A new net will start tonight, 7 PM CST, Monday, 17 October on 3885 AM. It will be called the Midwest AM Net. The net will continue to take place on the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month at 7 PM CST. A new blog/forum has been created that will have info and photos of net members. The URL is www.amradio.us
What happened to the one in IL that has been there for a few years and starts up like they own the frequency and just make things difficult for users who have been on an hour or more? 3885 has been a standard AM ragchew frequency for decades and not polluted by nets. Ive often had to go from 100 to 1500W just to continue to be heard in Ohio and similar distance states. Carl
This autumn's radio season seems to be getting off to a slow start. Several nights this month the QRN level has approximated mid-winter conditions, yet after about 9 PM the band is nearly vacant, often with no signals at all (AM SSB or CW) from 3860 to 3890. Late night 75m activity has been practically nil. If my pet frequency in the AM Ghetto is occupied with a QSO, a net or whatever, I usually move down to another frequency that is vacant. I tend to avoid the usual AM frequencies in the early evening. Start a QSO at 6:30 PM and get into a conversation on a specific topic, and within minutes the breakers start rolling in. Before you know it, there are 8 stations in the QSO. Hardly conducive to a conversation; try to get that many people to stay on any one topic. If I want to get on the air that time of the evening, I either try 160m, or move down below on 75m, around 3705 or maybe at some clear spot below 3700. This year, 75m has seemed so far a lot like 160m for the past decade or two, with little late night activity. They roll up the sidewalks after about 9 PM. There is enough room on the band for all.
I've pretty much given up on 75 meter AM for the reasons you mentioned and a few more. Actually, I don't get on the air much at all anymore.
