and you get to contribute to its future. We think that's reward enough.
The good news is that you do not have to fill it all in one go. You can continually save drafts (don't forget that even if you save drafts, you have to hit 'submit' at the end of each part).
Thank you for shaping the future of amateur radio and doing so simply because it's the right thing to do.
Why must I finish the six parts to view the results?
Like we said, this is an open-source, free-to-contribute, free-to-use project. All we are after is good data that is useful to us all. The only way we could think of to encourage people to complete the six parts is to force them to fill out the six parts entirely before gaining access to the results section. In the words of our friend Al, KN3U, "It was a lot more fun to complete than I had originally thought it would be; I actually enjoyed it."
Can I offer suggestions to help improve Ham Census?
Absolutely! We look forward to those suggestions. Just hop over to Ham Community and visit the Ham Census Q&A forum. Please note that the suggestions forum is only open to those who have completed the six parts of the Census and registered on Ham Community as members.
Which countries does Ham Census serve?
Ham Census is international in scope. Our hope is to attract respondents from all amateur radio-practicing countries. Note that, currently, the Census is in English only. At some time in the future, we may revisit this and offer translated versions.
Can I donate?
You absolutely do not have to donate. Can you donate? Yes, absolutely. Will we appreciate it? Yes we will. This Census is a major commitment and requires both time and actual payments to operate. We are doing it because we want to and expect no support. But you're welcome to offer it and we will, believe us, appreciate it. Know that your donations will be used exclusively for the operation of the Census, notably server expenses, software licenses, and whatever additional paid staff contribute to the effort.
Do I have to register on Ham Community, or be a member?
Absolutely not. The two projects are separate. If you'd like to register on Ham Community, we'd be glad to have you, but there is zero obligation. When you register on Ham Census you will be asked if you want to register, simply say no (or yes if you'd like to, of course).
Filling out the Census
Where do I start?
Step One: Register!
Registration is easy.
- Go to the registration page.
- Fill in your call sign
- Use CAPITAL letters only
- Do not use secondary prefix, suffix or "/"
- Enter your first name only
- Enter your country of legal residence
- Enter your email address
- Enter it again to confirm
- Enter a password.
- Do not make it easy, please. We value your security and ours.
- If you have difficulty entering your password, contact tech@support.hamcommunity.com
- Once entered successfully, enter it again in the following field
- Do not make it easy, please. We value your security and ours.
Upon completion, you will receive a confirmation email with the subject: "Activate Your Account". Check your spam/junk folder just in case. Then, follow the instructions.
That's it, you're a registered member Ham Census.
Where should I actually begin?
Always go back to your Dashboard. There you will find the necessary links.
As you will see, there are six parts to be completed. The approximate time needed to complete each part is clearly marked.
As for which order you should complete the Census, that's entirely up to you. Some people go I through VI. Others start with the shortest and then work their way up to the two longest parts. The order does not matter, all that does is that you complete the six parts.
Enjoy, and thank you!
Privacy and legal
Is my data private?
We do not, and will not, ever, sell data. This is an open source project meant to support the amateur radio community. It is a public service offered by Ham Community. Also, we ask you for only four bits of information, your legal amateur radio call sign, an email address, a first name and a password to protect the first three. Additionally, for security purposes, we store your originating IP address but we purge them monthly. That's it, nothing else. We treat your privacy the way we want ours to be treated.
At the bottom of every page on the site, you will find multiple privacy related links including our cookie policies, an impressum for our Austrian and German friends, and all of our privacy compliances including GDPR for the EU and CCPA for California, among others.
The founders of this project are like you, concerned with privacy and security issues. While we can never be perfect or fully shielded from nefarious actors, but we definitely we strive to do so diligently. Our data is here too!
Who owns Ham Census?
Ham Census was created by the people behind Ham Community who, in turn, is owned by Excess Noise LLC. It was the brainchild of K3MRI, a passionate amateur radio operator who wanted to put his communications and perception skills to good use for the community. While technically belonging to a for-profit company, Ham Census per se was established to help the community to better understand itself. Its financial goal is to, as much as possible, break even with donations and possibly limited sponsorship. There is no expectation for Ham Census to ever turn a healthy profit; that is not its purpose, and that is not its potential.
Why do you want my callsign, email and first name?
To keep our results accurate, we must have a minimum bit of information to confirm that our participants are licensed amateur radio operators. We are asking for no information that is not available via national licensing bodies, just the callsign, email address and first name, that's it.
More help
Can I contact you?
Absolutely. We use a ticketing system. Please go to https://hamcommunity.com/support and open a ticket (sorry, for security reasons you will have to create an account on our Helpdesk – we know that's a pain, but security is our mantra).
Do you accept suggestions?
If you are a member of Ham Community, you can start a 'question' thread on the Ham Census Q&A. It's a great way for all of us to discuss ideas on how to improve this Census.
So the answer is yes, we welcome suggestions.
Participant satisfaction
Note that these ratings are unmoderated and unfiltered.
| How do you rate the value of this census? | ||
| How would you rate the census instructions and language? | ||
| How likely are you to spread the word about Ham Census? |
