The AM Forum

It has been just over a year since I started a similar topic and not much has changed other than both my 810 rig and my SoftRock receiver are now working perfectly on 20.

I have spent the last couple of weeks of my evening radio time on 20 and have found it very rewarding and fun.

Seems like the East Coast comes in early evening and the West Coast later but not much in between except for locals.

I have never found the band to be either dead or over crowded except for contests.  It may frequently seem dead but I can always find a bucket or two somewhere on the band booming in like a broadcast station.  The dearth of stations is obviously because of a lack of activity.

Running the CQ robot always brings in a QSO.  Sometimes on the first call, sometimes after ten minutes or more.  Usually a bucket but not infrequently an AM station and I can almost always coax the bucket to try AM.

Tonite for example, I made 5 contacts between 0300Z and 0400Z one an AMer on a homebrew rig, one switched to AM and I was not only his first AM contact but his first Illinois contact.

The band is somewhat variable but does not seem as bad as 40, just QSB but they rarely go away suddenly.

Everyone is very pleasant and they seem to enjoy the AM contact as much as I do.  Signals are usually very strong and most contacts could never have been made on 75 or even 40 for that matter.

I have not been on 40 at all lately as I find 20 much more to my liking.  We have an officially recognized AM calling frequency (14.286) which makes it sort of nice compared to fighting for a window on 40 or the BCSTers higher up the band.

I don't think I have ever heard or talked to more than one person from this list on 20 and I can't help but wonder why.

Come on in, the water is nice.

Jack K9ACT

Jack....I am on 14.285 (xtal controlled) ....from Tum Tum, WA starting around the end of Sept and thru the winter until April...With a pair of 100ths x 813s and a full wave loop...I use the RBB navy receiver..I try to get on around 1-2 PM west coast time...I have had a lot of fun on 20 and condx should be getting better ...Hope to work you sometime...Steve KL7OF

I worked 3 stations in Wa this afternoon 0n 14.286.  Two of them AM.

js

Cool Jack....call signs on the WA AM Stations??   Keep up the good werk...Steve

Jack,

I'm dying to try my new 26' long ladderline center fed dipole on 20 (you probably would not be able to hear me though) and was going to fire everything up this weekend and try it out then I got hit with a real bad sore throat that's keeping me out of the basement and confined to an orbit of the computer, kitchen, bathroom and bed.   It's the damndest thing to have all these new antennas and I'm sick.  I'm gg to get on there and see what I can do as soon as possible.  I got the AM 20 m. calling freq. from Fred Mop.  GG to put my half-gallon of AM on 20 as soon as I get well.  Heard condx were fantastic this morning on the classic radio net on 75.  Of course they were--I'm sick that's why  :D

Rob
K5UJ

You had me digging in the waste basket but I came up with two:
KE7RPR and KD7RIG

My enthusiasm for keep a log is fading fast.

Jack

Jack said:
Even though the requirement for a log book has long since expired, I still log all my contacts and operating time as if it was required. Any litigation accusing you of operating when you weren't can be dispelled with a well maintained log book. You know how crazy people can be.  :P

After years of computer logging, I recently bought a paper log book and find that I actually keep that log much easier.  I'm usually looking up qrz or something else on the computer and I find picking up the pencil during a contact is much easier than firing up a logging application.  After a page or two, I'll go and do some data entry.  It's working for me.

Glad to see you back on 20 Jack, I think you took a little break anyway.  I'll monitor the call frequency there a bit more now that I see a few others may be looking to play.  I can always hears an AM station on .285 if I'm monitoring .286

73 all, John KX5JT

OK!!!!   ???
I gotta get my self in the shack a lot more. I'm anxious to try out my 20M HGSW that was built from a QST article in July/June(?) I have worked SSB 100 watts to Lithuania and Italy. My antenna is radiating N.E. with an Easterly flavor and S.W with a West flavor

Fred

Thanks to Jack for firing up the CQ machine on 14.286 and drawing in some QSOs tonight.  Have not worked anyone east of me yet on the new 26' long dipole at 40 feet but now have a few QSOs out west to the coast and N.M. and the signal reports have all been very positive.  Tom JJ wondered how the dipole would play; well so far no "I got 30% of that, oh the carry out is here gotta go" experiences.  Instead all reports S7 to S9 out to WA, OR, VE6 land, and N.M. with 180 w. USB and thanks to Jack's CQ machine had a great QSO with KK7P in Mt. Vernon OR running a pw 30 w. carrier but he never missed a word and he was on a K3 running even less.  I suppose the 3 el. steppIR at his end helped hi hi.  So I can testify that you can have a lot of fun on 20 with a qrp AM rig if you have a low rx noise level (and the other guy has a beam  ;) ).

Rob K5UJ

Boy ,
have I been lax. I should fire up on 20M in the early evenings. Too hooked on the soap opera of 75. Bit by bit the North tower is being prepped for the reinstatement of my 20M lazy H ,which will serve as a set of stacked dipoles on 40 M . Top elements at 100' lower elements @ 55' . It always worked well when it was last in operation. This time around it should be better. For now it is just long wire type antennas. C-U- there. Tim WA1HnyLR

Wow!  That's better than Obama showing up.

Get Tim interested and it is guaranteed to work.

Jack