The AM Forum

Hi !

A number of people have contacted me about the 2013 AMFone/REA AM Transmitter Rally.

There are a couple of dates that look good.  Traditionally, this has been held early in February.

Feb. 9th-10th is a possibility.  This also coincides with the AWA AM QSO Party and the Classic Exchange.  This synergy may enhance all of the events, because there will be a lot of AMers operating that weekend.

The 2nd is also possible, although there is the EPC WW DX Contest that weekend, but I don't know what that is or how much activity it generates.

The 16th is also available. There is an international ARRL CW contest of some type.  If that does not interfere with anything, the 16th is viable.

Please comment; suggestions; like it; hate it; etc.

Addendum (8-Jan-2013): The event is Feb 16th-17th.  Event link: http://www.classeradio.com/amtr.htm (http://www.classeradio.com/amtr.htm)

Thanks and Regards,

Steve

Hi Steve
I would vote for a time that is not in competition with any other contest.   The experience with Heavy Metal night taught us that we need to spread out more on the bands.   Other contests going on at the same time would not allow this.   My 2 cents--
73
Steve

I agree that multiple AM events should not be held during the same time.  Pick a different date and run with it!

Joe, GMS

Ok, if we avoid the 10th of Feb. because of the AWA and Classic Exchange, that leaves the 2nd and the 16th of Feb.  The 16th gives more planning time.  There is an ARRL CW contest that weekend.  Will that be a a big problem?  Doesn't seem so, but then again..

Regards,

Steve

I vote for the 16th.

With the ARRL CW DX contest running, the phone bands should be relatively quiet on the 16th.  I agree with Steve, need more QSOs on more frequencies vs just one or two huge roundtables per band like during the HM Rally....

So what you're saying is that a year wasn't long enough to plan this event?  ::)

AM Rally should be 365d/yr.  :D

I vote for Feb. 16th.

This event has really brought a lot of AM stations out of the receive mode.

Thanks Steve.

I second that motion.

Not only should we spread out to other bands but let's spread out on 75m as well.

Phil - AC0OB

I vote for the16th, can't make the other two dates.

Should have my bandswitching worked out by then , so I can switch bands quickly. 160-75-40-20

I agree with more bands and more frequencies.

The 2013
 
Amplitude Modulation Transmitter Rally
Contest and Operating Event
 
On the HF Amateur Bands (160 meters to 10 meters)
 
Will be held on Saturday, February 16th 6:00AM EST to
Monday, February 18th 02:00AM EST (11:00 PM PST Sunday, 2/17)



The complete announcement can be found in the announcements section, or clicking here: http://www.classeradio.com/amtr.htm (http://www.classeradio.com/amtr.htm)

It's going to be a great year!!!!

Well, we're ready to go for 2013!  Thanks to everyone who suggested dates, etc. for the event.

Please publicize this as much as possible in as many places as possible to get the word out.

For mailing lists, etc.  there is a link to the rally web site:  http://www.classeradio.com/amtr.htm (http://www.classeradio.com/amtr.htm)

Thanks and Regards,

Steve

Steve...
Is there a list of  2 letter abbreviations for country codes?   Last year I worked Mexico and Canada ...MX ? and CA?  there are states and provinces in those countries as well..Just looking for the abbreviations that the software can read.....Thanks for your efforts...

Hmmm. ... I don't know of any such list, but I bet Steve K4HX and some of the others on here who work other countries on a regular basis will know!  The logging software will accept any 2 letter codes for countries and "states" (provinces, etc. within countries).

Regards,

Steve

I place my vote for the 16th

If Steve is referring to the ISO Country Codes, they are here:

TEXT: http://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards/country_codes/country_names_and_code_elements_txt.htm

HTML: http://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards/country_codes/country_names_and_code_elements.htm

Steve said: "The logging software will accept any 2 letter codes for countries and "states" (provinces, etc. within countries)."

Some country codes are the same as state codes, i.e. CO - Colorado and CO - COLOMBIA -----ME - Maine and ME - MONTENEGRO I'm sure there are others.

This is OK, because for CO (Colorado) entered as a state, the country code will be entered as US.  If there is a country code of CO entered, that's a unique country code worldwide (or it better be!), and there is no overlap because the logging software has two fields to identify a unique location - a country and a state (province, etc.), so everything works just fine.

Regards,

Steve

As long as there are two separate fields that the software can differentiate the unique (state/province and country) there should be no issues with countries like U. S. and Canada. How does the software handle other foreign countries? Country code is easy but what about state/province or whatever the equivalent might be ? Maybe that weekend we'll have world-wide 10/15/20 meter openings with lots of "across the pond" AM contacts.

FB OM UR IN US ??
 ;D

Last time I just put Mexico and Canada in the comment line.   Keep it simple...

Even in ham radio, life is not always simple. Mexico has 31 states. Its two letter country code is MX.

