Weekend Conditions, and Vermont to Oklahoma on AM!

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Imagine my surprise Friday when I flipped on the receiver and the band was as noisey as any July or August evening. And all this time I thought it got quieter in autumn. The conditions were so bad that Deano WA1KNX, who is less than an hour from me, was unreadable. Saturday was considerably better, I worked the HUZman and Slab Bacon quite comfortably along with many others.

But last night was the best yet. I was on and off throughout the day and had left everything running while I had dinner. Was hearing W3JN and others nicely before leaving, so things looked promising. Came back a couple hours later to hear Brentina working Jim W5JO in Oklahoma. I've emailed with Jim for a year or two now on different matters and didn't hold out much hope of ever working him, but I threw in my call anyway. Lo and behold - he heard me!

I think we went at it for the better part of an hour, Brent eventually retired and I hung around for a bit longer, enjoying every minute of it. I know a lot of the guys back this way have worked coast to coast and whirlwide, but this is my most distant contact yet. And it was COOL! 

[The Slab Bacon]

Todd,
        Ya never know quite what to expect from that magic band called 75m. You were quite strapping in there on saturday night! Everybody was 30+ over into Balto.
We continued on for quite a while after you left. Then around 1:00 am it just crapped out! In one transmission Steve went from 30+ down into the noise. bang! Gone! in one transmission the band crapped out. Go figger!

One interesting night that i remember, either last winter or the one before, the band went long, but signals were HUGE. No one within 500 miles could hear each other, but we could hear everyone on the OPPOSITE side of the country wuth huge crushing signals! It was wild! We had a huge roundtable going with at least 1 or 2 opeartors from every call district on that night. Each time someone would hand it off, they would hand it off to someone on the opposite side of the Mississippi. We had a ball and it went on well into the wee hours. it was truely a GREAT night of rajo. One I wont forget for a loooonnnngggggg time!
           
                                                             The Slab Bacon   

[W9GT]

Hi Todd,

Another good opening yesterday!!  Great to hear you again.

You were quite strapping (as you easterners say) into the Midwest last night.  Certainly enjoyed the QSO and the interesting "buzzard" stories about times gone by.
Rich and Joe were quite strong as well, but you were up to 30 over 9 when your signal built up.  Nice to work you again....hope the 30K-4 didn't sound too bad on your end.  That KW-1 sounds great.

I understand that you are getting ready to relocate south.  Best wishes to you in your new endeavors!

73,  Jack, W9GT

[wa1knx]

hi Todd,
      I remember that night, you were much weaker then usual. on my way to
az. when  I get the 3el vertical array back up, and the old glob king 500, lets
sked and put AZ in your log book!

deano

[WA3VJB]

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 11:53:13 -0500
From: "A.R.S. -  W5AMI"
Subject: Re: [AMRadio] Anybody roll some tape ?

Yep, as a matter of fact I got HUZ last night.  I turned the TX off
just before he called me.  Todd was in there too, however not like he
was the night before.  I did talk to Todd just briefly, but didn't get
a recording.

This was recorded on my Flex SDR-1000.  About half way through, I
switched in the 6.6 kc filter (you can hear it).  It started on 6 kcs.

http://w5ami.net/wb3huz_092506.mp3

Paul, can you pass this along to the AM Forum?  Steve has not heard it
yet.  Let him know why I didn't come back last night.  I'm already 10
minutes late for an appt.

Tnx!

Brian

On 9/26/06, VJB wrote:
>
> Geez, all this talk abaout VT to OK on AM and great
> condx on 75m, did anyone think to roll some tape or
> feed their hard drive ?
>
> For future planning, shoot me an MP3 or burn me a CD
> and mail it to the callbook address when conditions
> are exceptional.
>
> THIS is where we get the "archive tapes" for the
> future !!!
>
> Paul/VJB

[WA3VJB]

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 23:52:24 -0500
From: "A.R.S. -  W5AMI"
Subject: [AMRadio] Another great night on 80 meters - recording of
   W2ZM
To: "Discussion of AM Radio in the Amateur Service"
   

Good long haul propagation on 80 meters tonight.  The local (0 - 300
mile) stations were not copyable at all, however the east and west
coast were heard here Q5.  Here is a recording I made from my QTH of
Bob/W2ZM in Penn Yan, NY (Upstate) while in QSO with him.  There were
others, Bob/K0NT in Joplin, MO, and a station in Cleveland, TX that I
was unable to hear.  This was recorded with a Flex Radio SDR-1000
w/synchronous AM detector using the 8 KC filter, and no pre/post
processing:

http://w5ami.net/W2ZM_1.mp3

As you can hear on this recording, Bob was very strong into Arkansas
tonight.  He reported my signal as S9 +30.  I was running the SDR into
a single 3cx1500a7 amp.

73 Brian
w5ami

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

TNX for the audio. ZM was much stronger than I to Brian's location. He was really squashing the static. Catch you next time Brian.

[W5AMI]

TNX for the audio. ZM was much stronger than I to Brian's location. He was really squashing the static. Catch you next time Brian.

Look forward to it Steve.  Actually the recording I made of you was the night before, and the noise was horrible once the band went long.  Not nearly as noisy last night when I recorded Bob.

73
Brian

[k4kyv]

Last night a group of slopbuckets, located in W1 and W2-land settled on 3885, apparently pissed because their "private channel" semewhere in the vicinity of 3872 happened to havve been occupied by a group of AM stations before they came on the air.  One or two of the SSB stations were strong, but the rest were totally pissweak.  I heard extended rants about AM, and how there was no such a thing as an "AM window," as they discussed strategy to "maintain occupancy of the frequency."

