The AM Forum

"Ode to The AM Ghetto"

I warmed the tubes and settle down
for a peacefull night of AM sound
As the radio warms I hear a noise
Squeaks and squawks from nearby boys
With mistuned rigs from store bought toys

I tune them in with the BFO
and slop-bucket trash reigns above and below
This is our frequency! Why don't you get lost!
"Frequency ownership" squawked the Slop-bucket Boss

I reached for the switch and added the Strap!
The power came up with a large relay clack!
I tuned and I tweaked as the meters swung right
The power meter buried for fight

In a clear smooth sound I keyed and I said
You ain't running nothin if the tubes don't turn red
The filth from your mouth fueled by cheap beer
while Ur slop-bucket sound is hard on the ears
and your AM prejudice will bring me no tears
So listen and learn you store bought boozers
Build a real rig you slop-bucket loosers

A waste of time talking to trash
so back to the mode where the big rigs bash
the store bought rigs bought with hard cash

I left the store bought boys and their toys
To return to AM and a slop-bucket void
Where real hams build radios that glow
And true friends talk on the great AM mode.


by Brent W1IA



 
 

It sure is nice to sometimes hear
An AM QSO loud and clear
Without the grunting hogs near by
Without the sideband mating cry

The FCC will scream and cry
Oh what a thoughtless careless guy
If an AM station makes a slip
Of modulation or of lip

But cussing sideband loud and clear
Is something that they never hear
And 20 kc's of sideband splatter
Is quite another different matter

The manufacturers' lobby stays
In Washington where the money plays
Between their hands and the FCC
To force sideband on you and me

So sit back, boys and pay it no mind
And some day you will wake up and find
A band that's not unlike CB
Where there is no more room for you and me.

By Walt, WB4AOE (SK)
As best I can remember it (from the era of the great AM vs SSB wars, circa 1964).

I can sympathize with frustration about slopbucketeers bad manners, deliberate QRM and refusal to respect the AM window or an AM QSO. And I can find humor in it, too. But seriously, spiteful QRM-retaliation ain't the answer.

The "biggest rig on the block" survival-of-the-fittest "get a real rig you mud duck" atmosphere is what CB is all about. You don't want ham radio to devolve to that, do ya? It may be headed that way anyhow, but you can slow the downslide a bit by not getting involved in feuds.

I support the K4KYV Method, if quackers encroach your ongoing QSO, quietly increase your power (if you can), and say nothing about it. Don't taunt them, don't even acknowledge the SSB ops are there.

All in fun...don't take this too seriously. I certainely don't ;D

In days of old
When hams were bold
And sideband wasn't invented

They tuned their load
To the center of the mode
And talked away very contented.

A musical turn.

http://www.amwindow.org/audio/htm/allyehams.htm

I like this one best of all! Its short and simple.
However I like the original version of this one even better:

"In days of old
when men were bold
and toilets werent invented.

Men laid their load
beside the road
and walked away contented"       ;D ;D

                                                                                 
                                                               The Slab Bacon

I realize I may get crispy fried for this but I gotta ask the question.....(/me dons asbestos undergarments).  The AM window has been around for a while.  I hear lots of complaints about the deliberate QRM in that region and I have to wonder......has anyone ever approached the league to get it added to the suggested band plans?  I realize the AM community and the ARRL has some history but as a new ham I don't know much about it.  To be perfectly honest about it I am less concerned about the history than how to fix things now (I do believe that we should learn from the lessons of history though).  Would ordinary Hams sign a petition to get an "AM window" added to the bandplans?  I suspect everyone here wouldn't mind signing such a petition.  Thoughts?

.........SNIP!.......

                That came from the 60's Don??? That's great foresight, thanks for the rerun........Larry

An urge that few appear able to resist.

There's an even better approach - operate on those wonderful frequencies below 3800 that so many AMers raved about last winter after the phone privileges were expanded. Nowhere near the issues or nitwit factor down there.  ;)

The problem I have with that is we might get what we asked for.  Once an "AM window" is recognised as part of the band plan, we will be expected to remain inside it, even if we still have to share those frequencies with SSB stations.  I like the "AM calling frequency" concept better.

I think the AM community should use the expanded frequencies more, but we shouldn't allow ourselves to be bullied out of the Ghetto either, if we were on the frequency first.  If. OTOH. we turn on the receiver and find an existing SSB QSO going on right in the middle of the "window", it is up to us to find our own clear spot to operate.  That frequency is not ours to take until it is no longer in use.

I took the time to ask a couple of SSB op's to move after they fired up next to 3880 on 3878...after a couple of the normal guys on freq bailed the last op conceded and left. I was nice and firm. In the end this was better than fighting with them. They don't always respond to nice, but I refuse to lower myself to bickering with them.

The calling freq of 3885 is probably the best way to handle it. I don't want the stigma of a window ever again.

Brent

Right on the money, Don. First come, first served. I'm not the kind who likes to be driven off an occupied frequency either, but also appreciate the position we put ourselves into if we insist on some imaginary 'window' of frequency ownership.

Particularly with all the space down below, the fun of operating has been restored to a much higher level for many without having to deal with the hand-to-hand combat associated with 75m. The trick is to do as you say - use a frequency, or find another if the one you'd like is in use. Conditions vary across the country, so as the trouble makers go to bed or pass out, the ghetto area quiets down nicely around midnight or so EDT. It's really only difficult there in the evening hours.

Utilizing other frequencies also has the benefit of making AM more commonplace, more accepted, and drawing in new folks or those who have been away from AM for a long period. Sunday afternoon into early evening, there were AM QSOs at 3705, 3715, 3725, and 3733 simultaneously. As few as 2 people to as many as 5-6 in some of the groups. W9GT even joined in with his old Federal 813 marine transmitter.

Then the band went out, and so did the activity. I think if we can keep some stations active down there throughout the night as the band changes, we'll be able to maintain a presence down low as well as up higher.

And AM QSOs on 3807, 3870 and 3885 kHz too!