The AM Forum

I really want to work some classic or modern AM stations that belong to lovers of AM tonight.  Meet me on 7.225 AM

CQ!  calling all 40 meter AM enthusiasts!  It's time!  Come over to 7.220!

p.s. Apparently 7.218 lsb is popular so I have moved from 7.220 up to 7.225 .. thanks for taking note and hope to work YOU on the air tonight/this morning

73 John KX5JT - South Louisiana A.M. Voice of Acadiana

Still throwing CQ's out... seems like a good band but no AMers  ...  ::)

John.... I'm hearing your CQs in KC. I don't have a transmitter online. Working on a Softrock receiver :-\

Heya Mike!  Aww man I have been putting out a lot of calls too.  I heard one station attempt to come back to me.... I wonder how I'm sounding out there?  All too often people seem to hear me but I can't pull them out.  I have a feeling it's sidebanders trying to return my call in AM mode with lower power.

Give me a signal report old friend! :)

Now only broadcaster on 7225 khz.

Greetings,

Henk / PE1MPH

Q5...Pretty quiet band except for the QRM on 7.220 >:(

Henk.... I can't hear that broadcaster in the Midwest

Hi Henk sorry you have a broadcast there... I'm only running 100 watts into a ground plane vertical fed at 18 ft.  My noise floor is high... s7 with lightning crashing to 20 over but for a decent US station this should be no problem.

Thanks for the feedback and report Mike.  I wish more AMers would splash around on 40 at night.  I'm going to do my best to get the 80 meter dipole up tomorrow so I should have some replies then.  At least I know it's not my end, I'm getting out there just no AM takers tonight.

How's my audio doing from the Viking II?? I am using the D-104 but seriously thinking about trying to inject hi-fi from the processor into the driver transformer and trying that sometime.

I ask about the audio because I hear a hum in my headphones.  I have asked people before if it's on the air and they always say they can't hear it.  It seems to change characteristics if I grab the ground of my scope probe.  Strange.   

John KX5JT

With the S7 noise here the D-104 sounds pretty good. Your signal peaks are 15 over.

Okay good deal!  Hum?  Minor? None? A lot?

None....other than the  mic connecter ;D

Yeah I moved too far that time lol!  It's just strange to hear the hum when monitoring but it doesn't go out on the air.  That's a good thing but I wish I could kill it in my receiver.

I'm getting tired of calling and calling now.  I think I'll space them out more.  What happened to your transmitters Mike?

Transmitters are fine. The antenna is hook up to the SDR as I test it out

9:54 EDT
Well it's still Sat morning, so I'm lighting up the station and will cruise a while from 7280 Kc up.

Listening 7250/60 now...

The best freq. to reach Europe...
Is just after 06.00 hour by me (Holland) till +/- 07.30 hour.
And then on 7220 khz.
Then Broadcasters are off air.... ;D

Good DX,

Henk / PE1MPH

 Sure is so much Easier for everyone to understand us when we state our local times in hours and minutes UTC, GMT, or Zulu...Thus, midnight here is 12:00PM DST but it's 0400 utc, gmt, zulu. Now in November when we 'fall back' one hour, back to EST it will be
0300utc, gmt or zulu. It's really easy once you start practicing it..and there's always WWV to be certain. :)

Well, Duh! Midnight is 12:00AM not PM, Now I'm confused, hi... ;D

Yeah, your confused all over the place...

Last time I looked, going from DST to normal time you added an hour...
IE "Spring Forward, Fall Back"...  That would make  GMT +5 not +3 hours

Good luck in the contest... ::) ::) ::)

Oh, and Henk in Holland is ONE hour ahead (GMT + 1) of Zulu...

Sorry Ralph, it's GMT-5 for EST!

Yep, I goofed...  Confusion reigns... Sorry.

But, Henk is still one hour east of GMT and EST is 75 degrees west of Greenwich.

Helllo,
Last week I heard often on 7220 khz a RTTY? station?
Sounding like RTTY, a strange carrier with noise!
But last days 7220 - 7225 early mornings totaly free/clean.
Best time, then freq. free by me, mornings just after 06.00 o'clock.
Now GMT Summer time (till end Oktober) + 2
See: http://www.weerstationuithuizermeeden.nl/Wereldklok.htm

In New York then GMT - 5
Now, while I write this, our time: 18.35
And then (now) in New york: 11.35

Greetings,

Henk / PE1MPH

H,

I know this is a 40m 'forum';  Have you tried 10m? ... The DLs and PEs consistently get across.


klc

I pretty much run on 24-hour GMT.  No fiddle-farting with all the time zones, AM vs PM and daylight shifting nonsense. But where it still gets confusing is with dates.  At 6 PM local time, it's 2400 (or 0000) GMT, and the Greenwich date changes.  So Friday evening  local time is Saturday morning GMT, and I always specify that the date is local time, hopefully avoiding confusion. I have found that a  lot of people can't understand how 0400 GMT on Friday night local time would be Saturday morning GMT.

