ANAN 100B, 100, and/or Flex 6300 for AM

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Why we are seeing new places where AM activity is congregating might be due to the fact that AM activity often occupies significantly more band width. When band conditions are good, here in the NE, three QSO's can easily occupy the entire AM window on 75m. I'm wondering when / if bandwidth might become an issue?

If one insists on operating in the imaginary AM Window, you always run the problem of stations running high power and running 8 to 10  KHz of bandwidth, of stepping on each others edges. Weaker stations just tend to get lost with an overpowering nearby carrier. As Steve and others have said numerous times in the past, one needs to spin the VFO and find other clear frequencies to QSY an existing QSO or just throw out some CQ's and see what you can snag. Of course, you might run the risk of pissing off some sideband group who have been sleeping on some frequency for years, but who cares.  No one owns a frequency even if they claim they've been there for the last 40 years.

[W7NGA]

> No one owns a frequency even if they claim they've been there for the last 40 years.

I heard nothing on 3880 kHz and was testing and about to call CQ. A SSB station came back and
said I was on his net frequency that was starting in five minutes and I could join them if I wanted to.
I was thinking that isn't really how it should work, but being the nice guy, I told them I
would just listen. The net was five guys sharing the morning temperatures and then
going to church. Lasted 15 minutes. It hardly qualified as ownership of the frequency.
75-meters is almost impossible to have fun with on the weekends.

Guaranteed you'll be on someone's *net* frequency and be asked to QSY.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

It puzzles me .. on 80 and 40-meters there is a great deal of space lower in the band that AM'ers don't use.
Part of the problem is that most likely no one bothers to tune down there having never heard any AM activity.
I was hearing some AM on 7160, but the next day I heard SSB'ers railing against the inappropriateness of
using such an outdated bandwidth hog on 'their' band.
I wouldn't touch 17-meters AM unless wearing a flame suit and hiding the children first!

One of the beautiful things about SDR receivers is that I can set a panadapter to scan the entire band.
Any AM activity is readily apparent. Indeed, most of my 15-meter AM contacts are from stations with
panadapters that saw a huge spike up the band and tuned up to check it out. I have been the first AM
contact for many .. wanting to experiment with their Icom or Yaesu. The reality is that they usually
sound much better on SSB.

I love my Flex 6500 but AM sounds just a tad nicer on my R-390A @16khz.

Actually on the lower part of 80 meters, many of us now spend a lot of time anywhere between 3700 and 3740. You'll generally find many Canadians operate around there. I'll worked several European AM stations around 3710. Even in the Extra only section below 3700, you occasionally will find an AM QSO. The AWA AM net meets on 3838 every Sunday. Occasionally, I hear some AM QSO's around 3830. And I can find them just as easy when I spin the analog dial knob too. If one was around back in the "good old days" that's how we found and made contacts. The only screens one had was to keep the flies and mosquitoes out of the shack.

40 meters is a great band but it's only 300 KHz wide. During the evenings, the top 100 KHz is still peppered at times with foreign broadcast stations making both SSB and AM activities, at times, difficult but not impossible. Back several years ago, a number of AM stations did operate around 7160 and some still do, but many, for whatever reasons, migrated back to around 7290 which is unfortunate. Given the great propagation characteristics of 40 meters, especially during the late afternoon and well into the evening hours, the phone portion can be quite crowded and peppered with territorial weirdos.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

> No one owns a frequency even if they claim they've been there for the last 40 years.

I heard nothing on 3880 kHz and was testing and about to call CQ. A station came back and
said I was on his net frequency that was starting in five minutes and I could join them if I wanted to.
I was thinking that isn't really how it should work, but being the nice guy, I told them I
would just listen. The net was five guys sharing the morning temperatures and then
going to church. Lasted 15 minutes. It hardly qualified as ownership of the frequency.
75-meters is almost impossible to have fun with on the weekends.

Guaranteed you'll be on someone's *net* frequency and be asked to QSY.

His mistake was saying "his net frequency". You'll find tons of nets on just about every HF band. Some are formal nets and others, like the one you ran across, are probably somewhat informal and just an excuse for several guys to make contact, even for only 15 minutes, to exchange mundane information and to provide verification that each one is still alive. The ARRL even has a Net Directory: http://www.arrl.org/arrl-net-directory-search But it only includes "nets" that have registered with the ARRL. There's probably many more.

