The AM Forum

Does anyone have figures on how many amers there are in the USA?   Other countries?  Worldwide?...How many on this board?

716 on this board,,,,
86 on the Pac NW 3870 Roster...
10 in Mexico.....
2 in Austrailia
Several in Cuba.......
2000 belong to AMI.....


I like HUZ's (?)idea....That a real AMER is not ashamed to tell his SSB buddies that he uses AM.

I think a true AMER is a ham with an AM transmitter that uses it to transmit AM........A real AMER will get on AM and call CQ......
BEST YET........I transmit, therefore AM       (Ian)

In Mexico, not to many I guess we are not more than 10 people in all the country :???:
But we are growing  :mrgreen: !

More than yesterday. Much to the dismay of certain grouchy users of other modes who are dying off each day.

I bet I've worked several thousand different ops on AM over the years. Some were one timers but most weren't.

How do you define AMer? One, who likes to listen to AM or one who has operated AM more than once, or some time, or all the time, or one who is maybe just registered on this board or maybe someone who has a transceiver and on occasion presses the AM button and maybe makes a contact for the heck of it. Lots of variables to consider.

There are several in Cuba, hanging out mostly on 160.  Castro apologist/propagandist Arnie Coro CO2KK is the most prominent one - believe he even has an old buzzard broadcash xmitter set up for 160.

73 John

Another data point:

AMI has in the area of 2000 members.

For what its worth:

Being an AMer is more a state of mind than anything.
Of course never being heard on the air is a definate negative !!

I would ask a grumpy-ass, retired on a fixed income, appliance operator sidebander net member who could not afford new finals if he burnt them up trying to jam an AM QSO. They usually seem to know just about everything.

Thinking about the question of how many AMers there are in the US  made me wonder (again) what exactly an "AMer" is.  

For example, I'd estimate that more than three-quarters my radio time involves something to do with AM:  operating, reading, fixing or building etc.  Then there are guys known as AMers who spend a fair bit of time on sideband and CW chasing DX.  What about some of the ESSB guys whose audio sounds really good when they switch to AM?  What about guys who flip the mode switch to AM on a stock ricebox for the occasional chat, or who use an old tube rig just for a weekly AM net?  

There are probably as many definitions of AMer as there are people reading this.   There really cannot be one definition of what an AMer is.   I am curious though how others define "AMer".

So, is the carrier continuous or cut on and off?

It would be hard to totally quantify it, although your approach to the mix of on- and off-the-air activities is good. Still, there are some who are into boatanchors (many of the same radios we "AMers" use and love) and they never get on AM (although they may like AM and listen a lot). I gues this is where the on-the-air portion is important.

I think anyone who is not faintly embarassed to say he's (she's) an AMer around his SSB or 2 meter buddies is an AMer.

HA!  I was thinking the same thing. Not faintly embarrassed.  Yes, if you admit in pubic that you are an Amer, then you surely are...

It's really a state of mind, or as The Tron says, "AM is a way of life"..      [for a quick glimpse of a popular AM lifestyle, look to the left]...:lol:

T

Well ..... if the modulator drives the B puss on the final amplifier to zero ............



Yup !! State of mind!!! Guys with nads !!

 :lol:  :lol:  
But I think his wimpy voltage doubler power supply will crap out before his finals do.

And for Tom JJ who refers to the photo to the left of his post: do you have to have camel toe to be a real AMer?

I guess some AMers like to let it all hang out.  Others like to say they have brass BA's.

But in reality, I don't think you could pay anyone enuff to walk around a hamfest in that Elvis suit... :lol:

T

Too late, T... seen it (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) at Dayton.  'Sides, that's just the kind of thing that fits in at a hamfest.

BTW you gonna join us this year at Daytron?

73 John

I always thought you had to have at least two tons of stuff in the basement
to even be considered a jr. AMer

A small path for the XYL  get to the washing machine means your are a seasoned pro....and the XYL is cool.

Do tell?  For some hammy chumps with they asses and pots hanging outta they pants, that hunka hunka burnin luv suit be a step up the clothin ladder.  Kaw mawn.

Next to some of 'em Rancid, yud luk somewhat presentable !!!