Abbrevations for the states of Mexico - The "- XX" is the state code.
Name of state        2-letter code

 Aguascalientes            MX - AG
 Baja California          MX - BC
 Baja California Sur     MX - BS
 Campeche       MX - CM
 Chiapas                MX - CS    
 Chihuahua            MX - CH    
 Coahuila                    MX - CO    
 Colima                     MX - CL    
 Federal District       MX - DF    
 Durango               MX - DG
 Guanajuato           MX - GT
 Guerrero               MX - GR
 Hidalgo                MX - HG
 Jalisco                      MX - JA
 Mexico State           MX - ME
 Michoacán                   MX - MI
 Morelos                  MX - MO    
 Nayarit                     MX - NA    
 Nuevo León          MX - NL
 Oaxaca                     MX - OA    
 Puebla                     MX - PB
 Querétaro               MX - QE
 Quintana Roo         MX - QR
 San Luis Potosí      MX - SL
 Sinaloa                    MX - SI
 Sonora                     MX - SO
 Tabasco                    MX - TB
 Tamaulipas            MX - TM
 Tlaxcala                     MX - TL
 Veracruz                    MX - VE
 Yucatán                     MX - YU
 Zacatecas                    MX - ZA

Canadian Proviences 2 letter code:
Alberta       AB          
British Columbia       BC          
Manitoba       MB          
New Brunswick       NB          
Newfoundland and Labrador       NL          
Northwest Territories       NT          
Nova Scotia       NS          
Nunavut       NU          
Ontario       ON          
Prince Edward Island       PE          
Quebec       QC          
Saskatchewan       SK          
Yukon       YT

It's ok to put anything in the comment line - but please do make sure you put the country code and province (if you have it) in the right places in the software, or the country won't be correctly counted.  The data reduction program does not look in the comment line for countries.  It does, however, look there for equipment and other descriptive items.

Regards,

Steve

I made an announcement on QRZ this morning (Wed Jan 16th).  We'll see if there are any responses!

If there are other forums or places this should be announced, please do it or let me know and I'll put up a formatted announcement.

Thanks!

Steve

Steve,
I will announce the event on the AWA AM net this Sunday.  That net meets at 4PM on 3.837.  For that matter, feel free to join the net and you can announce it directly.  The pre-net starts around 3:30 and will help you get on the top of the list.  Sometimes we have 35 or so AM stations check into the net an many more stations just listening in.

Another group which I know your active in, is the Gray Hair Net on 160M.  If you have not mentioned it yet, that would be a good one as well to put forth such an announcement.   

Its a shame it has come up so fast otherwise I am sure Ray would list it in ER for you.  At this date its to late for that publication.  Something to remember for next year along with maybe an article about it showing some of the stations that participated.

Joe, W3GMS
       

I agree that the AWA and Gray Hair Nets are great relatively "local" nets for getting the word out, it really doesn't address "getting the word out" to the rest of the active AM amateurs around the country and the rest of the world. Next years date should be cast in concrete many months before rally/contest time to provide adequate and timely announcement postings in ER, QST, and CQ magazine and online forums that provide for these types of postings. It would be super cool to have lots of consistent AM activity across all of our major HF bands where "contesting" is tolerated throughout the entire weekend.

Let's pick a date for next year now.

Every 3rd weekend of February sounds gooder to me. That way the "dates" take care of themselves!
Or is that too simple? ;D

Yeah, I agree with Buddly... ;D ;D ;D

Calendar for 2014 and all the way to year 3999 if you really want to plan in advance:
http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/?year=2014

My question is why February? My suggestion is to move it to April. It is much warmer then and that is when I re-open my camp so one could say it is purely for selfish reason on my end and that would be true. The other thing that warmer weather permits is getting up that new antenna for the event.

It also seems to be somewhat close to the Heavy Metal Rally and since the Steve's AM Rally seems much more successful in turnout, a little more space between  would be helpful for both events.

Please understand that this is not a complaint as I think both rally's are great and needed but wondered about the above?

April: Based on the 2012 contest calendar, quite a few QSO parties are held in April along with other contests; Hamfest weekends are starting to ramp up; daylight savings time in effect; yard/garden work ramp up; warmer weather to romp in the sun; my antenna fell down in March

It really should be kept in winter.

The propagation is MUCH better - good for working those AM DX stations on 75 meters.  160 is available during the winter - not so much during the summer, and again, better propagation on 160 during the winter also.

Another reason - NO THUNDERSTORMS TO WORRY ABOUT  :)

Maybe a little EARLIER in February, although by mid-February, most everyone is going a bit stir crazy (ok, well at least we are here up in snowy New England!), and it's a nice diversion.

We can all plan better for next year, but we need to get the word out for *this* year.  I figured I'd register that domain (amrally.com) because it's very easy to talk about a domain like that on the air, and it is easy to remember.

Thanks and Regards,

Steve

But don't wait till next year to start.
As an example, for WorldRadio Online:

I would  suspect, QST and other mags would also require similar lead time for posting. I would not rely on the typical jibber-jabber QSO's we hear to be the conduit for getting the word out but, at this point, that's pretty much all you have.

I will be on again this year using W9T.  Hope to work everyone on the Rally.  Sure was lots of fun last year!

73,  Jack, W9GT

Valentines Day, every year!  Hot propagation!
Why not irritate the whimmin and have fun hammin in one fell swoop?
I mean, are you a real ham or not, PW's?