7.160

[KX5JT]

CQ CQ ... nice and clear at the moment here.... anyone around?

[KX5JT]

Well, Calling CQ yeilded me some a couple of nice QSO's with Massuchussettes... that's 1400 miles.  Now the euro and ssb'ers have moved in.  Heading south to 75 meters.

Anyone wanna try down on 3.6xx reply!

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Heard you in there John, good signals into NC last night. I was spending some quality time with the wife and didn't get back out to join in. Maybe tonight?

[WA3VJB]

I fired up the Global Tuners internet receiver site and didn't hear any activity last night on 40m. Even tried 80m listening for western states on AM.

Maybe we are between seasons, where folks are still outdoors in the final hours of DST as the sun starts setting earlier.

[KX5JT]

I fired up the Global Tuners internet receiver site and didn't hear any activity last night on 40m. Even tried 80m listening for western states on AM.

Maybe we are between seasons, where folks are still outdoors in the final hours of DST as the sun starts setting earlier.

I made several AM contacts last night on 7.160 AM.  Louisiana to Mass and those stations were only running 25 to 40 watts.    The problem with Global Tuners is you can't call CQ Paul! 

[Knightt150]

I have been on 7160 Kc several nights lately (all ssb) come on guys are we operating 7160 or 7175? I will tune around tonight.

John W9BFO

[AB3FL]

I will be on/around 7160 in 10 mins......


Tom - AB3FL

[k4kyv]

I have been on 7160 Kc several nights lately (all ssb) come on guys are we operating 7160 or 7175? I will tune around tonight.

Be sure to do it before 0400 GMT.  That's when the jamming party from East Africa starts up. Broadcast stations open up on 7165 and 7175 with white noise jamming jumping between the two and at times on both frequencies at once.  Pretty much makes 7160-7180 useless, since each jamming signal is about 15 kHz wide.

Last night, there was near zero static on 75 in mid evening, but little or no activity on the entire band on any mode.  Not sure if the band had gone long, or if everyone goes to bed with the chickens these days.  In years past, the band would have  been packed with signals at that hour.

[WA3VJB]

    The problem with Global Tuners is you can't call CQ Paul! 

Why not ?

Use the various geographic locations to figure out where you're being heard (or not).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48pBTykFVN4

[AB3FL]

Later this evening around 9-10 EDT I should be on around 7160 +/- QRM & slop


Tom - AB3FL

[K7NCR]

1st am QSO today at the new QTH, 21:00 UTC with KD7UO, Seattle. Heard his FT-897 s3-s4, I was 10 over with the Apache. I'll get on some more later, and maybe try 80M.
Norm K7NCR

[Knightt150]

I have called CQ on 7160kc almost every night for the last 3 weeks around 7pm central standard time. On sat night oct 31st at 7pm there was only 2 ssb stations on between 7100 and 7200kc I could not belive such a clear band. Yet I hear no AM activity, I thought that we AMers were going to captilize this new frequency.

John W9BFO

[k4kyv]

I think the band goes long after dark.  Otherwise it would be  filled with slopbuckets.  All I hear is silence, punctuated by a few weak DX stations (usually Italians).

75 is almost as bad.  About the time I start up a QSO just after dark,  the 40+ dB signal drops into the noise level.  Tuning around the band I find the usual slopbucket groups silent as well.

When condx are like that, 160m is at its best.   I have been working 1880 and 1885 the past few days.

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Was just out there playing with an old M.C. Jones SWR bridge and the band sounded dead. Barely a signal to be heard. Called CQ on 60 a few times, but had a feeling the band was long as you suspected, Don.

Gotta get those other aerials up soon.

[KX5JT]

I occasionally venture on 7.160 and call CQ AM.   The last few times I did so resulted in Cross-mode QSO's with sideband.  This morning after calling CQ (around 8 am, the band was very quiet and I could hear ssb qso's booming in from all around the south, southeast and midwest but they weren't filling up the band, they were very spread out.), I listened up a few khz's after hearing sideband QRM.  The QSO was on 7.164 and it was SSBers talking about how I was 15 khz's wide.  HAH!  I've checked out my signal on my local rcvr and I am way down at 3khz from the carrier.  In their defense however, I did hear one of them say, "well AM is a legal mode". 

