AM Newbees

[kc2ifr]

When I first got on AM (7 years ago) my hero's were the usual big guns......inr, hlr, qix, jj, etc. All of these folks helped me to get to the point I am now with their advice.....for which I am greatfull
Lately there are more new AM stations that populate the "window". A lot are running rice boxes that sound lousy BUT at least they are trying that "AM" button of their radio. Granted, some of them will fade back into the ssb cesspool BUT some will stay and require some sort of mentor to help them continue on their venture into AM.
It seems lately that most of the  big guns no longer would be cought dead in the window.
At the time when I joined the "AM" community........there was a lot of talk about recruiting new "AM"ers.
It seems like some of the AMers now consider newbees to be a problem......the big guns no longer check into the window and that is a shame because they have a lot to offer.

Nuf said,
Bill

[Pete, WA2CWA]

VFO and receiver tuning knobs on equipment make no distinction between a seasoned operator and a "newbee". Alternate AM frequency regions have been discussed and "advertised" numerous times since the phone band expansion. All it takes is a twist of the wrist, or a blip on the spectral receiver scope, to locate AM stations (or whatever you're looking for) across the dial. One can gather very unique experiences by just tuning across the band, learning how to QSY, transmitter retuning, antenna tuner adjustments, etc. Let's not turn AM operating into channelized radio.

[KF1Z]

VFO and receiver tuning knobs on equipment make no distinction between a seasoned operator and a "newbee". Alternate AM frequency regions have been discussed and "advertised" numerous times since the phone band expansion. All it takes is a twist of the wrist, or a blip on the spectral receiver scope, to locate AM stations (or whatever you're looking for) across the dial. One can gather very unique experiences by just tuning across the band, learning how to QSY, transmitter retuning, antenna tuner adjustments, etc. Let's not turn AM operating into channelized radio.

 

[WB2YGF]

 

I think Pete's point is:  n00bs don't have to hang in the "window" to make an AM contact.  We need not exile ourselves to a few frequencies.

[K1JJ]

When I first got on AM (7 years ago) my hero's were the usual big guns......inr, hlr, qix, jj, etc. All of these folks helped me to get to the point I am now with their advice.....for which I am greatfull
It seems lately that most of the  big guns no longer would be cought dead in the window.

Hmmmm... the last few times I got on AM was on 3885.  A few times in the daytime - and about 2 weeks ago in the evening where I talked with you, Bill.  I think we talked about Behringer for a few minutes.... 

Lately I've been spending my time up on 40M on both AM and SSB testing this and that, but always enjoy getting on 3885 to see what's cooking.

I have a dedicated KW AM rig that is always tuned up and ready to go on 3885 - will just have to flip the switch on more often.


BTW, helping newbies is one of my prime objectives. I think this BB has simply taken more of our newbie time than on-the-air help these days.


T

[N3DRB The Derb]

I'm always lookin for qso's in the 3725~3733 area. Whats for dinner net is great but it's at a bad time for me, right when wifey gets home.

I haven't adjusted to current day reality, which is - late night radio is not the king anymore. I remember roundtables with 10+ people
at 3 am in the morning on worknights. It was nutz. 

[k4kyv]

I miss the nocturnal emissions too.  Sometimes it still occurs on 160, 80 and 40, but I'm not too interested unless the QRN is at a reasonable level and signals are readable.  Just call CQ.  You may be surprised at who comes back.

Quite a few of the AM regulars I hear are using riceboxes on AM.  Some have graduated to tube type transmitters or class E rigs, while others still use riceboxes or flex radios, with leen-yars added.  Many of the ones I hear, once they master the knack for tuning up on AM, put out a signal with good enough quality that I would have believed them if they had told me they were using a plate modulated rig, maybe even a converted broadcast transmitter.

The last thing we need is to discourage anyone who is taking baby steps on AM.

