Slopbuckets invading the Ghetto

[Jim, W5JO]

Unfortunately, for some people, the Civil War never ended and there are two Americas (the USA, with 37 states (36, if you don't count West Virginia as being separate from Virginia) and the CSA, with 13), just as there are two mutually hostile Koreas and there were two Germanys (Germanies?). It's unfortunate that such an ignorant attitude has spilled over into amateur radio.


This is the kind of remark about which Brian is highlighting.  Why can't we attack stupidity and not regional affiliation?  Why does this behavior exist?  It is the kind of post that I detest unless it is in jest then we can hurl funny posts at each other.  Oddly enough there is an operator in South Texas that participates on the 3.878 group because they welcomed him and do not refer to his location as moron land.  He, by the way, is an AM operator.

[N3DRB The Derb]

wally and richard.

pretty much says it all.

[The Slab Bacon]

The "Wally and Richard" group from 3.878 has done more to damage the relations between am and ssb groups than just about any other bunch!! They have deliberatly done everything they could to qwerm us if they can hear us. I have heard them deliberately use upper sideband just to push us  "back up into the window" if we wander a little below 3.880. this is certainly not a friendly move.

G,
      I agree with you whole heartedly, as fellow AMers we should unite instead of fighting amongst ourselves. As a group we have quite a bit of power to get things done, as individuals that power is very significantly diminished. The "accents" really dont mean anything except a reflection of where you are located. We all have one of some kind.

With more than 1500 people here, it would be just about impossible for everyone to agree on every issue. Good luck!! however the debate over a topic is certainly the fun of it all. Everyone has an  opinion (just like that certain part of the anatomy) and many are different. We all need to "learn to disagree agreeably". this keeps the bebate fun and interesting. After all this is the AM forum.

If we could stop the fighting between the AMers and the SSB operators, the world (at least of ham radio) would certainly be a better place to live in. Infighting does no good for any group, and I have seen many fall apart because of it. I'd hate to see it happen here!!

                                            The Slab Bacon

[Jim KF2SY]

All,
It's not just the lower end of the "ghetto" lately. (4 land)
I've heard plenty of Northeast SSB activity on 3888 (1 and 2 land)
Not sure where they came from, etc.  Perhaps recent upgrades.
Heard them several nites ago speaking about regularly using the freq.
BTW it was not fearless Fred and his merry men of Marconi.

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Unfortunately, for some people, the Civil War never ended and there are two Americas (the USA, with 37 states (36, if you don't count West Virginia as being separate from Virginia) and the CSA, with 13), just as there are two mutually hostile Koreas and there were two Germanys (Germanies?). It's unfortunate that such an ignorant attitude has spilled over into amateur radio.

This is the kind of remark about which Brian is highlighting.  Why can't we attack stupidity and not regional affiliation?  Why does this behavior exist?  It is the kind of post that I detest unless it is in jest then we can hurl funny posts at each other.  Oddly enough there is an operator in South Texas that participates on the 3.878 group because they welcomed him and do not refer to his location as moron land.  He, by the way, is an AM operator.

I disagree. Brian's point addressed a clear issue that was inclusive by its wording, regardless of intent. Joe addressed this kindly and intelligently.

In fairness Jim, Phil did say 'for some people'. Not everyone in the south, 5-Land or otherwise. If you take his words as a direct insult in this particular case, I'd have to say that you are being a bit thin-skinned, oversensitive, looking for trouble, or specifically in the group of 'some' he mentioned. He took care to same 'some', please don't try to translate that to 'all'. 

And in the interest of equal time, we've been piling onto Phil in another thread he started about 'dorkspeak', so we are indeed Equal Opportunity' here.

As G (the guy with the Sorryexcuse, NY accent) said, we're human, we make mistakes, we have bigger fish to fry, and so on. If an insult is made, intentionally or otherwise, it needs to be addressed (and was, in this case). If someone is predisposed to feeling picked on and insulted, nothing short of walking on eggshells is going to make them happy. An observation, for better or worse: Most AMers have large feet. We manage to fit them in our mouths on occasion, and the eggshell approach is doomed to failure, fortunately.