To me, it is "evening" or "night" until I go to bed, and it is "morning" after I get up, regardless of my sleeping time.  So 2 AM local time (or 0800 GMT) is still the "evening" of the day before, if I haven't gone to bed yet, and if I sign out of a QSO at that time, I'll say good-night.  But if I happen to get up that early (extremely rarely), to me it is morning.

Re 40m, what ever happened to the AM activity in the vicinity of 7160?  That frequency is often clear late at night, but no AM in a long time.  If I call CQ, the most I can usually hope for is for some slopbucketeer to "try his rig out on AM for the first time". I do hear clear frequencies in the vicinity of 7225, but Europeans cannot operate above 7200, and I don't like that split operation nonsense, since inevitably while one station is transmitting, someone will open up on the other frequency, which is clear for the moment.  The (nominal) broadcast-free spectrum below 7200 is not reserved for SSB only.  I just wish our cheesy US Lower 48 sub-band allocation didn't restrict us to so little of it.

Henk,

Ik begrijp dat 7220 is soms duidelijk, maar 7220 is niet een normale plek voor AM activiteit en we kunnen niet om de Europeanen te praten op die frequentie.

Zoals KB2WIG zei, kun je proberen 10 meter of 20 meter?

Ik sprak met Henk, PE2HHN op 29.000 AM een paar dagen geleden. Ik sprak ook met een Duitse en Franse zender op dezelfde dag.

---------------

I understand that 7220 is clear sometimes but 7220 is not a normal place for AM activity and we cannot talk to Europeans on that frequency.

As KB2WIG said, can you try 10 meters or 20 meters ?

I spoke with Henk, PE2HHN on 29.000 AM a couple of days ago. I also spoke with a German and French station the same day.



Sam

Sam,
First I thought: 'What time we can hear AM from the USA on 40 mtrs?'
Therefore my 'advance' to use 7220 khz, because 7290 is certain not a good freq....
I have heard unfortunately a few AM stations from the USA on 7220.
Maybe, just after 6 o'clock (by me!), isn't a good time.
But, pity!, often on the hole 40 mtrs band: contests (mostly in the weekend).

Fortunately between 7220 - 7225 NO Europeancontests....
So I can listen evenso during the weekend around 7220.....

Later when we have found the best time to receive AM on 40 mtrs...
We can look for a good AM freq. below 7200 khz for Europa & USA. :)

Greetings,

Henk / pe1mph

Hi Henk,

When was the last time you had a QSO with a US or Canadian station on 40 meters ?


Sam

I've worked Henk several times on 80 meters, so 40 meters should be easier. It can be done since several AMers have worked Jean - F6AQK and others EU AM stations.

Nothing wrong with trying on 10 meters, but this is amateur radio where the challenge is part of the fun. If I wanted Henk 59, I'd just call him on the phone.  ;)

A couple of years ago I worked an Italian station on 7160.  He was  running slopbucket, but when I made him aware I was  running AM, he switched his ricebox to AM, running about 20 watts.  It was prefect copy, and we had about a 20 minute AM-to-AM transatlantic QSO. That wasn't the only transatlantic AM QSO I had.  It worked extremely well; we shouldn't have to operate split 7225/<7200. I'm afraid too many AMers are afraid of being chastised by slopbucketeers for operating "wide" AM signals in the DXers' self-proclaimed exclusive territory, so they tuck their tails and dodge broadcasters above 7200.

I agree completely that challenge = fun.

And working Henk on 40 meters would be alot of fun.    ;)

So how do we get Henk to actually transmit.   ;D

Find a spot below 7200 where we all can legally transmit on the same frequency.

That can be a good idea! :)
But, see above, often ssb and contesters on 40 mtrs.
We (F6AQK, 9H1ES, PE1BIW and me) trying around 7185 khz.
Mostly Sundaymorings, but...
Often ssb or contesters blowing all away....

I remember once I heard Brent W1IA around 7160 khz.
Once I heard him in the late evening (by me).
And Ken W2DTC around 7160, once early in the morning (by me).


Greetings,

Henk / PE1MPH

calling cq on 7.220 any one around!

Listening there now...

still there waiting there broadcast way down in the mud! hear someone calling but sounds like ssb! pw!!

The frequency was clear on this end. Called cq a few times, didn't hear anything, oh well, maybe next time...

Hello,
Freq. around 7220 totaly free and clean this morning.
I heard around 05.00 London GMT time weak ssb stations on 7220.

Greetings,

Henk / PE1MPH