[W7NGA]

I was on AM, they were on SSB. I told them to bear with me as I had to change modes
going from transmit to receive with the Flex. Wasn't prepared to set up split-mode, and
one guy said 'What's the deal with AM'ers taking so long to switch from Receive to Transmit?'.
I'd bet he has never seen a knife switch before either!

I like the idea of sliding down lower on the band.
Lots of Viking Rangers are still xtal controlled though.

[W3RSW]

In the land of gentlemen, there are a few net frequencies that are usually respected, say 14.300 MHz for marine confabs and an occasional emergency.

But even those are becoming superfluous in a world of instant weather radar, GPS, satellite relays, commercial or quasi military agency comms and so forth.

Take your typical morning weather boys, if they're seriously trading wx reports and not just using such as conversation starters, they've got some age related problems or are preparing for "end of times."   That event occurs so infrequently that the majority of operators will have long since expired.  (Good one Pete, or did you mean that the nets were still alive?)

As to running AM on a SSB net, simply ask the others to hit their mode switch since they claim it's so easy when you transmit while also explaining that your turn will be a little longer in deference to your mode. They'll understand, um hmm.  If they're as fast on the draw as claimed, they won't miss more than a swallowed syllable or two. They're used to that what with maladjusted anti-Ptt devices and all.  Not dissing SSB; it's a great mode, just observing how it is.   Every net has a miscreant or two that the others affectionately tolerate. You too can be popular.

[WA2SQQ]

I don't see how bandwidth would become an issue now with a far less crowded band.

Don't confine yourself to one frequency or a small range. There's tons of room lower in the band. The is no AM Window. It's a myth. Spin that VFO knob, or type in a different frequency.  Life is too short for windows.

Steve I totally agree with you about the AM Window - a gentleman's agreement only goes so far. Many SSB operators simply have no interest in AM so they've justified it as antique and unnecessary. I'm sure you listen to 3885 and below. Last night the band was in fine shape and squeezing 3 QSO's into "the window" was more difficult than getting a seat on the NYC subway at rush hour. SSB stations were jamming the AM'ers complaining about stations that were 20+ khz wide. Yes, AM sounds real nice, but sometimes we need to practice a bit of courtesy and throttle it back. And yes, I totally agree with the "bottom of the band" being under utilized. The problem is, we all tend to hang out with the crowd in familiar places.

[Opcom]

It puzzles me .. on 80 and 40-meters there is a great deal of space lower in the band that AM'ers don't use.
Part of the problem is that most likely no one bothers to tune down there having never heard any AM activity.
I was hearing some AM on 7160, but the next day I heard SSB'ers railing against the inappropriateness of
using such an outdated bandwidth hog on 'their' band.

What W7NGA has said is true. Our customs on 7160 ARE different. What the slopbucket has said is unimportant and we do not hear his words.

[Steve - K4HX]

Just to be clear, there never was a gentlemen's agreement. That is a myth.

I haven't listened around 3885 in months and seldom in recent years.

Yes, wide is cool in the day time or later at night when the band isn't crowded. But in prime time, it serves no purpose, other than to irritate others. That said, SSBers who chose to operate near known AM frequencies have little or no legitimate complaint. There are so many clear ranges of frequencies on 75 meters now that there's no reason to be close to any QSO most nights.

[K4RT]

In my experience AM is far from dead, and judging from what I hear on air I think the interest and desire to operate AM is growing.  Since January, I have heard perhaps a dozen hams using solid state transceivers try AM.  I'm hearing more Anan & Flex radios on AM.

In regard to "windows", it seems that AM operators tend to listen and call in the so-called windows or known calling frequencies because they find success more often making contacts there.  I think that makes sense if, for example, your operating time is limited.  That being said, I believe calling CQ and making QSOs outside the windows and therefore not confining AM to small band segments is in AM's best interests.  I am hearing AM on a growing number of non-window frequencies on 75M.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

As Steve points out, there never was a gentleman's agreement for this 75 meter imaginary window. It only existed in the minds of many AM operators over the years.  There are AM operators across the U.S. (and some sidebanders too) that firmly believe that this "window" was created years ago and must be respected and acknowledged as some part of a valid band plan which it's not and never has been. I guess we can blame those darn teenagers from the early 70's.

Although I've had SDR rigs (SDR-1000 and Flex 5000) since about 2004, I still prefer an analog-type or semi-digital rig for AM operation. But, for chasing DX, contesting, digital stuff, or chasing a band opening on 6 meters, I generally use the Flex 5000.