[KF1Z]

 

I think Pete's point is:  n00bs don't have to hang in the "window" to make an AM contact.  We need not exile ourselves to a few frequencies.

Yes, that may be..
But I don't think that had anything to do with what Bill meant.
I certainly don't believe he meant that everyone should operate only in this so-called "window".


Be that as it is........  how many people do you hear that are still under the misconception that 3885 is THE AM frequency?
I hear it quite often.

So, if you're a "noob"  seems like 3885 is the place to be to operate AM.

Until "enlightened" otherwise... that's where they'll be when they want to push that funny litle button that says AM on it.

[KX5JT]

I am an A.M. newbie.  I have been so very impressed with most of the A.M. operators.  This is one of the things that keeps me wanting to tx in A.M. more than SSB, even though I used SSB for many years and will likely use it on (rare) occasions still.  

The first time I keyed up on A.M. was one evening around 8:00 pm in November, 2008 on 3.885 Mhz.  The frequency was quiet but I decided to give it a try.  I was on my Kenwood TS-570 but I had already had some external balanced audio on it.  Well I gave a CQ AM a couple times and I was answered by K5JDU, Mr. Bud in Antlers, OK.  Mr. Bud welcomed me to A.M. and complimented me on my signal and audio, saying it sounded really good for a "ricebox".  He went on to encourage me to stay with the A.M. and meet the other AMers.  He said they were great people who would do whatever they can to help and encourage me.  He was right!  

That was in stark contrast to some other "welcomes" I received on 75 meter SSB.  Well I decided right then and there that I was an AMer.  As time went on, I have met many of the usual suspects and have been encouraged and helped in almost every instance.  K5BAI, W0XV, W9WW, WB3HUZ, K4KYV, WA3VJB... the list continues on and on and on.....

These icons of AM should be role models for all ham radio operators.  They have much to teach even if nothing more than the integrity of encouraging a newbie!  But they all do so much more for the hobby.

Now I have taken a baby step and I run a modified Heathkit DX-60 with a VFO and I have been met with more patience and encouragement to keep evolving in my AM endeavors.  Oh and I enjoy finding a frequency outside the normal "window" where there is elbow room to stretch out and relax free from QRM.  In the windows or out, I AM therefor I AM.

Kudos to all of the AM community!

John, KX5JT

[The Slab Bacon]

New work hours now make it kinda tough to do the late night thing anymore. "0dark30" comes too early to allow much late night activity anymore. I am usually to be found around 3.733+ on weekends for the "whatz fah dinnah" net.

I SURE AS HELL MISS THE CRAZY EVENING BREAK-IN SESSIONS ON 3.885! ! ! !
They were one hell of a lot of fun.

Between the jammers and the qwermers, that has chased a lot of us down band where it is much more quiet and peaceful.

Late night operating conditions have left a lot to be desired lately, I'm sure that has also had an effect on it. They surely havent been worth staying up late for. Especially when you have to walk around with your ass on backwards the next day afterwards trying to adjust back to your work schedule.

Get down on your knees and pray for some sunspots! ! ! ! ! ! ! I'm sure that when conditions improve, you'll see a lot more people on! When conditions improve, myself (and others, I'm sure) will be back on in full force. Believe me, I desperately NEED a good late nite radio fix. But condx dont warrant it any time soon.

                                                                The Slab Bacon

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Late night conditions were excellent all winter long on 80/75 meters.

As far as the newbies, Bill, you've been around a while. To them, you would be one of the "big guns." Show them the way. 

Also, I've run into many newbies outside the window. Someone deciding to use AM for the first time is independent of frequency.

[K9ACT]

It seems lately that most of the  big guns no longer would be cought dead in the window.

Not sure what the issue is here but if the "big guns" are operating out of the window and you wish to talk to them, just QSY to where they are and join.

From my QTH, I can't think of a single so called big gun that has that attitude because they all show up in the window now and then and mostly now.