I think Steve's comment above, says it the best. Many of us have some other niche interests in the amateur radio service including things like CW, SSB, working DX, VHF, boatanchors, riceboxes, etc. but we readily admit to enjoying and using the AM mode most of the time. We're also not afraid to take a firm and vocal stand to preserve this mode of operation. It's always fun to call CQ, get an answer on SSB, and then, most of the time if possible, have them press that AM button on their rig and engage them in an AM QSO. Many of us have our own little way of embracing this mode and the community that holds it together.
 :ctf:

How much are you offering?  :-P

You Might Be an AM'er

If you operate 98% on AM or Building AM gear and 2% on other stuff, you may be an AM'er

If none of your equipment was produced after 1965, you may be an AM'er

If more than one wife has left you because "you spend more time in the cellar than with me", you might be an AM'er

If you can never have enough transmitters, you might be an AM'er

If you seriously consider cutting a hole in the kitchen floor to get your new Collins BC rig installed in your cellar (Buddley), you might be an AM'er

If you stay up all night burping & belching & drinking beer with 127 of your closest friends every Friday night, you might be an AM'er

If another AM'er needs a part to get his rig running again and you have it in stock and you just drop it in the mail to him, you might be an AM'er

If you seriously consider violence at least once a week because of 3890, you might be an AM'er

If you and your neighbor spend many evenings "Goon Squating" you might be an AM'er

If you get a call during a raging blizzard that your buddys antenna fell down and beat your way through the snow to help him put it back up, you may be an AM'er

If you warm your shack with transmitters and keep your feet warm by the soft glow of the tubes & the intense radiation from the finals, you might be an AM'er

If you constantly make fun of the Class E guys and tell them that they will all freeze to death in the dark but feel really proud that all those guys have taken the time to build such nice sounding rigs, you might be an AM'er

If your radio buddies are the people that you know you can call to help you hide the body and all the others are just people, you might be an AM'er

If your idea of fun is comparing RF burns on your hands, you might be an AM'er

If your fondest desire is to own a piece of property on the top of a mountain with 4 towers spaced in a square 500 feet apart and No Neighbors for at least 5 miles with a porch you can piss offa and fire your shotgun into the air without attracting the Police, you may be an AM'er

If you once owned a Thompson machine gun and invited your buds to go "froggin" with it, you may be an AM'er

If you live in New England in a state where the motto is "Live Free or Die" and this is what you really believe, you may be an AM'er

Anyway, I've tried it all and this is where I keek coming back.
AM forever
SSB Sucks, Hmmmmmm, rymes with "Ducks"

WA1HZK

Wow....

Am'ers come in all shapes and sizes. Simply put, being an AM'r is a state of mind in which we all share a love for the mode, but mostly a simple caring for others in the fraternity.

I am proud to be associated with the AM'ers I have met and have found all of them willing to lend a hand in one way or another...wether it be parts, advice or help with projects or life in general.

Brent(Tina) W1IA

I transmit therefore AM.

"It'd be worth a disproportionately expensive airline ticket for a cattle class seat after enduring a full pat-down search !!"

Don't forget the removal of your shoes.  I have not been to an airport in some time, but when I did a few weeks a go the biggest hold up was not security, ticketing, or detectors, but rather everybody having to take off their darn shoes and then attempt to put them on again while walking and carrying carry-on luggage.  Sheesh what a zoo!

You know?   I would love to be at the Annual Thompson Frog Hunt as well.

73,
Matt
W4LTM
Kemah, TX

Last time I flew I had steel toe boots on and that created a big deal until they found the guy behind me had a switch blade. Priorities changed fast.

If he was from the South, he used it to clean his fingernails.

Jim W5JO said:

:lol:  :lol:

Or ... used it to pick both of his teeth!

--Larry

I was bored in the lo-o-o-o-ong queue in the Orlando, FL, when an uniformed lady asked me to go directly to the room (I saw how her brain crinkles moved when she tried to spell my name). There I took off my shoes and jacket, sat down to relax, also they gave me a smooth massage with light exercises, as the result instead of standing and waiting I passed fast and got some pleasure. ;)

well- i can't offer a Thompson frog hunt...BUT i do have a place where i can piss off my porch and shoot at the sun all day long and nobody cares.
we could have a good time at KD2XA/Adirondack shooting chipmonks, crows and toads with .30 caliber battle rifles some time. of course i transmit AM from there too.

Clarkie, you don't still have that thing, do you?
 :badgrin:

I used to hear a lot of Cuban AM'ers on 160 in the middle of winter when the QRN was gone.  Most were too pissweak to copy, and had a lot of FM on their unstable carriers.  I remember working a couple, but although they seemed to copy me OK, it always took several exchanges to me to get their callsign and name.

I figured they ran 25 watts or less and had to build their rigs from scratch using what parts were on hand, most likely discarded tube type BC receivers.  Haven't heard them for the last year or two.

Tubes are *very* scarce in Cuba, and any BC receivers using same have, in my experience, had all of their tubes die of low emission.  There is a fairly active solid-state homebrewing community amongst the hams in Cuba, however.  They might have also been using surplus military equipment.  I saw a complete ART-13 in an antique shop in Havana but they wanted $500 or so, IIRC, for it.

Most of the guys you heard probably got locked up by Castro for talking to the imperialists  :ctf:

73 John