Where is everyone?

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

The mentality there is "my window is better than your window". Well, so freakin' what if it is? What does it matter to these people what someone else's ham radio experience is? The truth is, it doesn't actually matter to them, it just gives them something to feel superior about. That mentality serves no positive purpose.

Not sure if you missed the point or are just over simplifying it, Thom. It's not some dramatic 'class warfare, us-versus-them' issue, merely a discussion of a lack of activity, why, and what to do about it. Clearly those who move around rather than staying on one frequency could hardly be considered as having a 'my window is better' or any 'window' mentality at all.

And finally, why does anyone consider any of this to be a "problem"? People are going to operate their stations the way they see fit. That's their right, too.

Well, take a look through Clark's comments about the "problem" of moving anywhere, trying to call CQ, or whatever else. My comments address these issues. You'll also note that I agree(d) with your statement(s) previously: It's anyone's choice to operate where ever they choose. I also conceded the point that it's no doubt different in his area, but that doesn't make his all-encompassing statement accurate that "AMers don't scan the band...". If it were just a matter of Clark speaking for himself and his desire not to listen or move around, I doubt we'd be discussing this now.

Not everything has to be a drama, Thom. And the fact that I or anyone else may offer solutions to perceived problems or differing opinions certainly doesn't constitute 'class warfare'. As a mere Advanced, I too need to upgrade some day. The promise of even more space to spread out and operate is the incentive. Or I could sit back and complain about slopbucket this or that, being a free country and so on. Having come from the place where Clark now is radio-wise, in a time where there were far fewer of us and less room to move around, the advantages of moving and upgrading clearly speak for themselves.

It is what it is.

We have the ability to change the situaltion. We can P&M about the problem or do something about it. I choose the latter.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[WD8BIL]

As Mike Jackson sang;

"I'll be there!"

[ke7trp]

All good points.  I started off helping to take check ins last night on the AMI net and then finished it.  I took a couple pages of Check ins as net control. The entire time the SSbers where cusing, yelling and throwing carriers at us.  Good job.

C

[KL7OF]

The West Coast AMI Net is only enjoyable about one time out of 5.......Great net control operators, friendly well behaved participants, lots of interesting and great sounding transmitters, but.......between the SSB Jammers (Who have been warned by Riley, remember him?) and propagation that favors stations 600-700 miles distance..and them having to hand off net control operations...It just turns into a cluster buck when the band goes long....Too bad really...I just turn the switch...Nice job Clark

[KA1ZGC]

Not everything has to be a drama, Thom. And the fact that I or anyone else may offer solutions to perceived problems or differing opinions certainly doesn't constitute 'class warfare'

No, but this does:

Maybe it's time to upgrade the ol' license, Clarky? That would certainly allow you outside the box, even if you choose not to think outside of it? 

There's a big, fun world of AM out there beyond the box, just a-waiting.....Just Do it! Re-tuning is scary at first, but after you've done it a few times it becomes second nature. 

We're all pullin' for ya!!

Ridicule and patronizing are never vessels by which one offers any solutions.

As for the rest, you were too busy trying to find some way that I might have been talking about you personally to understand my overall point. Explaining it again won't help.

The others understood me, that's enough for me.

[k4kyv]

Some people don't upgrade because of the perceived hassle of studying for the exam and presenting oneself at the exam point.  Probably some others are self-effacing and just assume they are not "smart" enough. Still others refuse to do it out of stubbornness. I know one Tech who has been a competent broadcast engineer for decades, has a collection of AM transmitters stored in his barn, but refuses to even upgrade to General, which would allow him to actually get on the air on AM. Then there are those Advanced class licensees who feel that no-code Extra would be a downgrade.

(One of) the greatest errors of incentive licensing was the sub-band nonsense.  Some other countries have a better way of doing it, by awarding higher power privileges to higher grade licensees.

In the US, after IL proved to be the dismal failure that it was in terms of its stated purpose, the FCC has all but gutted the concept, yet they still refuse to phase out the licence class subbands.

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Blah, blah, blah. More hot air from the guy who's not happy unless there is a fight.  You have no standing preaching to others since you are the most self-righteous poster on here.

Take your BS elsewhere.