There are many obvious reasons for operating out of the window and few obvious reasons for operating there.  If you can't find a QSO in progress, 3.885 is a good place to CQ but that seems to be the extent of it's usefulness.

Having said all that, this is also good incentive to upgrade for access to the whole AM band.

SU somewhere,

js

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

I appreciate your perspective Bill, but disagree to the extent outlined by Steve: many of us work AM newbs all over the bands. This became especially noticeable after the 40 & 80 phone band expansion. Many SSB or other newbies below 3750 (Canadian as well as US) fired up their riceboxes on AM for the first time after hearing us down on 80. Most of them simply didn't know about or avoided 3.885. I'm no 'new gear' expert, and also got to learn a lot by listening to the other guys telling someone how to set up their rig for AM.

Right now 40m is the only band I have an ant up for, but even being limited to that band, there is no shortage of new (or NOS?) folks firing up their rigs on AM when they hear us. 2 weekends ago, I helped a WA2 station get his Flex radio dialed in. His first time on AM since the late 50s. One of the 4 Landers we worked last night was using his TS-440 and worked me that same weekend for his first AM contact in many years.

For years, we all huddled around 10-15 kcs of space on 75 meters because we thought we had to. What we really need to do is think outside the box. It's served as well since spreading out and becoming 'just another mode' instead of some perceived specialty mode. The increase in AM activity across the bands proves it. There was a time when it seemed like every SSB station hated us. Now the detractors are in the minority from my experiences.

I still popped in on 3.885 and the general area from time to time before moving and will continue to do so once the ants are back up. But given the choice between relatively clear areas of the band and a hairball of noise during prime hours, well....  as Jack says, it's an excellent incentive to upgrade. 

[K1JJ]

Having special areas of the band to operate in is a time saver and cornvience. I think the vast majority of rag chewers (both AM and ssb) check several frequency areas on the band as habit, looking for their friends.   It's different for DXers, who will generally tune larger areas looking for DX.

When I want to see who's on 75M AM, I don't slowly tune from 3600 to 4000 looking for activity - I'm too lazy.  I quickly scan 3870 to 3895 and then go down around the 3725 area (+ - 20 kc) and quickly tune around. That's plenty of space to hold AM QSO's and it's quick and simple to assess what's happening, conditions, etc.

Sure, someone can call CQ AM on 3825, 3925, 3625, etc, but why bother when chances are no one is listening there on AM?  The 60-odd kc that we presently regularly inhabit on 75M is a plenty of real estate to focus on.

There have been lots of campaigns to "spread out" and that's good. Most try for a week and then give up. But people being people, we all seem to gather where the action is and that is where the established areas have historically been.  In addition, there is safety in numbers and less hassles in established areas.

We can operate anywhere we want, of course. Though, I CHOOSE to operate on AM in the general areas of 3870-3890  and 3700 - 3740 simply to better find other AMers quickly and efficiently. If the AM ranks swell, then maybe another area will naturally evolve.
But, no one's saying we can't operate anywhere on the phone portion we feel like - it's just easier to hang in favorite areas. I don't see it as "ghetto" action at all, as long as we don't pile on ONE frequency.

BTW, I think 40M still needs another favorite area other than 7160 +- 10 kc.  We talked once about 7220? - but not much more said.


T

[KA1ZGC]

Things aren't what they used to be, but then again, they never are.  

There was a time when there were a lot more big guns with equally-big radio knowledge in the 3885 area on a regular basis. A typical evening would see JJ, K1KW, K1KV, W2INR, W3DUQ, WA1QIX, W2PFY, KB3AHE, and of course WA1HLR, and a few others I'm forgetting, in various combinations alternating between enlightening discussions on radio theory and construction to acting like a bunch of twelve-year-old boys gathered in a circle around a Penthouse mag.

I miss those days, too.