I've worked a number of guys who pressed the AM mode button on their rig for the first time, had a contact or two, or three, or four, and then you never hear them again. I don't consider these operators to be "AM operators".  An "AM operator" is one who spends the majority or all of his/her operating time using the AM mode. The others are just "kiss and run".

[Opcom]

one guy said 'What's the deal with AM'ers taking so long to switch from Receive to Transmit?'.

Wait til he has to wait for an AMer to change frequency! hahahaha

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Guaranteed you'll be on someone's *net* frequency and be asked to QSY.

One of the reasons I left SSB decades ago and moved to AM. "Nets" in the true sense of the term are pretty much non-existent these days. Was a time they were used to pass traffic, train for emergency preparedness, and so on. Today having a 'net' is merely a way to try to claim exclusive rights to a frequency for your QSO. And make no mistake - a net is nothing more than a large roundtable where one operator does most of the talking. Others "check in for the numbers" which is supposed to mean something important, I guess. Unless sanctioned by the FCC for some emergency or disaster, there's no such thing as a net.

As far as AM being dead, no more so than any other mode. There are plenty of times I flip on a receiver here during the day to listen, only to find the bands are a vast wasteland of inactivity. I have read comments from others about their inability to find any AM activity, but none of them ever mention calling CQ or moving beyond the imaginary AM windows. Many of us operate elsewhere, and if you don't find a group or hear activity on a frequency, stir some up with a CQ or three. Sometimes it takes a few more.

I do believe there is more activity the further east you come, and less the further west you go. The PNW is apparently a black hole for AM if comments online are any indication. 6 Land has had some active groups throughout the years, no idea how active it is now.

Activity is down overall from what I've witnessed. Some new AMers prefer the online world and "social media" where they can post photos and talk about AM over actually doing it. Others are just busy with life. Persistence pays off, though. Call CQ enough times and you'll stir up some activity, maybe some of the 'listened for AM' crowd will come across you. There's always a few who want someone else to start the party so they can attend.

Can't comment on the Anan beyond saying that, like the Flex models I've heard on the air, they seem to sound great when set up properly. I'm pretty much ignorant of menus for setting up a radio, and the only windows I view have red plates glowing behind them.

[flintstone mop]

> No one owns a frequency even if they claim they've been there for the last 40 years.

I heard nothing on 3880 kHz and was testing and about to call CQ. A SSB station came back and
said I was on his net frequency that was starting in five minutes and I could join them if I wanted to.
I was thinking that isn't really how it should work, but being the nice guy, I told them I
would just listen. The net was five guys sharing the morning temperatures and then
going to church. Lasted 15 minutes. It hardly qualified as ownership of the frequency.
75-meters is almost impossible to have fun with on the weekends.

Guaranteed you'll be on someone's *net* frequency and be asked to QSY.

Maybe look into 40M...I know 15M is not very much alive lately. It catches everyone off guard and you need to monitor almost continually...unless the AMQSO's app. is reliable,,,,,,,dunno

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Maybe look into 40M...I know 15M is not very much alive lately. It catches everyone off guard and you need to monitor almost continually...unless the AMQSO's app. is reliable,,,,,,,dunno

Any band will not sound alive if everyone just sits around and listens. Take the initiative and belt out a few CQ's every now and then. Waiting for an app to tell you someone is on isn't my vision of amateur radio and if you're not in their skip zone, it won't make any difference either.

[K4RT]

An "AM operator" is one who spends the majority or all of his/her operating time using the AM mode. The others are just "kiss and run".

That's a narrow definition.  I know several hams who, like me, spend a good deal of their amateur radio time operating AM and maintaining their gear, but who also like CW and other modes.

 you need to monitor almost continually...unless the AMQSO's app. is reliable,,,,,,,dunno

Fred if you're referring to www.amspots.com, as a web platform it's reliable but use during the evaluation period has been low.  One motivation behind it was to provide a tool for AM stations to spot themselves calling CQ outside the "windows" but I rarely see that.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

An "AM operator" is one who spends the majority or all of his/her operating time using the AM mode. The others are just "kiss and run".

That's a narrow definition.  I know several hams who, like me, spend a good deal of their amateur radio time operating AM and maintaining their gear, but who also like CW and other modes.

When you take a statement out of context, it can imply something different.

[K4RT]

Nothing was implied. Your statement stands on its own. Of course, anyone can simply read your complete post and draw their own conclusions.