[W1GFH]

Again, sorry the focus went on the accents rather than the behavior. Attached is an audio sample from last night's W. Coast AM net.

[kf4qkr]

 Jim I heard the group you are talking about.There was another group trying to set up shop on 3883 about a week ago and they were talking about staying permantly.I cranked up the slop bucket rig and joined the conversation.I was real nice to them give my call,but I explained   that they were in the  AM window and only 2 kcs from the AM calling frequency and I wasnt trying to tell them where to operate,but if you stay here there would be a radio war here.They said they were not aware this was the AM window let alone they were 2 kcs from any call frequency much less the AM call frequency .The ask me where they might start a group and I gave them a couple of tipps(far from the AM window of course).Havnt heard them since,Hope I did a good thing.I havnt got around to talking to the 3888 wantabees yet but if no one else does it in the next few days I will. Chances are I wont get such a warm welcome 2 times in a row.Its a dirty job but some bodys gotta do it.Come on guys I could use some help here,or do I need to be  to be a one ham wrecking crew.Oh well what ever it takes to get "R" done.     And yes I am down here where we talk like this.I was born and raised in Ashville NC and my Hillbilly redneck accent is not exagerated, its how I talk in person so thats what get on the radio.I have only had one ham not talk to not talk to me because of my accent accent.I didnt realize   why he said {iI dont talk to trouble makers} and signed off at the time,untill I heared him  do that to another southern gentelman who was just trying to be freindly.Then a few weeks later heared him do it again and I was sure.This was most interesting to me because it was the first time I had ever encountered this type of bigitry.Thank god its not like  that in the AM window.If your on AM and act like a gentelman {or a lady}you will will get treated like a brother {or a sister} and it dont make no difference what yer accent is.By the way this incedent happend before  I got on AM  when all I had was a slopbucket rig .I wanted to talk to someone so I checked in the macaronie net.The so called tecnical advisor is the one who treated me in such a fassion and net controle stood by and let it happen .Then dropped me out of the next rotation. This happened two nights in a row in the same fassion.The  so called advisor has  since been run off of 75 meters by 2 so called AM bullies.       My heros.

[kf4qkr]

Sorry about the studering my computer was acting funny.Iguess you guys know that the maceronies website is full of blasts and slurs and personal attacks from the net control aimed at the AM comunity.He done a reacant poll attacking some of our members.We need a spy so I joined his silly macaronie group.He doesnt remember who I am I guess.I wont be a spy long if he gets wind of this,but thats ok that would get rid of a lot of email I have to delete every day.        (Know Thy Enemy)

[w3jn]

If your on AM and act like a gentelman {or a lady}you will will get treated like a brother {or a sister} and it dont make no difference what yer accent is.

In my experience you can always catch more flies with honey rather than vinegar.

I never realized I had a Minnesota accent until I moved to the east coast 

[W5AMI]

Joe et al;

Joe I accept your apology completely, and feel I should have simply bit my lips and not said anything myself.

As I've said before here and other forums, I'm as guilty as anyone of reading too much between the lines, in particular email, letters, etc.  I think is was more the "moronland" thing that got under my skin than the interpretation of some thick southern accent.  Oh, and I do have a thick one, not an Alabama or Georgia type, but a real Arkie/Tex one

I want to say again that I should have kept my mouth shut and slept on it before I complained.  I like to try my best to be fair and non-judgmental.  I've managed the AMRadio Reflector for many years with pretty good success, but I do slip up from time to time and speak my mind when I should have just left well enough alone.

I want to see amfone.net and the AMRadio Reflector continue to be great resources for the AM'er as they have for years, and it's the great members and visitors that make that possible.

