AM Phone-- The Slight Return

Although I only have an Alinco SR8T, it DOES have AM...but only 40 watts worth. I'd love to play with the big boys in this mode, but wonder just how well I'd be heard. I've only played around with AM on 10 meters, and that's only been 3 or 4 times in 26 years of being licensed.

Still...it's pretty cool!

John KB2HSH
Springbrook, NY

 

Thanks Paul for the old call sign on Chuck. When I was wild and young my call was WA1HIR and there were a number of local AM'ers in the New England area that used 75 to hang out. Although a bunch of us used 50.55 to find out where the next party was
Clean audio was always a draw to me. In college I used to have a weekly QSO with a UK ham on AM. This OM had a clean, rich sound and I could hear his Big Ben clock in the background as if it was in my shack. I left the hobby for awhile (to long a story for this thread), but I'm in the process of rebuilding my station and getting back on AM and getting my CW fist back (another signature of knowing who the other ham is without hearing the call sign
Erik, AB1UP

 

My friend Keith, WB2VUO told me about that 50.55 net. Something about the availability of crystals, or some such thing.

 

I TX the same power on ssb, cw, and AM.

Most CB is on ssb ,has been for years.

BCB AM SW dwindling.

Assertion does not apply.

73
Chip W1YW

 

Plenty of room ...

Lower usage of the phone band may be a perception based on just fewer stations heard transmitting. I think there are the same or more LISTENERS out there, just tuning around and watching the DX Cluster.

Too much addiction to key-pad punching? Too much effort or negative stigmas to speak up and out?

The practice of calling CQ on phone, and then having a truly social RAGCHEW QSO, is not performed as much as in the past, or could be. Nowadays, most CQ's seem to be generated by Big Guns, rare DX, or Special Events, looking to generate a pileup and do a brief contest-style exchange, and often draw out those who are monitoring (I admit, like me). And that's great!

Rarely do I hear someone simply conversing! Except when I occasionally get together OTA with some of my long time buddies. We like to have a round-table operating "fast break" style (like also heard on 14.208 ;-) talk about our actives but also tech, current events, history; all topics are open. Usually within minutes there are many others, often strangers, breaking in to join or make comments.

Now AM doesn't lend itself to fast break VOX like SSB. QSO's are usually done in more of a long monologue transmission. But IMHO that's a spoken word art form that deserves as much attention as RAP!

 

Ham radio in general is less than 1% efficient, and none of it will save any planets.

 

Most of the people that has posted is in fovor of AM voice. I would like to agree with them. I don't hear that many anymore, I do scan the bands for people calling CQ. I like to have conversations with them, yes we talk about our rigs and antennas. That to me is the ice breaker.
I chose to have A Yeasu FT-101, my choice. Great old tube hybred, it does very well on AM(I use A Shure 444d).
So if you have A 25 watt rig or 1500 watt amp. try it, I dare you. You might have fun. These people are the real thing older HAMS with manners. That has been my experience.

 

I'd like to see an AM comeback as well.

The last time I used the mode it was 5 watts on a band that doesn't require a license and I was talking to my friends a few miles away in the Sierra Nevada. I was 17 years old too.

 

Europe to East coast and midwest AM packed with good signals right now 16:00z 29000 to about 29080.

Fire up.

Majority of activity is so called modern equipment. No snobs and plenty of quick break back and fourth action.

Run what you have.

 

Not a thing heard.

Hmm...



OK, using a different node, I've got an Italian station mobile !! IY5EKR

 

G8NOF calling CQ on 29030. VE6CQ on 29015, GW8TBG 29070....

CT1EHI somewhere. F6DMD using Icalm into 4 el 29060.

Just worked F6DMD using 1/2 watt my end and got a 5/5. He is using 25 watts and 5/9 hr. Where's Burt.

 

I have 7295 KHz locked into one of my FT-450 memory slots. Many nights a week (and sometimes during the day) some hams meet there for AM sessions. It sounds good. Very little interference. But what makes it even better is that the conversations are interesting. However, later at night some shortwave broadcaster takes over in Arabic and then the party is over, for me anyway. Perhaps people in other parts of the country can still use the frequency, though.

I think AM is a good idea to keep handy also because most of the modern communications transceivers have the mode built into the systems. And it's not all that bad considering that the receivers' sensitivity is adequate to pull out the signals in most cases. I use a TTFD (B&W Design) so the signal is much quieter and the SWR is less than 2:1 so the efficiency is very good.

If enough people used AM, then it would become even more popular once the advantages are learned. Sure, SSB may be more efficient and longer in the reach, DX-wise but it's still proof that Ham Radio is not limited to one band or one mode. Also, it's proof today that AM is not just for CB radio, anymore. And the idea that a lot of the older rigs, the ones that were the king of the road before SSB, can still be used and are candidates for beginners. In fact, maybe it's even a mode that can attract some new-comers to ham radio, especially those who have memories of when they listened to hams chatting away on AM in the early days, on the low bands, as they tuned their SWL receivers around trying to pick up something new. Remember shorting out some turns on the loop antenna on old 5-tubers so they'd pick up the local ragchewers? I do...

 

Will give a listen as soon as I get the HQ140X back from being aligned . transmitter is Viking II .

andrew
kd5pnt

 

Just worked (1700z) M0WBX/QRP using 4 watts carrier here 29020. 5/3 received 5/5 sent.

Andy using a MOXON 8 metres above gnd and IIRC 5 watts.