Then Todd, KA1KAQ came on 3885 calling CQ, and I never heard the slopbuckets again.  From what I could hear, the skip must have been long, so they weren't hearing Todd very well, but also weren't hearing each other very well either.  Todd and I enjoyed an "armchair" one-on-one for about an hour with no QRM whatsoever, and no significant QRN.

[Jim, W5JO]

Last night a group of slopbuckets, located in W1 and W2-land settled on 3885, apparently pissed because their "private channel" semewhere in the vicinity of 3872 happened to havve been occupied by a group of AM stations before they came on the air.  One or two of the SSB stations were strong, but the rest were totally pissweak.  I heard extended rants about AM, and how there was no such a thing as an "AM window," as they discussed strategy to "maintain occupancy of the frequency."

I heard those quacks too here in OK when Chuck, WA0ZHH and Ken, KA5RHK were talking with KE4ID and WB0JZG.  Ken and Chuck could hear them quite well, but I did not when either of them had the key down.  So just before tha AL stations signed, I joined Ken and Chuck to see if we could annoy them.

The irony was one of them came on frequency and asked if it was in use.  Chuck and Ken both repaied it was, but they ignored the calls.  What kooks.  They were exactly zero beat on Ken and Chuck and the stronger station was bearly understandable.  However they did not give me any trouble with copy even the 0 station in AL with 100 watts.

One thing that will drive them over the edge is to be sure you are about 200 or so cycles off frequency of the station with which you are communicating.  Makes their audio notch go crazy.

[W1IA]

We have been putting up with this stuff for some time Jim...was a pleasure to work you. The band was wide open and also had a path into FL with a transplanted 1 lander.

I hope more folks get on and make use of the broken window...rumor has it lots of big guns will be on this winter. Should make operating the window FB.

73 Brent W1IA

Last night a group of slopbuckets, located in W1 and W2-land settled on 3885, apparently pissed because their "private channel" semewhere in the vicinity of 3872 happened to havve been occupied by a group of AM stations before they came on the air.  One or two of the SSB stations were strong, but the rest were totally pissweak.  I heard extended rants about AM, and how there was no such a thing as an "AM window," as they discussed strategy to "maintain occupancy of the frequency."

I heard those quacks too here in OK when Chuck, WA0ZHH and Ken, KA5RHK were talking with KE4ID and WB0JZG.  Ken and Chuck could hear them quite well, but I did not when either of them had the key down.  So just before tha AL stations signed, I joined Ken and Chuck to see if we could annoy them.

The irony was one of them came on frequency and asked if it was in use.  Chuck and Ken both repaied it was, but they ignored the calls.  What kooks.  They were exactly zero beat on Ken and Chuck and the stronger station was bearly understandable.  However they did not give me any trouble with copy even the 0 station in AL with 100 watts.

One thing that will drive them over the edge is to be sure you are about 200 or so cycles off frequency of the station with which you are communicating.  Makes their audio notch go crazy.

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Okay, well...

I was down with a cold for the last two days, plenty of sleep but managed to get some radio time in, froggy voice and all. Don, I really enjoyed the contact with you and your wall-to-wall signal up here. First time we've worked I think, unless we worked 10 years ago. Was also good catching up with you Jack, the mod-4 sounds great up this way.

Interesting, just before I worked Don I was trying to meet a sked with Bruce, W1UJR but could barely hear him. When Brent came in later to say hello to Don, his strapping E signal was also pissweak. So I got to see exactly what Frank was talking about, in action.

Being able to finally hear and work so many guys I've only known through posts is a blast. Can't wait to try my luck at reaching Deano in AZ, maybe even the left coast!

We have been putting up with this stuff for some time Jim...

I find it amazing that these idiots choose to light up right where they know AMers hang out, then piss and moan about it and try to jam. I understand and agree that we shouldn't confine ourselves to one small sliver of the band, but I also appreciate the benefit of being able to find other AMers there, especially when the band changes. 3870-3890 was the 'window' when I left the air back in the mid 90s. And, while I understand the utility of using an empty frequency for whatever mode, what kind of fools choose to start a nightly ragchew 'net' in a place they know will cause problems? Even if we're 4,5, 6 kcs away, it upsets them. Weren't nets originally conceived for emergency or training use? Isn't this merely an attempt to reserve a frequency for nightly a ragchew? Between you Brent, Gary with his 21E furnace, and me, 3876 was pretty clean last evening.

I hope more folks get on and make use of the broken window...rumor has it lots of big guns will be on this winter. Should make operating the window FB.

I really hope this comes to pass, we should be able to pretty easily fit three local NE conversations into the space between 3870-3890 on a nightly basis. Then combine or join other conversations as the band stretches out and more distant stations enter the picture. I don't see any other way to deal with their antics beyond a 'use it or lose it' approach.

Looking forward to the improving band conditions and working more of the AM gang across the country. And when things get noisy, as Don says "turn up the wick!".

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

3825 is very clear most of the time. Move out of the ghetto.

[W1IA]

3825 is very clear most of the time. Move out of the ghetto.

You first Steve...I'lll follow!

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

I've been operating regularly on that frequency for the last three years. Same for DUQ and a bunch of others. Come on in, the water is fine!

[W1IA]

I've been operating regularly on that frequency for the last three years. Same for DUQ and a bunch of others. Come on in, the water is fine!

Except you guys bail after 7:00 p.m.

afraid of the big bad slob-bucket??

B

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Yea, I'm scared! OOooooo! Don't hurt me slopbucket. Maybe we should stir some night time activity. Don, K4KYV has been heard on that freq at night from time to time.