AMFONE - Celebrating 8 years of service!

AMFONE, one of the largest specialty websites of its kind, celebrates 8 years of service and still growing.

It was 8 years ago that Brian Sherrod W5AMI started this website with the idea of having a place for people in our hobby with common interests to share information and ideas on Vintage radios and AM. In the year 2001 Brian was unable to continue with the site and Gary W2INR took over the helm.

Here are the W2INR Studios


Over the last few years the site has added to its systems The AM Classifieds, The AM Forum, East Coast Sound along with The AM Press Exchange archives that we are constantly updating.. The AM Forum is one of the largest in this specialty mode with over 800 users sharing and enjoying the days of old and adapting and using todays equipment on AM. The site now holds over 800 megs of info and we have just added Video and audio channels for allthe users to use for fun or for working out that lityle problem in the rig.



Amfone offers projects, stories, photos, research material and links to many of the great web sites on the net today. AMFONE has sponsered severa; Special events staions and expeditions.

Here is the station set up on Dobbins Island in the Chesapeke Bay area in 1993.




If you have even the slightest interest in trying AM, get yourself an old SW broadcast receiver (preferably a tube type) at a flea market or yard sale to start with, and listen in on some of the activity on 75 meters (most between 3875 and 3890 kcs), and 160 (1880 to 1900). Be sure to hook up a speaker with good frequency response, and you will be amazed at how good many of the AM hams sound! Some like a true commercial broadcast station!

Some of your ham "buddies" might say "why do you want to use that old gear?" Well, tell 'em how many people collect old cars (not to mention drive 'em too!), and how they have become an investment.

Ah yes, the past is gone, and we know it shall never come back again, but that doesn't mean we can't re-live a bit of it in our own little abodes in some way.

If you are new to using AM, then you are in for a big reward! I switched to AM from SSB and CW years ago. I still enjoy all modes, with AM and CW as my preferences. I don't operate AM because it's the most efficient mode, but rather the flavor of nostalgia it has to me, and the beautiful audio properties inherent to amplitude modulation. If you listen to AM on a SSB rig, chances are you are only hearing one sideband, depending on which side of the carrier you are tuned to. You WILL NOT realize the true fidelity of the audio unless you can hear both sidebands and use an IF filter at least 3kcs wide, and the rig/speaker combination have a good bass and treble response.

The site was, and never will be intended as my personal home page, but rather a page for each and every enthusiast of AM.

One last word, and then surf away... I want to welcome anyone, no matter what mode you desire, SSB, CW, RTTY, etc! I love almost all modes of the hobby, it's the people that make the difference, not the mode...we do have fun!! Just give us a chance, and the bug might bite you too!

AMFONE

The AM FORUM

TNX

Gary - W2INR
Site Admin. AMFONE

 

This is a very informational site to AM'ers. Very large and well put together.

Keep up the good work

KC9BKA
http://www.qsl.net/kc9bka

 

My jaw just dropped to the floor looking at those Pics
OMG! That is a station! I can't get my jaw off the floor and I'm 6ft 3in. God oh Mighty!
73 de Rick KC3ESD

 

It is indeed a fun mode, just like SSB, CW, etc. Unfortunately, there are those that will not honor or acknowledge the agreed to "windows" on bands for AM operation and continue to harass and abuse the window, albeit small, that is set aside for the AMers.
Although not a regulation (yet), we should all strive to allow individuals to operate the specified modes within those windows, (i.e. DX, AM, SSTV, etc.) in order to maximize our mutual enjoyment of the bands.

AM is a unique mode these days and some of the stations are indeed elaborate. Most, however, are just simple low powered AM Transmitters or modern rigs operating in AM mode.

It is really great to see individuals maintain our "heritage" of where we came from (AM) in today's "modern" (SSB) world. What's next?

Digital Voice?

 

Gary: Nice post. And, some great gear. Many memories here.

