The AM Forum

Thanks to Bert WA3JYU, for bringing his camera we have a group picture of some of the AM op's that showed up at noon for the traditional Timonium AM photo shoot. 

Thanks to my wife Martha-N3QBE for taking the picture of the gang!   

Kneeling in front is Bert-WA3JYU

Front Row L. to R.
Gary-W1GHW, Fran-W3SCC, Joe-W3GMS, and Tom-W3BYM

Back Row L. to R.
Al-KZ3AB, Tim-W3TIM, Chuck-W3FJJ, Jay-N3WWL, Dan-N3SMF and Ed-KA3PTX   

Regards,
Joe, W3GMS

Y'all look COLD !!!

Hi Paul,

It was good seeing you yesterday.  Sorry you could not stay and make it in the picture.  Yes, it was still a bit "nippy".  It's a shame that Frank, AHE was not in the picture as well but I am assuming he and Carol went home to get warm! Carol looked like she was really cold earlier in the morning.  Greg, K3EWZ was missing in the photo as well.  It was great seeing Greg as well since we had not had a chance to chat in a long time.  A very nice social event with a few Boat Anchors thrown in!   
 
Joe, W3GMS

Yes it was a good bunch of folks to run across.

You may have missed the one R390A that I saw there.

It was a blackface "Imperial" in the middle building of the Cow Palace. I don't even ask the price anymore, but I make it a point to tune every one of them I see to 3885 and open the selectivity up all the way.  Secret message to the faithful.

Yeah, I wandered away right as Bert asked me about a score of Ampex 631 he had his eye on.  Brand new tape stock, open reel.  I said go for it, the stuff is rugged, stable, and just fine for long-term storage and retrieval. Yet, I couldn't work a deal on a 10-count box of analog hissettes.  They were high-bias, high output, to be sure, but I wasn't paying his price. I wanted them for the truck, which -- as a 1999 -- came with a hissette AM/FM Delco.

Next time.

Ha. Check out Al with that Amish beard!

Hi Paul,
I did not see the black face 390.  We did not get inside until after lunch.  Hopefully it went to a good home.

Hi Steve,
There is a story behind that beard, but we never heard it.  That warrants a follow-up with him!

Joe, W3GMS

Hmmmm. I haven't heard Al on the air in a long time.  Does he still show up on 160 meters?

I have not heard him on the air in a long time.  I know he is into other aspects of Amateur Radio over the last 5 years or so.  I sensed that his interest is coming back concerning AM since we were talking about his T3.  Lets hope so...
Joe, W3GMS   

How about some names to those in the pic. I'd like to put some faces to people on the air and this forum. Thanks

Mike

   The calls/ names are called out there in the text above the pix!

Yea, I didn't recognize him at first and had to do a double-take  :o  ;D

And I was parked right next to him! ! ! !  :o  :o

Wish I was there!

John,

We all missed you not being able to make it this year as well.  Your day will come once your back home. 

I just sent Al, KZ3AB an email asking about his beard and the story behind it.

Stay tuned!

Joe, W3GMS

Ralph, Sorry, I must have had a brain fart. It looks and sounds like a fun day. Wish I had been there.

Mike

Hi Mike,
I am sure you would have had a good time.  I am not sure where you live so it might be out of your driving distance so to speak.
Joe, W3GMS

Well, Al-KZ3AB decided it was time to loose the beard!  That looks more like the Al we know! 

Damn, I thought Al had repented and took a road side stand in Intercourse, PA!

Hi Dave,

Well the photo shot down at the fester sure had people talking about Al!  Thats why I though I would let everyone know that Al's beard is gone!

It's a shame you and Pam could not get there this year.

Joe, W3GMS

Hey, didn't I buy a BC-342 with extra chassis off a guy in that photo?  :)

Hopefully if you did it works!  If Al Brown sold it to you I know he represented it properly.  Al, KZ3AB and Fran, W3SCC are good guys for sure!  My mentor Harry, W3FDY knew Fran very well and when I was a 13 year old kid many many years ago Harry told me Fran was a good guy and I found out he was right. Since Fran only picks out good friends, Al is a great guy as well!   
Regards,
Joe, W3GMS

I did not plug it in. I'm in the process of replacing the filter caps, the broken fuse plug in the back, and converting the power plug to three prong. Then all I need to do is find a speaker for it.  :)

Good luck with the BC 342.  As I remember, its very sensitive but pretty wide from a bandwidth standpoint.  When QRM is not heavy, feeding the audio off the detector to another Hi Fi amp should produce a nice sound while listening to those AM'ers with good audio.  I believe I took the audio off the high side of the AF volume pot.   Mechanically this receiver is very stable!   
Enjoy,,,
Joe-W3GMS 

And crazy heavy for it's size (BC-342); talk about bulletproof... literally!

I can see it now, in some military book somewhere, "Before there was Kevlar & ceramic plating on patrol vehicles, there was the BC342..."

I've got a BC348Q that looks a lot like it, and yeah, it has a very good grip on gravity for its size.

Yes, with the mount it's right around 70lbs!  :o