People's lives have changed. Many of the folks I mentioned are still around, but some have drifted to other areas of the spectrum, or other aspects of the hobby, or life itself. That doesn't mean they've derelicted their duty to anyone, nor does it mean they'll never be back.

We've still got plenty of guys who are fun to listen to with big signals giving good advice. It's not the same crew it was 7 or 8 years ago, but it's still a good crew. In another 7 or 8 years, some of them will be gone, some of the previous crew will have cycled back in, and some new ones will arrive.

It's all good, just different.

--Thom
Killer Agony One Zipper Got Caught

[kc2ifr]

Hi Guys,
Well, the only major point I am trying to make is all u guys......the ones I mentioned and many others dont seem to be around as much as before. As I said I would be on SSB if not for the quality of the am folks.
And Steve.....thanks for the comment. I try if asked to help these new folks but I dont want to act like a "know it all". (I been accused of that already!).
How does that saying go.........it takes a Village.....etc.
Again, the post was not to criticize anyone......just to wonder a little.
And JJ.......I had a ball talking to u the other day....u always have great info.
Recording u and many others is one way I can participate in helping all AM'ers..........It makes up for my lack of knowledge in such things as antennas.

Thanks for the posts guys.........
Bill   

[WB2YGF]

You know, it usually only takes one or two people to increase and start AM activity up again. Its sort of like the movie Field of Dreams; “Build it and they will come” You would be surprised at how true that statement actually is.

So true.  28.706 would never have been a popular NJ AM freq. if not for Irb, W2VJZ relentlessly monitoring and calling CQ.

I suspect nobody ever gets on 706 anymore.   Perhaps we should start an Irb-net. 

[Opcom]

I miss the nocturnal emissions too.  Sometimes it still occurs on 160, 80 and 40, but I'm not too interested unless the QRN is at a reasonable level and signals are readable.  Just call CQ.  You may be surprised at who comes back.

wow. Niether the doctor or the pastor gave me that advice!! AM is truly wonderful! The sooner the tower is erected the better!

[KX5JT]

What we need is a "spotter" page.   A place we can post AM activity both spotted or self-spot a frequency when we want to call CQ.  Want to do some AM?  Look at the page to see where the action presently can be found.... don't see anything, then post a self-spot " 0000 UTC ---- 15 Meter 21.415Mhz AM -- Calling CQ"   or  " 0300 UTC ---40 Meter 7.160Mhz AM --- Round Table Many Stations"

But it should be like a dx-cluster or spot page similar to this: http://www.hamspots.net/spotit.php so as to be as realtime as possible.

I mean it could be useful.  Some of the magic for me is to just chance upon some AM.  But otoh, I would love to have a quick glance and see where AM activity is happening.  This would especially be useful for 10 meter openings as we are getting into that season.  The Ten and Six Meter Watch thread is nice but honestly, I usually see a few days too late that there WAS activity from that thread. 

Just some food for thoughts (I'm not a programmer or I would make this utility!!!)

John KX5JT

[Pete, WA2CWA]

What we need is a "spotter" page.   A place we can post AM activity both spotted or self-spot a frequency when we want to call CQ.  Want to do some AM?  Look at the page to see where the action presently can be found.... don't see anything, then post a self-spot " 0000 UTC ---- 15 Meter 21.415Mhz AM -- Calling CQ"   or  " 0300 UTC ---40 Meter 7.160Mhz AM --- Round Table Many Stations"

But it should be like a dx-cluster or spot page similar to this: http://www.hamspots.net/spotit.php so as to be as realtime as possible.

I mean it could be useful.  Some of the magic for me is to just chance upon some AM.  But otoh, I would love to have a quick glance and see where AM activity is happening.  This would especially be useful for 10 meter openings as we are getting into that season.  The Ten and Six Meter Watch thread is nice but honestly, I usually see a few days too late that there WAS activity from that thread. 

Just some food for thoughts (I'm not a programmer or I would make this utility!!!)

John KX5JT

We had that here several years ago.