Not everything has to be a drama, Thom. And the fact that I or anyone else may offer solutions to perceived problems or differing opinions certainly doesn't constitute 'class warfare'

No, but this does:

Maybe it's time to upgrade the ol' license, Clarky? That would certainly allow you outside the box, even if you choose not to think outside of it? 

There's a big, fun world of AM out there beyond the box, just a-waiting.....Just Do it! Re-tuning is scary at first, but after you've done it a few times it becomes second nature. 

We're all pullin' for ya!!

Ridicule and patronizing are never vessels by which one offers any solutions.

As for the rest, you were too busy trying to find some way that I might have been talking about you personally to understand my overall point. Explaining it again won't help.

The others understood me, that's enough for me.

[KA1ZGC]

Blah, blah, blah. More hot air from the guy who's not happy unless there is a fight.  You have no standing preaching to others since you are the most self-righteous poster on here.

Take your BS elsewhere.

I already made my point and walked away. Blow it out your ass.

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

So did Todd. But you have to make everything personal. Bye!

[k4kyv]

I had about a 2-hour QSO with a 9-lander near Chicago, from 0300z to 0500z, after I answered his AM CQ on 3887 last night. Rock-solid signals both ways, no QuaRMtest QRM, no slopbucket QRM, not even any breakers until the QSO was about to come to an end.  We talked mostly about house maintenance and construction and the joys of home ownership.

Those who were bitching about the QuaRMtest should have tuned around a little.  There were plenty of clear spots on 75 throughout the evening.  3600-3700 did fill up later on in the evening, but there were plenty of open slots above 3800, and QuaRMtest operation was virtually non-existent above 3900, but there were large swaths of open frequencies in that segment.

3900-4000 should be fertile ground for AM operation later in the evening.  It seems mostly populated by old-fart SSB rag-chew groups and a few nets, mostly who have occupied the same frequency for decades and now go to roost with the chickens in their old age. Listen after about 0400 GMT.  I may try running a few CQs up there to see what happens.

[K5UJ]

Strap softly and turn up the wick.

Here is something kind of interesting:  I worked Brandon KF5IIA last night for about two hours on 3885.  This was when that sweepstakes thing was going on.  He has a pretty solid 20 dB over 9 signal and often, his carrier flattened out the adjacent QRM and junk so it wasn't there.  There would be occasional QSB moments when the bucket noise would encroach then get strapped back down again.  Well, for the first hour or so there were these feeble QRM attempts, the most amusing being someone sounding vaguely like HLR's SBE but more like a jiggling VFO, like someone was trying to bug us by wiggling a heterodyne in our rx passbands.  It was pw enough to be entertaining more than anything else.  Then, after about an hour and 15 minutes it all went away.  It was like everyone got tired, gave up on us and moved on.

[WD8BIL]

All I know is I've been able to QSO every night for the past week. 3685, 3705, 3725, 3733, 3873, 3880, 3885............
All I do is call cq and ignore the SSBers unless one is really interested in a qso.

Most of the naysayers on this post haven't been heard from.

[WA3VJB]

You want big signals and lots of elbow room ?

Try what I call the "Breakfast Club" at 3AM eastern time.
3885Kc

This morning I had a great time with W0XV, Jeff,  WA3JBT, Frank, and N8ULN, Jim along with a few other guys, one of whom was at Boca Raton Florida on an Icom on AM for the first time after he was sitting back listening to "all the great sounding AM."

Jeff was on that homebrew transmitter built by Robert W0VMC you might have heard about -- pair of 4x1s into a pair, and built into a Collins 20V2 cabinet, whoo whoo !

It's a regular gathering from 3-4AM, sometimes longer like this week when folks are off from work.

[K3ZS]

Do you stay up that late or get up early?
 

[KX5JT]

You want big signals and lots of elbow room ?

Try what I call the "Breakfast Club" at 3AM eastern time.
3885Kc

This morning I had a great time with W0XV, Jeff,  WA3JBT, Frank, and N8ULN, Jim along with a few other guys, one of whom was at Boca Raton Florida on an Icom on AM for the first time after he was sitting back listening to "all the great sounding AM."

Jeff was on that homebrew transmitter built by Robert W0VMC you might have heard about -- pair of 4x1s into a pair, and built into a Collins 20V2 cabinet, whoo whoo !

It's a regular gathering from 3-4AM, sometimes longer like this week when folks are off from work.

