The AM Forum

So I checked out 14.286 at about 6:00 pm and it was clear.  Hmm....so I tested the waters with a CQ on the TS-570.  Snagged a SSB station (myself in the AM mode of course) and he soon switched to AM.  He was on a Flex 3000 and I had to guide him through turning his mic gain DOWN because it was so distorted. 

He was a great operator in that he listened but honestly went too low and his audio was clear now.  I prodded him to add a tad more and there it was... a nice sounding AM signal.

Well we carried on then as I was warming up the Viking II and NC-300.... By 7:00 pm and well into the dark here, I had worked about 7 or 8 AM stations including Randy KH6RC in Hawaii!!  The noise floor rose after dark and was not exactly steady, but the signals were still nice and strong with some waviness.  It was great fun for sure.

I heard you John working the first guy, and was warming up the tubes to work you when you finished. The band went long and i lost you, but I could hear those you were working. You had a bit of a pile-up going on! I have noticed recently that 20 is starting to stay open later in the evening, at least two hours or so after sundown. So .286 is a nice early evening alternative!

Yes Mark!!  Sorry the band went long.  It would have been nice to work you.  One of the stations I worked mentioned you in fact. 

It was sort of a pileup!! It really felt great to be the center of attraction with guys actually calling me back in the AM mode on 20.  The highlight for me was Randy in Hawaii, KH6RC

Presently I'm on 21.420 in a round table with W2ILA (Rhode Island) and Voice Modulated Carrier up in WI.  15 is surprisingly stable today.

73