That Gates or Collins transmitter and modulator in the background brought back some AM broadcast memories for me. And, of course the board, modulation monitor, etc. Do you have that gear at your house? You probably don't need extra heat in the winter..... I hear they modulate digitally today, though, to get around the added power for the modulator. Very efficient to digitally switch plate current at an audio rate using PWM, etc.

At one time I owned a Viking 2, and also an R-390, so the AM expedition photos were cool as well. The small Gates portable mixer was a nice addition as well.

I'll listen in the evenings and may jump in with my dated Kenwood gear that can receive and emit an AM signal. Of course not high level modulation. Not the real thing...

73,

Lee
W6EM

 

Great sites! AS an old AM Broadcast Transmitter Engineer I was asked to join a local group called the Pensacola Mullet Society, which is a group of local AMers and I jumped in with both feet. That was almost 2 years ago and it has been a really fun time. The Mullets have a weekly AM net and meet twice a year for a fish fry (mullet of course since our motto is "we eat our mascot").

I started with a Hallicrafters SX117 and HT44 combo into an SB200 Amp on AM and in the process of trading those for a B&W 5100 with a SX101 Receiver being refurbished by a friend. Yes, I miss the chance to do it myself, but it's hurricane season and work is a boogar-bear. With the HT44 on the floor of the shack waiting to go to it's new home, I put a T-60 I rebuilt on the air with the R100A Knight Receiver. It drives the SB200 to a 70w carrier forward modulating to over 100 watts.

What do you need to get on the air? A few folks use their Japanese rigs on AM which is great. If you want to go the vintage route, look for the old Heathkit DX-40s and DX-60s, the Knight T-60 or T-150, and if you have more bucks, the old Johnson rigs. Pretty much any halfway decent SW receiver will work. I used a Hallicrafters S53 I bought on ebay for $20 and repaired for the past 6 weeks until I found a Knight R195 (that I traded the unopened eBay box for the R100A which is in pristeen condx.)

In most areas, a signal of at least 60 watts will be plenty. If you're going to run your AMP on AM remember to restrict your output to what the manufacturer calls for on AM, or about 1/4 of the rated PEP output power. I also strongly suggest joining an AM group for support. The Mullets are members of the Southeast AM Radio Club.

 

Great post, Gary!

Yes, as we have seen, AM is more than just a bunch
of old buzzards with obsolete gear. Some of the
guys are engineers who build their own stuff.
Some are newcomers who have started from scratch
and with help have built great stations. There's
complete solid state PDM [class E] transmitters
on the air, homebrew receivers, homebrew Yagi
arrays, etc. There's something about the comradery
that develops when guys help each other.

Here's a number of AM oriented articles written
by Amers helping Amers:
http://www.amfone.net/ECSound/index.htm

Here's info on building your own 90% efficient,
class E Am solid state transmitter:
http://classe.monkeypuppet.com/
http://www.classeradio.com/

Here's a pic of a homebrew 11 tube superhet
receiver built by K1JJ:



Many of us build our own antennas. You will find
some of the biggest signals on the air are the
results of lots of hard work. Personally, I run
all modes, CW and SSB included.
Homebrew antennas at K1JJ:


Here's a shot of a solid state PDM AM transmitter
I built last year. When I started, I knew little about
solid state power FETS. After asking hundreds
of questions on the air, these guys helped me to
get one running FB!


As Gary said, check out the AmFone.Net site and
stop in on the air to get aquainted. If you become as
excited as many of us, you will learn some great
stuff and develop friends that will last a lifetime.

http://www.amfone.net/

73,
Tom, K1JJ
CT

 

I'm sure I'm not the only one who doesn't get this AM-studio nostalgia thingie. Musicians don't long for the days of noisy, count-on-your finger mixer boards that have worse fidelity than a digital 4 track board. WHy should hams? And they like old tube mikes only because the technology hasn't been beat for vocals.

I suppose we should see ribbon mikes in cages? :-(

What's old and doesn't survive is trashed for a reason.

