This number is really quite large. I would not concur that there are 500K active hams though. Not even half of the licensed hams are really very active. And the great majority of hams are Technician class and not as concerned about anything that might affect HF, so they would not even understand or respond to the issues.
It is actually quite rare to get anyone to "write their congress person." Normally, you take a written comment and multiply it by at least 25 to get a feel for to actual number of people with similarly held views. That is why 1471 responses is such a significant number with such a small population of hams. 73, Rick, KV9U Walt DuBose wrote: > But is 1471 such a large number given that there are about 500,000 active > amateur radio operators in the U.S. and more than 200,000 on HF? > > If there were 10 times the number of responses, then the Board might listen. > > 73, > > Walt/K5YFW >