The AM Forum

I was in QSo with k4elv and the net appeared on 3888. Kb2ixt and the crew ... The whole band is empty...  is this a new thing . . ?

Blasted me here in AZ.  No call for FREQ in use.. Just keyed up and started having a net.

C

no, this is nothing new.
I have been off the air now for almost 2 years, but every time i turn on a receiver its still the same antics...
one of the many reasons I enjoy the internet instead

Don't let the lunatics spoil your enjoyment of AM...  Strap softly and turn up the wick.

I just lost interest a while back, It felt like I was spinning my wheels going nowhere with the hobby.
everytime I turned the radio on, it was the same QSO's over and over, re-inventing the wheel or asking the same questions over and over.
how many times do people need to ask how to "hi-fi" a valiant/ranger?
or ssb people moo'ing into microphones under AM QSO's, people getting angry and swearing/on air fights, others sitting home all day complaining about everything but refusing to go out and work for a living (I'm not referring to the physically disabled people with a valid excuse).
what about the people that constantly dispense their "technical advise" but have no ability to propagate a signal or even solder two wires together? most of them hate anything new unless they were able to pick it out of someones garbage can  :P
Maybe this is something restricted to the east coast, but I dont remember it being this bad when i got started back in the late 80's, even when I got into AM back in 2001 it just seemed more enjoyable.

Aw cawmon Blaine.  Your just suffering from a slight case of "RD," radio depression.
Even Bob Dole has a cure for that!  ;D

Hey, Spring's here.  Haven't G.Earth'd your location, back yard possibilities but if you don't feel like getting ready for summer 6 n 10, then start a garden.  Plant some flowers, onions and lettuce for starters, tomatoes, corn, beans, all that neat stuff later.

Get your mind off radio for awhile.
First thing you know you'll be hooked on Class E again, building and programming SDR stuff, might even strike up an AM qso, talk about all those neat vegetables, neighbors stealing stuff right out from underneath your HV fence, canning, pressure cookers, steam engines..   who knows what all? 

I think asinine behavior cycles with the sun spots. I'm serious.
I enjoy fabrication and listening more than gabbing anyway.
Things will improve.

I agree Blaine.


73

Jack.

And I want to Add I miss the other part of the board where we could log in an Talk
Live where'd that go don't get no QRM there....

Blaine said:
"Maybe this is something restricted to the east coast, but I dont remember it being this bad when i got started back in the late 80's, even when I got into AM back in 2001 it just seemed more enjoyable."


Hola Blaine -

Yep, it's always been this way as far back as I can recall. Personalities come and go - the stage is the same. However, we are witnessing some serious social unraveling as a result of the economic cycle, so people are generally nastier than ever. This too will change back to hi-hi FB again someday.

You probably experienced the old, "Familiarity breeds contempt" cycle. We all burn out of a hobby if we hang with the same group too long, or the same mode of operation too long. Many of us listen in and get critical after a while. We really need a few different gangs to run with - and at least two different modes to play with. For example, when 10M opens up, many guys find a new world of AM people up there to hang with and make it new again.

I do it by playing DX on ssb as much as I operate AM. Mix it up. I have as many friends on ssb as AM. The ssb guys are spread throughout the USA and mostly DX. These are guys I know well after years of doing what we all enjoy, working DX.   If you discover another area to split some ham time into, AM will become fresh again when you come back on.  Going back and forth between the modes and gangs is a joy. No way to get grudges and mindsets.  I know the HUZman does the same thing as well as Chuck (when he gets on) Bob/W2ZM and many others.  Some do it by building rigs or modifying stuff on the bench to get away for a while.

I notice the guys who implode and get nasty are usually the ones who hang on ONE mode, ONE group and ONE general frequency. The 2M repeaters are a perfect subset example of this.

Mix it up and keep it fresh!

BTW, we all miss you on the air, Blaine. Your dry sense of humor was always the perfect blend to the AM scene.

T

Vidieo Chat Bring it Back..... 8)

73
Jack.

I'm not suggesting anyone do such a thing, but in a hypothetical universe, when such things happen, one of you could drop down about 800 Hz, and one of you could drop down about 1200 Hz (well within even the tightest SSB voice filters).  Then they can't zero-beat, since you are now off the freq they chose not to respect.  Of course, both could just ignore their idiocy and lack of respect and let them accumulate the reputation for being, well, morons, but I understand why people don't want to do so, seeing how they should have alternate plans for when frequencies are in use, which is just good net planning.

Many AM operators using boatancher rigs do this without even trying. Have you ever heard an AM roundtable where everyone was on the same frequency   ???

That is the (in)famous exit-stage-left technique. Although Pete has a point, most of us who run the older stuff tend to be a little off freq.  Generally though when I zero beat I think I get pretty close 'by ear"   Absolutely no reason to be "dead on" freq anyway, except possibly bragging rights?

I often thought then when certain people die, the band would be free of the types that I can't stand. Problem with the wait and see days is, some won't die before me and when some undesirable does kick the bucket, there's already another another A++hole in the pipe line. Who knows, I may be one of the people that others would like to see down six feet under ;D ;D  Just trying to do my part to keep things positive :o :o

 

Doesn't work.  I have been through about 5 cycles of this and it stays the same but with different names.  These days the influx of people like you describe are coming from a different source rather than spending many years on a frequency and just growing cranky with age.

