AM is alive and well, even on 20m

[WB2WIK]

Just had a round table rag chew on 20m AM, 14.286. Lots of AM activity on the bands nowadays.

"Net control" so to speak (no net, really) was Tim VE8XJ up in Canada's Northwest Territories. HUGE signal. We had check ins from Florida, Texas and Montana, plus me and maybe some others I couldn't copy.

Tim almost pinned my S-meter at 60/S9.

I used my old (very old!) homebrew 4-125 plate modulated by P-P 811As, which I built as a kid back in 1966. Evidently it still works, although I don't use it much. When I turn that on I'm always amazed something doesn't blow up, but they used to build "parts" well back then.

AM is booming for some reason. If you have anything that can work it, give it a shot. Never know what's out there.

[N5TGL]

Cool. I've worked 80m and 40m AM, never seem to see anyone on 20m. I love the mode; some really great sounding rigs out there. I'll have to keep an eye on 20m AM more often.

[W1GUH]

Just wait'll I get that G-76 going from the car!

[W1GUH]

'WIK:

I used my old (very old!) homebrew 4-125 plate modulated by P-P 811As, which I built as a kid back in 1966.

Very, very lucky ham.

"As a kid" my resources limited me to saving paper route money for a few months just for a mod transformer.

[WB2WIK]

'WIK:



Very, very lucky ham.

"As a kid" my resources limited me to saving paper route money for a few months just for a mod transformer.

I was already licensed more than a year when I started that, and had an after school and Saturday job working at a huge electronics parts store that also sold ham gear (Federated Electronics in NJ). We used to get a 25% discount on everything including parts. A brand new 4-125 back then was probably about $30, and with the discount, about $22.50.

I was able to buy almost everything "new" from store stock for probably $100.

Never got the VFO to be stable, though...which is why I bought a Hallicrafters HA-5 when I saved up enough to buy it. That was $79 I think but boy it was sure worth it. Stable as a rock after about five minutes.