I imagine mornings would be GREAT for domestic 40 meter AM, but alas, I never get anyone but sidebanders.  Late afternoons turns 40 meters into a crazy QRM'ed filled cacophony of european and domestic sidebanders, increase noise levels and even a few broadcasts.

I get home after working nights around 13:00 UTC ( 8 am CDT, 9 am EDT).  I'll be looking for the first clear spot around 7.160 to call CQ AM.

Anyone care for a schedule around that time?

This IS K X 5 J T... over!

[k4kyv]

I occasionally venture on 7.160 and call CQ AM.   The last few times I did so resulted in Cross-mode QSO's with sideband.  This morning after calling CQ (around 8 am, the band was very quiet and I could hear ssb qso's booming in from all around the south, southeast and midwest but they weren't filling up the band, they were very spread out.), I listened up a few khz's after hearing sideband QRM.  The QSO was on 7.164 and it was SSBers talking about how I was 15 khz's wide.  HAH!  I've checked out my signal on my local rcvr and I am way down at 3khz from the carrier.  In their defense however, I did hear one of them say, "well AM is a legal mode".  

Whenever I am on 40m and slopbucketeers complain about my AM signal in the middle of "prime DX  territory", my standard response is that the DX chasing crowd doesn't own the 40m segment that was recently vacated by the broadcast stations, and that if they want more space to operate, they should petition the FCC to open the US phone band down to 7100 or 7075.  We are about the only country in the world with no access to that part of the band when using voice modes, and yet there is minimal CW and data activity of US origin in that segment.

A vocal element exists within the CW community that have taken on the attitude to lobby the FCC and fight to the finish come hell or high water, to keep territory below 7125 restricted from phone here in the US, yet at most you might hear maybe 3 to 5 CW stations at any one time all way across 7100-7125.  That amounts to 5 kHz or more of spectrum per CW signal.  Hardly a poster child for spectrum efficiency.  

Use it or lose it.

[W2JBL]

7160 was a viable AM hangout 30 years ago when there was no SSB DX to be found there. things have changed a lot since then. while I may be 98% AM I really enjoy SSB DX on 40 now that it's opened up worldwide. I hate to say this but it really sucks when some fellow AM'er who likely can't even copy SSB opens up 1 KC from the VK I'm working on SSB, just because 7160 is the
"AM frequency". why don't we move the AM up the band- say 7170-7180 away from the DX activity? the DX sidebanders only ignore AM'ers anyway, dismissing them as BC stations. what's the use of camping out on 7160 with AM if we are gonna get trashed?

[k4kyv]

DX'ers don't exclusively own the newly vacated frequencies liberated by the broadcasters.  The Generals would gripe about AM'ers on 7175-7200, because they have so little space in the new band, just as the DX'ers don't want us to use 7125-7175.

What we need is a concerted effort to lobby the FCC to expand the phone band down to 7100 or even 7075.  The US is about the only country in the entire world that doesn't already allow its amateurs to use phone on 7075-7125.  There would be less pressure on frequencies like 7160 if US amateurs had access to all the newly liberated frequencies on equal footing with the rest of the world.

Yes, a certain element within the CW community would scream and cry at the idea, despite the fact that they already enjoy cw privileges all the way from 7000 to 7300 and wouldn't lose a kHz of spectrum.  The CW ops wouldn't have a legitimate gripe about the phone activity because they don't use 7075-7125.  This weekend while the CW Sweepstakes contest was on was a good case in point.  The CW bands were jam packed with signals, but on 40m, the activity began to fizzle at about 7060, and few, if any CW signals could be  heard above 7080, except for a handful of cw stations up above 7100, where they were operating to avoid contest QRM, but any time I counted, there were no more than 5 or 6 CW stations on 7100-7125.  That averages about 5 kHz per CW channel, not exactly a poster child for spectrum efficiency.  Non-contest CW could have easily been accommodated down lower in the band, in the vicinity of 7075.

I would like to start hearing some AM DX activity near 7160, like what we presently hear on 3705.  I have successfully worked Europeans who switched their riceboxes to AM an ran about 20 watts for a two-way transatlantic QSO.