Ya know Blaine, I always enjoyed talking with you when you were on.  The problem is that if someone joins in that someone doesn't like, and when someone asked them politely to go away, the the jamming starts. It's more of a CB mentality nowadays than ever in my estimation.

Well...isn't that's whats on today Expert CB'ers with a ticket...ya know.. 8)

W.T.F.


73

Jack.

This would be solved quickly by FCC if they did one thing:  Inform every U.S. ham who took a test in front of a VE that they are being called in for retesting for real with a real radio test including CW before an FCC examiner.  The calling in and retesting would have to be done in phases for it would affect every ham licensed after 1980 but it would effectively clear out many of the sociopaths and licensed ghost operators (inactive tickets).

We'd be left with (I estimate) 30% of the current no. of licensees but they would be hams who really want to be hams and learn about radio.  Unfortunately it is never going to happen.  I leave it as an exercise for the reader to speculate on the reasons why.

Rob

From what I witnessed first hand what some of these these..."ve's"  let through I agree with Rob.

Yessum.

73

Jack.

Oh yes, if they'd just bring back the CW requirement, Rob....that would turn everyone into a polite operator (even though it didn't work back then either).  ::)

The nonsense on 75 has, as others have shown, been going on for decades. The players have changed, the excuses remain the same. Some of it centers around some false perception of frequency ownership, but most of it is just good ol' stupidity. In this case it's a two way street, with issues on both sides of the aisle regardless of mode.

The interesting thing is, you can tune to other parts of the band or go to other bands and, like magic - it's gone. I listened to some of the guys in VE land earlier while working in the radio room, then tuned around and found Slab, Karl, and Ralphie having a nice exchange. Heard some guys down this way earlier in the day around 3715 having their weekly meet up, as well as some folks on 40m before that.


I'd say it's more specifically a northeast thing, Blaine. Down this way I can hear the noise up there but hear other stations from the south to the midwest much better depending on the time of day. If you ask other AMers from around the country, all seem to be familiar with the 75m cesspool topic or 'ghetto' as someone labeled it.

I'm just glad those Marconi guys don't know about the internet and can't read all of the comments about them, otherwise it would be about as useful as commenting to someone who's trying to jam a QSO. Just imagine the satisfaction they'd get from seeing all the excitement being created and attention focused on them. They might even feel....encouraged to do more. We sure are lucky they can't see this.  ;)

I wouldn't say its necessarily a NE thing. I was listening around this afternoon and heard the comment on 68; "I'm about sick and tired of AM'ers". This was definately a SE QSO. Instantly wheeling up to the window, I found dead silence.

Radio helps me get away from the daily stress and aggravation; I could only hope that others are this way and when the switch is flipped "on" they can drop it all as well. So, let's dismiss that excuse.

So, I'm just trying to figure out why the SSB crowd has contempt for the AM operators? It is usually limited to the window on 75M about 20 KC's or so; just a little slice of the band. I just can't think of any legitimate reasons.

Phil 

Right on Blaine....

When you operate on the the same freq, hang out with the same guys (most of which can't have a QSO without P&Ming about either the Macaroni Net or K1MAN), EVERY day, anyone would get bored. Branch out. There are more AM freqs than one. Believe it or not, there are many interesting people to talk to and get to know. And most don't even give a crap about Macaroni or K1MAN. Move away from the losers. AM will be much better then.

If you let others determine what you do, you'll generally be unhappy.

Two points:  Wackos who just want to push a button and have a soapbox may be put off enough by a cw test to find another medium for tirades.

You may say in response, a wacko won't bother with a license.  That may be true, but the fine for a completely unlicensed pirate operator is way way higher and in the past, has included some jail time. 

But, make the basic ham test something a tad short of a give away from your friendly smiling VE and we have this blurring between 75 m., 27 MHz and the "freeband" wherever that is.   Do a few menu mods to your Yaesu and it is all one big continuum. 

I haven't been on the forum much myself but have been on the air more often.  No phone activities but been DX hunting using CW.  I'm havin' a blast.

...and who is going to find and prosecute these people? As they were fond of saying in Poland 20+ years ago: "2+2=4". Translation: if there's more of them than there are people who would stop them, they win.

Let's not forget that the FCC is on the very bottom of the federal budget, and don't have the manpower or money necessary to make all of us go in and re-test in front of them. I can think of 9,000 things I'd rather have my taxes pay for this year.

All of which overlooks the most important reason: they don't give a pair of fetid dingo's kidneys about us, and one can hardly blame them.


Changes in technology have absolutely zero to do with the VE system, sorry. You're lumping "apple" pet-peeves in with "orange" ones.

I know plenty of people who took their exams in front of the FCC who are either idiots, egotists, pedophiles, murderers, or just plain subtracting from the collective IQ of the hobby by continuing to participate in it.

Hiram Percy Maxim never took an exam in front of the FCC. What a bum he must have been.

Dude! The OM was a BUM? You just made me spit coffee all over my monitor! After a real pisser of a night at work, that just struck me as awfully funny. I needed a good laugh!

Lately,

 I've been more concerned with all the earth quakes and this latest
mess with the volcano it's a little unnerving.

I personally have little use for nets unless I'm lonely,, :P you lonely...lol.. ;D


73

Jack.

Phred said and I quote " Nets are a good way to organize hams"

I guess the rest of us outside of nets, are out of control ??? ???