Thanks es 73
Brian / w5ami

[kf4qkr]

 Did some lisening last night the slop bucket group on 3888 (they were on 3889 last night) is a splinter group from 3892.I have my share of run ins with this group.They like to come down on 3885 and make snide comments on ssb always without giving thier call.Have you aver listened to that group?One guy every time he signs his call he follows it by saying( and AM is trash).About a month ago I was talking to a freind on 3885 in the afternoon and one of their group kept making his coments to the point of jaming  us.I am sort of a hot head so I went to 3892 and SIGNED MY CALL and ask them to stop.I got cussed out of course . Boy what language.I kept my cool give them an old buzzard transmission on good amature practice , which was followed by another cussing session (no foul words came out of my mouth).They told me AM was trash and should have been outlawed 25 years ago.Well we know how they feel.I dont think reasoning with these guys will do any good.I think we need to make it misserable for them to be there.Thats my redneck perspective anyway.

[N3DRB The Derb]

the only way to deal with slopbuckets is to strap them into the ground. Nothing like  +60 over 9 to make them shut up and go away.  I noticed a big difference in slopbucket qrm from when I ran the DERB-100 and after I got the homebrew rig built. the extra 300+ watts seemed to make more difference than it should have.

looking at my antenna options now. wondering about coax vs 16 gauge ladder line. Like to run a 160 meter dipole with ladder and a KW TUNER, if I cant do that, then maybe coax fed something horizontal delta loop cloud burner. I gotta refresh my memory on options.

[WA3VJB]

I've had fun in the past having a phone call with a station I'm working under heavy conditions of jamming, while we turn down both receivers and each key up with our parts of the conversation.

With Skype and other VOIP these days, any number can play !!!

You could really wear them out with blissful ignorance of any bait they drop.

[k4kyv]

Interestingly, since the phone band expansion, now that there is plenty of room on 75 for everyone to operate without getting into anyone else's hair,  I have noticed an increase in slopbucket hostility.  Evidently a lot of SSB operators think we shouldn't be in the expanded portion or anywhere else outside of the Ghetto.  I have had slopbuckets to deliberately drop on top of my QSO's both in the advanced segment and the extra.  Right after the expansion, there was some character who would transmit CW on top of any AM QSO in the Extra segment, sending over and over "AM go away. AM illegal here."

I now believe the white noise signal on 3712 is a jammer.  I was on about 3710 last night.  The band had been completely vacant for over 20 minutes.  Jack in Illinois came on and called CQ.  I answered him, and we carried on for about 10 minutes, and then the digital trash came right on top of us.  I zero'ed my carrier right smack in the middle of the noise and made a long O.B. transmission.  When I finished, the noise was gone, but a couple of slopbuckets from 8-land were about 2 kc/s up band making derisive remarks about AM.  Then someone dropped what sounded like a SSTV signal on top of us.  No ID was given.  I believe that when running SSTV, you are required to ID on phone or CW, unless the FCC has deleted that requirement.  They seem to just drop out of nowhere whenever there is an AM QSO in the vicinity of 3710, but I have yet to hear any kind of ID.  And there is a dead-air group from 5-land that operates down in the vicinity of 3685, and makes it a habit to start up on top of any AM signal they hear there.

In the meantime, up in the Ghetto,  it sounds to me that there are more jammer slopbuckets than I ever remember before 15DE06.  I have listened to the 3892 group, and Pissing and Moaning about AM seems to be one of their primary topics of conversation.  Last night I was listening, and there  were SSB signals trying to carry on conversations on both 3889 and 3883, despite the fact that an AM group had been using 3885 for well over an hour. 

Evidently someone has it in their heads the idea of starting up the old 60's era AM vs SSB wars on 75 again.

[N3DRB The Derb]

good. I'll get on and strap with my 4 572 B's and swing that munky. I'm thinking coax fed cloud burner delta loop now. I wanna b the radical AM terrorist to about 300~400 miles out, then quit.

[W1GFH]

I zero'ed my carrier right smack in the middle of the noise and made a long O.B. transmission.  When I finished, the noise was gone, but a couple of slopbuckets from 8-land were about 2 kc/s up band making derisive remarks about AM. 

Don, I have heard you S-9 or better here in Los Angeles many times over the years working in the 75m ghetto late at night. Often, yours is the only sig that is copyable in what I assume is a roundtable of E Coast stations. What is your antenna system?