You can like it if you want; that's fine. But it doesn't reflect ham radio today--let alone tomorrow.


73,
Chip N1IR

 

N1IR,
Maybe what should be trashed is the new "appliance plug
and play mentality" with the new "wiz bang" tranceivers
that are advertised in QST with megabuck pricetags.
But then how would the "new age ham" be able to
operate and survive without the "new toys"?

                          73, Rene, K1MVP
   P.S.,
      Good job Gary(INR) on the great "pics" and of course
      the amfone website.

 

Typical N1IR verbal diarrhea. Print it on a piece of paper and flush it.

 

N1IR said - I'm sure I'm not the only one who doesn't get this AM-studio nostalgia thingie. Musicians don't long for the days of noisy, count-on-your finger mixer boards that have worse fidelity than a digital 4 track board. WHy should hams?

All hams should use Shure 444 mikes or $2 crystal lapel mikes for that great nasal fidelity.

N1IR said - I suppose we should see ribbon mikes in cages?

If they work and sound good, go for it.

N1IR said - What's old and doesn't survive is trashed for a reason.

No argument here - I do that every week when I take out the garbage.

N1IR said -You can like it if you want; that's fine. But it doesn't reflect ham radio today--let alone tomorrow.

The overall "AM" point is that it was popular (by default) in the past, has gained tons of popularity currently (most Yaesu's, Icom's, Kenwood's, even the SDR-1000 all have AM capability), and will continue to be popular going forward.
"But it doesn't reflect ham radio today--let alone tomorrow." There's very little that reflects "real" ham radio today. Get on AM, build a rig, resurrect an old rig, press that AM button on your present rig, etc. and see what "real" radio is.

Pete, WA2CWA
ps Nice job Gary and continued success with the AM forum

 

I was first licensed in 1966. This nostalgia bit started getting some minor play in the early 1980's. Now its becoming a subculture of ham radio.

You can enjoy whatever you want. But trying to bring back AM is just wrong.

 

The golden days of AM happened when hams could open QST and buy OTS transmitters. Before then, there were very few hams.

So what's different? You don't think there were appliance AM'ers?

 

Good post Gary,

    It is refreshing to see a representative of Amateur Radio offering the welcome mat to all modes. The ARRL and FCC should be the leaders in promoting equality on our bands, I'll leave it at that, everyone is entittled to an opinion.

    As to N1IR comments, intolerance on this web site and on the Amateur bands sets a poor example of our service (hobby). The rest of the world watches and does listen to our "on the air conduct". Those that ignor the agreed AM "windows" on our bands, intentionally interfering with those using other "modes" are pounding more nails into the Amateur Radio coffin. Those frequencies can easily be sold to the highest bidder.

73's de WD8KDG, Craig

 

N1IR said - "I was first licensed in 1966. This nostalgia bit started getting some minor play in the early 1980's. Now its becoming a subculture of ham radio.
You can enjoy whatever you want. But trying to bring back AM is just wrong."

The AM mode has been with us for a long time. No reason to "bring it back" since it never left. "Wrong" doesn't even come into play.

Next on the AM scene will most likely be digital AM.

If you're into vintage SSB rigs, listen up every Sunday afternoon around 14.292. Vintage SSB, Hallicrafters, and Heathkit nets run one after the next all afternoon.

DKG said - "Those that ignore the agreed AM "windows" on our bands, intentionally interfering with those using other "modes" are pounding more nails into the Amateur Radio coffin."

Most published band plan Aids identify AM Calling Frequencies on various bands and not "windows". The AM mode, like the SSB mode, are both considered phone. You can operate AM and/or SSB on any clear frequency where phone is permitted. Keeping your AM transmissions inside some imaginary window is like putting yourself in self-exile. As long as you follow "good amateur practices", you can operate AM anywhere in the phone portion of a band.

Even the ARRL has a spot on their site for the AM mode. Check out
AM on the ARRL web site

Pete, WA2CWA