I guess it boils down to,  tune the receiver when you want to play AM radio, or turn on the computer to tell you when to go and play AM radio. I like doing it the old fashion way.

[KX5JT]

Yeah I like doing it the old fashion way too.  But in light of my recent experiences on 40 meters... many times, 7.160 is occupied by ssb dx'ers.  Okay, no problem, head to 7.290... oops.. a "no traffic" net on ssb or a broadcaster or it's CLEAR but no one answering CQ's.  Okay fine, move to some open frequency like 7.220 or 7.190... call CQ.. no one answering...  I guess I'm just too much of a computer junkie.   When I want to try some Feld Hell or OLIVIA digital, I'll post a self-spot on the hamspot page for Feld Hell or OLIVIA and one of those enthusiast usually see it and then I often end up with a QSO.  Why wouldn't this work for AM especially since we are talking about not being clustered in little "windows".  I would use it. *shrug*

[w1vtp]

Well Bill -- I'm not a newbie but I agree that the guys on AM  have been in inspiration to me!  Just last night I got some excellent advise on my 813 project and ended up getting by a major choke-point in my 813 RF deck design.  As far as the "Window" is concerned??  It's sort of like an AM chat room where we can meet but many times I have witnessed some guys on a round-table splitting off to another frequency -- that's a good thing.

The main point I like about this topic is that the AMer community has a great bunch of guys some are just really good ambassadors while others are guru etc etc.  They (we) all keep this whole phenomenon alive -- and that's a good thing.

Thanks guys, greatly appreciated from a guy who has been in the Amateur Radio hobby for 57 years and still learning and having fun

BTW -- I kept saying "Guys"  Where are the Gals"  I had a QSO recently with AB2RA Janis -- nice Gal but after that, she disappeared .  If anyone knows her, encourage her to gat back on!!

Cheers, Al Violet Toilet Paper

[W2PHL]

Well I’m an AM Newbie (gulp). I have to say you guys are all great. I’ve been a ham since ’92 but I’ve only been on HF since 2007.
 
Believe it or not gentlemen. You guys are the rock stars of amateur radio.

When an individual tunes across the band, I’ll bet you dollars to doughnuts they will stop and listen to an AM QSO every time. Why? I’d say it’s because the personalities are as big as the signals and there’s the rub. Making an AM transmission without having your s*** together is a little intimidating, kind of like sitting in with Clapton or Beck (back to the rock star analogy). When I was a kid back in the 70’s, I remember listening around 75m on an old Grundig console. I thought all those AM guys were the coolest. I remember WA1HLR from back then and the first time I worked Tim it was like I was speaking with royalty. I kept thinking “I’m not worthy, I’m not worthy….” LOL 
 
So to all those gun shy lurker operators out there thinking about getting on AM. Now is a perfect time. The AM gang is not that scary.

I’m having a blast. Thanks guys!

Phil
 

[John Holotko]

I found that a lot of the stuff I learned came not from talking with the big gun AM'ers but rather by listening to what they had to say. Thus I learned a lot even before I was licensed, by simply receiving and listening. By the time I was licensed to actauly talk it was more a fine tuning process, i.e. fine tuning the many things I had already learned through listening. Thus I was better able to present them with more direct, relavant and focused questions.  A receiver with a working vfo and a decent antenna and time to listen are among the best tools a newbie can have.

[KE6DF]

I'm into two of what I call old guy (or gal) hobbies.

Ham Radio is one, Bridge is another.

Both of these need new blood badly.

I would never criticize anyone for taking up any type of ham radio -- even the ex-CB good buddy appliance types.

To remain viable, we need to keep our numbers up.

And the 20 something who buys a SSB appliance box, may be, 20 years from now an old timer advancing the hobby and lobbying the FCC on our behalf.

And, when I play bridge with a kid, I'm not about to criticize his play or bidding either.

Everybody has to start somewhere.