Yes! It's a pleasure to operate at that time of the morning when the QRM is absent.  These "breakfast club" regulars put out a great signal and the conversation is interesting as well.  

If noticed they usually start around 2:30 am central / 3:30 am eastern and go until work calls them away.

[K5UJ]

Paul what do these guys do--go to bed at 6 p.m. and get up at 2 a.m.?  I did that when I was the morning man at a FM near Memphis 30 years ago.  I lasted around 5 months and went to college.  I decided human beings were not meant to live like that hi hi.

Rob

[KX5JT]

Hehe...

WA3JBT, Frank drives school bus so he gets up really early.  Jeff, W0XV is retired but he seems to wake up around 2 or 3 am for an hour or two before getting more sleep.  I'm not sure what Jim, N8ULN does but he does get up early for work. 

I haven't heard tennessee Dave on (forget his call) but he used to be a regular in the mornings too.   I work night shift so I'm awake all night even on my days off. 

There are others that come in and out but those seem to be there pretty faithfully every morning, especially Frank, WA3JBT.  In fact, I heard him say that he would love to keep talking on AM when he gets back from his bus route, but everyone had gone away so he moves over to a sideband group.

If any of you find yourself up early mornings, be sure to stop by 3.885 and say hello!

[k4kyv]

The early morning crew usually appears just as I am making my final xmsn.  If I stay up past 2AM (or 3AM when daylight shifting time is on) I find myself dragging the next day.

[KX5JT]

The early morning crew usually appears just as I am making my final xmsn.  If I stay up past 2AM (or 3AM when daylight shifting time is on) I find myself dragging the next day.

When I retire, I want to throw away all my clocks!

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

John, I think Dave's call is W4QCU if I'm thinking of the same fellow in TN? He used to be on running a HT-32 I think. Heard him a few times when I was up north.

Hoping to be back on the air here within a couple weeks. Visitors arriving for Thanksgiving and my time has been focused elsewhere. Burned a pile of brush today, so the pyro fix has been fed for another year. Working on 2 transmitters at once this time, so if one craps out, the backup should be ready to go. Eventually I'll get all the bugs worked out. Also getting some insulating work done in the radio room to make operating a bit more comfortable this winter. Though at 72 degrees today, it was just right out there.

[KX5JT]

Yes Todd that's him, W4QCU.  He had several different vintage stations from which to choose.  I hope he's doing okay because I haven't heard him for quite a while now. 

Another Dave, W9AD chimes in from time to time either from his Illinois QTH or remotely from Mexico at that early hour.

[K5UJ]

Also getting some insulating work done in the radio room to make operating a bit more comfortable this winter.

I guess if I had to come up with one good thing about running a leenyar on AM it would be that in winter I no longer need space heaters in the shack.

[WA3VJB]

When he was part of the 4A edition of the Breakfast Club, Dave, W4QCU at Oak Ridge would usually be on with his Gates BC-1G that I helped hook him up with some years ago.

I recently heard him with either the Southeastern AM Radio Club (SAMRC), WA4KCY's group, or perhaps with the AWA's Sunday PM AM net on 3837Kc.

And yes, Frank, JBT is as puzzled as myself that Dave seems to have just dropped out of the early morning scene. He said a couple of emails have gone unanswered too.  I know Dave's work schedule had changed, being reduced in hours, and then, different time of day as well.

Today, Tuesday,  I just had an excellent 90 minutes or so with a group that gathers weekdays on 3705Kc.  The three principal guys are all in southern Virginia and say they get on anywhere from 10A through 12:30 and just chew the fat.

Great signals and good conditions daytime if you're within a few hundred miles.

Do you stay up that late or get up early?

Get up early.  Usually in bed around 9PM, and the two dogs and the cat know it's time for breakfast by 4:30AM.  I was up early that particular morning after one of the dogs hurled up the results of finding a deer carcass out in the woods last Friday, ugh.


I think Clark pretty much answered this one, but I don't know how they do it otherwise ! Some people can subsist on just a few hours' sleep a night. Not me.

Paul what do these guys do--go to bed at 6 p.m. and get up at 2 a.m.?  I did that when I was the morning man at a FM near Memphis 30 years ago.  I lasted around 5 months and went to college.  I decided human beings were not meant to live like that hi hi.
Rob