[k4kyv]

Don, I have heard you S-9 or better here in Los Angeles many times over the years working in the 75m ghetto late at night. Often, yours is the only sig that is copyable in what I assume is a roundtable of E Coast stations. What is your antenna system?

Half wave dipole for 80m, apex 119' high, ends 100' high, fed with open wire tuned feeders with antenna tuner at the base of the tower.

The tower is 127' tall, base insulated and also used as a quarter-wave vertical for 160m, with 120 quarter-wave radials for that band. I have loaded it up as a  half wave vertical on 75, but couldn't tell much difference from the dipole.

[WA3VJB]

what I assume is a roundtable of E Coast stations

Actually, especially late at night, Don carries on by himself quite well.

The rest of us have gone to bed, but he won't know it for another 12-18 mins. as he wraps up a transmission.

[W3SLK]

Paul said:

Actually, especially late at night, Don carries on by himself quite well.

The rest of us have gone to bed, but he won't know it for another 12-18 mins. as he wraps up a transmission.

 Heh, heh. Actually, in response to Don's suggestion to 'break-out' of the ghetto, I tossed a crystal in MK-214D and had a nice QSO with him at 3743. The QRN was getting pretty nasty at his end but it was great having an unmolested two-way radio conversation. (Please excuse the use of Dorkspeak,....ooops sorry wrong thread

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

From about 7-1030 PM ET last night, 3885 was mostly unmolested and absolutely clear most of the time. We had a great group in there and it seemed to be going on strong when I split. Strength in number and big signals.

Mike: I heard those clowns on 3889 later on. There weren't really bothering anyone on 85, but I'm guessing they are a good deal louder down your way. They sure did have some nasty sounding audio - probably on purpose in an attempt to splatter on 85. Same BS, different day.

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

The ghetto seems to quiet down as the evening rolls on. Of course, with summer conditions getting closer, the entire band will be more of a challenge to operate.

I dug out a spare mod transformer over the weekend, just need to figure out what kind of pins or plugs it uses, and how to hook it up. If all goes well, I should be able to throw my signal back into the mix soon.

[k4kyv]

I've had fun in the past having a phone call with a station I'm working under heavy conditions of jamming, while we turn down both receivers and each key up with our parts of the conversation.

With Skype and other VOIP these days, any number can play !!!

You could really wear them out with blissful ignorance of any bait they drop.

SHHHH!

Slopbuckets monitor this forum, too.  Let them figure that out for themselves.  Or even when they are really not having an impact, they will just assume that's what we are doing, and keep on jamming because they think they are being effective and driving us to the internet.

[KC4HGH]

Lately, I have been working inside the Ghetto a little more frequently. With the arrival of static season, and the overall lack of AM activity below 3750 and rarity of responses to my CQ's, I have retuned up higher a little more often.

But I seem to notice a new infiltration of slopbuckets that I didn't notice before the 15th of December.  Seems that whenever I get into a QSO between 3870 and 3890, invariably within minutes some SSB "group" comes right on top of the frequency, either riding the carrier or operating only a kc or two away, foaming at the mouth and pissing and moaning about AM.

Of course, that has always happened from time to time, but now it seems to happen EVERY time I get into an AM QSO.

Hi Don,

I too, have noticed the same thing.  Perhaps all the discussion regarding moving out of the "window" and going down to the lower end of the band has given the impression that we have given-up operating in the "Ghetto" range.

On at least two occasions the DX-60 net that meets at 3880 on Sunday mornings has been deliberately QRM'd by the SSBers on 3878.5 who seem to have become even bolder with their shenanigans and total disregard for AM operation.  Of course, true to form, they belly-up to AM operations and then proceed to complain about how wide the AM signals are.

73,  Jack, W9GT

Jack, Don, these are the operators I recorded & reported to Riley last year...I haven't been able to operate much lately, but, for a short while, reporting them got a reprieve from their foul language & interference...I suppose they're back, as reported here.  Best time I've found to record them is on a Friday or Saturday night, when they've been drinking- you get some real good violations then!  REPORT THE B@$T@RD$!