Whining About AM on the 12 Meter Band

[WD5JKO]

Last night at 7:30pm CST I noticed 10m was wide open. Even the repeaters at the FM end were coming in. I tried raising someone on the 29.66/56 repeater, but nobody listening. I then put out a few CQ's at 29 AM with no results. So I went to 24.985 on 12m, and made a solid contact there on AM with a W6. I bet 12M propagation will last a lot longer then 10M above 29 Mhz.

After WB2WIK's scalding post in QRZ concerning me and the tron on 12M AM this past Sunday, I am determined to make an AM presence on that band. That thread is now at 15 pages...

Jim
Wd5JKO

[Steve - K4HX]

Who is WB2WIK and when was he put in charge of frequency allocations?

[W7NGA]

http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?427022-AMers-discourage-activity-for-sure/page16&highlight=WB2WIK

[bottom of page]

a very bizarre and misguided posting in my judgement. Tim has been so helpful with AM and antenna matters.

and ... it's so easy to turn the tuning dial and listen elsewhere.

dan W7NGA

[WD8BIL]

In his complaint he assumed propagation allowed Tron to hear the DX station. some people never think before opening their mouth, so to speak.

[KB2WIG]

The Op wanted to talk, but could not break in.

This is bad.

People talk to long.

This is bad.

Tim was talking.

Therefore, must be bad.

Bad bad Tim, bad. No 4-1000 for you.


klc

[Chuck...K1KW]

How about a 12 Meter section in  "Band Watch" ?   

[W2VW]

Too much time on the internetz, not enough on the air.

Next......

[ka4koe]

Timmy is so VERY VERY MEAN!!!!

The first time he told me my audio sounded like I had a sock in my mouth, I nearly had a loss of bowel control.

The second time he said I was papa-whiskey. My psyche has still not recovered from that assault on my fragile ego.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!



FEELEEP

[KA0HCP]

Steve, WB2WIK, is a super guy, and makes a tremendous contribution on forums.  His preferred operating modes are HF CW and VHF/UHF.  

He has stated many times his pet peeve about long winded AM round tables, his lack of interest in discussing technical topics, and he knows the personalities involved.  He almost never operates AM.

Why he expected things to be different on that day are unknown.  He knows that the one person who will expound at length on technical minutiae is Timtron.  Why he chose to flog the issue again is also puzzling, other than just an opportunity to vent.

I was on 15m the afternoon before and heard a number of (West Coast) short exchange, one on one QSO's, that would please any SSB'er.     bill

[W3GMS]

I have known Steve, WB2WIK since the 70's when he was a sales rep selling us high quality capacitors.  We also shared the same 146.985 repeater frequency.  His was up in North Jersey and mine being in Parkesburg, PA.   Later in my career my company did some business with his company out in California. 

Steve is a very technically capable individual who has also contributed to our hobby and I have never found him to be a bad person at all.  Saying that, he needs to realize that operating habits or styles regardless of the mode vary greatly.   That fact that this particular AM QSO style was not to his liking should not sour him on AM.  If that particular style bothers him, then start a QSO somewhere else!  Making a comment like, I guess I will put my AM rig away is really an over reaction to the situation he observed.   

So I encourage Steve to give it another shot and set up a sked with someone operating AM who prefers the shorter transmissions!   

Joe, W3GMS             

[KL7OF]

The guy needs to chill out....I read the thread on QRZ and he just goes on and on...He won't let it go.....

[Steve - K4HX]

I read the thread on QRZ and he just goes on and on ...

Kinda like a long transmission.    Good thing he never heard W5PYT in his prime!

[flintstone mop]

Timmy can dominate the channel at times with some interesting stories. I broke-into a QSO between Tim and a fella named Rupe, on 160, and Tim and I started talking about transmit audio for broadcast. We turned it back to Rupe and he disappeared.
Al Gore's Internet has good things and bad things

Fred

[WD5JKO]

Thanks guys for taking the time to comment concerning this. I'd lake to clarify a few things though in addition to what I said on page 10 on qrz.

We were on 24.985 +/-

I was running 18 watts carrier on my Flex 3000 into an 80m OCV inverted V

Tim was running 40 watts into the Hexbeam

When the QSO started there was one or two phone stations on the band..none near us.

Another station broke in on AM and we had three of us for a while

Tim started having a problem with dropping grid drive during his transmission. He stayed keyed up while troubleshooting the problem. That took a while with some dead air, etc. During that transmission, he was fading deeper and steadily as propagation was shifting. Then he started drifting down, 1, 2,then 3 Khz and sliced through a SSB QSO that had just started up. During that transmission I saw multiple carriers popping up on top of Tim.

When Tim turned it back to me, I was needing to go down the hall to refresh, and I had a mild headache. So when I saw the pan adapter blip drop, I keyed pretty quick. We soon signed out.

Before I left, I did a QRZ, saying something like, "is there another station that wants to talk to me"? I heard nothing.

So there we were on the edge of an almost empty band minding our business. My conscious is clear.

Jim
Wd5JKO

[Steve - K4HX]

It's good to hear that you are still conscious. With the headache and all, I was worried. 

[Opcom]

The gentleman's just being cranky I guess. Anyone is entitled to do so.
Not sure it's worth 15 pages, even on QRZ.
I would rather hear 11.5 minutes of minutiae about grid currents on each and every stage than a graphic description of someone's gall bladder operation.

[VE3LYX]

However like it or not some of his comments had a ring of truth. I have heard one such transmission which lasted uninterrupted for over an hour. And rude comments are never welcome nor are they necessary. I get worn out listening sometimes and shut the rig down after hearing how each solder joint was made and where each resistor and capacitor came from. And so do some of you if the truth was known. The AM window is not that big. Sometimes it is like waiting in traffic while a combine crosses a narrow bridge. After a half hour or so you feel like just turning around and going home.
don

[flintstone mop]

Then "THEY" wonder why many ops are on the internet and not on the air. Trying to go off somewhere and find a clear spot to call CQ usually doesn't attract anybody. There are only those windows that people check. It's not QSY the TX and off we go. Re-tune the antenna tuner, re-tune the amp....yad da da da da. Getting lazy maybe
Fred

[VE3AJM]

It should be easy to just turn your VFO and go off to another frequency if you're not into whatever is being said on the air.

I'd rather listen to Tim HLR anytime going on an old buzzard transmission on a technical subject. You generally will learn something, and if not, it will put a smile on your face. Go work on a project on the bench or have a drink.

As Fred mentioned, its a whole lot easier to get attention/feed narcissistic personalities online, and on this website for some. This is approaching personal blogging. We'll leave that up to the moderators here.
"Lookie lookie...don't hate me because my DX-100 keeps blowing up..."

Al VE3AJM

[Steve - K4HX]

Eh, seems to be much ado about nothing. There is no "window" on 12 meters first off. On 10 meters you can find AM from 28990 to 29100 or higher depending on propagation. There are often three frequencies in use on 15 meters (21420, 30 and 40).  Forty meters has probably the most concentrated AM, all bunched up about 7285 or so. That said, a few years ago some of us operated on 7160. So the VFO does work. 

On 80 meters there is tons of room. Regular AM activity can be found below 3700, lots around 3705, 3725, and the in the old school section from 3875 - 3885. There also used to be almost daily AM activity around 3945 kHz.

You can operate AM on 160 meters almost anywhere and there is regular activity on 1880, 1885, 1985.

The reality is that there is almost always room to start your own QSO. Why anyone would waste one second listening to someone else's conversation (and not like it) is a mystery to me. In general, I've found over the years that those who P&M the most about what others are doing on the air are the ones who are bored or not engaged in the hobby. If you are doing your own thing and having fun, you usually don't care what others are doing. What has changed is that now the P&Ming takes place on the Internet. This is actually a good thing. It keeps all those whiners off the air and away from those of us that are having fun on the air. QRZ = flypaper for idiots.

However like it or not some of his comments had a ring of truth. I have heard one such transmission which lasted uninterrupted for over an hour. And rude comments are never welcome nor are they necessary. I get worn out listening sometimes and shut the rig down after hearing how each solder joint was made and where each resistor and capacitor came from. And so do some of you if the truth was known. The AM window is not that big. Sometimes it is like waiting in traffic while a combine crosses a narrow bridge. After a half hour or so you feel like just turning around and going home.
don

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

It should be easy to just turn your VFO and go off to another frequency if you're not into whatever is being said on the air.

BINGO. Common sense - if you don't like it, don't listen or take part. Go somewhere else. Simple. But you'll always have a few with the channel cop mentality who think they need to set the world straight on why their view is the right and best one, and anyone who disagrees is somehow inferior. Trying to convince them otherwise is pointless; they already know it all. Complaining about it online is essentially the same thing this guy is doing, which is why we tend to keep it off the board. Let's piss and moan about the guy who's pissing and moaning about us. Hmm.....sounds like a fun evening on 75 meters! 

I'd rather listen to Tim HLR anytime going on an old buzzard transmission on a technical subject. You generally will learn something, and if not, it will put a smile on your face. Go work on a project on the bench or have a drink.

Or you'll be bored to tears, toss your lunch, or whatever else. Tim is Tim is Tim. He's probably the one constant on the bands. I've had many enjoyable moments listening to him over the years and plenty of times I've just spun the knob elsewhere because I wasn't interested, was bored, or didn't have time for the 'long version'. And I survived, each time!

As Fred mentioned, its a whole lot easier to get attention/feed narcissistic personalities online, and on this website for some. This is approaching personal blogging. We'll leave that up to the moderators here.
"Lookie lookie...don't hate me because my DX-100 keeps blowing up..."

This is the true root of this issue and so many like it: the internet gives everyone a platform or opportunity to spout. And in that opportunity often lies a false assumption that everyone out there is on the edge of their seat, waiting for your opinion. If, as stated above, this guy 'contributes a lot to forums' I'd make a rough translation based on his QRZ post that perhaps he's spending a little too much time online and not enough on the air. It's easier to be a whiner online as you have that false sense that you're always being listened to and taken seriously.

As to the narcissists, well....we've seen a few come and go here. Once the membership get sick of their endless posting about themselves, they end up going somewhere else to feed their egos. When talking about it becomes more important than actually doing it, that's a good hint. I can count the posters on one hand that have needed a little reminder nudge, and have fingers left over.

Eh, seems to be much ado about nothing.

WHAT?!?? How can you say that?? We need to be more professional about how we operate. This is amateur radio, after all.   

[W2VW]

The thing that really annoys me is the obvious violation of TOS in that thread.

And yes I should complain there instead but somehow I know the point will get across.

[DMOD]

I would rather hear 11.5 minutes of minutiae about grid currents on each and every stage than a graphic description of someone's gall bladder operation.

Oh man, me too. 


Phil - AC0OB

[VE3LYX]

Boy, Has Ham radio changed in the last 30 + years. I didn't realize we were just to listen to a chosen few or tune out. I thought we were to talk to each other. Otherwise we are just SWLs. Nothing wrong BTW with the technical stuff  but ..............
don

[K5IIA]

Boy, Has Ham radio changed in the last 30 + years.
don

Yep. That is the same thing they were saying 30 years ago to, when some guys on here where a wee bit yunga.