Active AM Frequencies

[k4kyv]

Friday, 12 January, 2215 GMT:

AM QSO's monitored in progress on the following frequencies:  3663, 3685, 3705, 3717, 3885.

[KB2WIG]

                               After dinner net??

[Ed/KB1HYS]

anything besides 75/80 meters?? 

Sometimes the stuff on 80 gets to me 

[k4kyv]

                               After dinner net??

They must have their dinner (evening meal) awfully early, or by "dinner" do you mean the noon meal?  Around here, the evening meal is called "supper."

I've been having a ball on 75/80 since the expansion.  Before, when I used to hear 3 AM QSO's jammed between 3880 and 3890, with 8 to 10 stations in each roundtable, with SSB QRM on both sides, I didn't have much interest in participating.  But now it's different.  Loads of elbow room and "clear channels."  Last night after about 9 PM, 3600-3700 was like 10m. with a couple of AM signals, a few SSB'ers, and a lot of vacant space in between.

Many of the AM'ers I have worked recently are using transceivers on AM, and say they are trying out AM for the first time.

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

anything besides 75/80 meters?

Lots of action on 160 meters.

[WA3VJB]

Last evening I tossed out a CQ and got a group up at 3825 or so. KC2FXE, W1DAN, WA1UQM.
After a while I heard some Aflack action¹ and turned on the spot carrier to see what they were saying. Feller was telling the other guy "yeah some of them have moved down here from the AM window," and although I didn't catch the setup, I did get the sense we have been noticed.

This is a good thing.

There was no friction, and although I felt they were a little close to where we had established, it wasn't too close.

Then, this morning I called a CQ on 3870. There was a big group on 3885 as usual² and I didn't want to add to how long it already was taking for it to come around.

Feller near Chicago answered first, on a Kenwood of some kind. Licensed since 1963, this was the first time he'd tried to use that rig on AM and hadn't been on the mode in years. Good chat, probably now motivated to get his old tube gear up and running again. Told hiim about this website.

Feller in Detroit then called me,  me on a DX60, expressing surprise that there was any activity away from 3880-85.
"Is this a regular thing that there's AM here?" he asked, quite puzzled.

Turns out, he's only been active on AM for a little while, and I guess has stayed pretty much in the window with the DX60 Net on Sunday mornings.

So I took the time to 'splain what's going on now that the FCC has expanded the phone band.

It may take a period of time letting other AMers know we are moving around, taking advantage of the additional elbow room. I pointed out that the moves are NOT to abandon the "AM Window" but rather to enhance the conditions of operating.

Explaining why it's good to look for AM anywhere in the phone band is a way of getting out of the rut.


¹Aflack action A reference to SSB congestion near an AM QSO. Nickname descends from an insurance company's use of a duck cartoon character as a pnemonic to remember their brand name.

²The Breakfast Club 3:30AM-6AM EST, this morning included stations from a large portion of the US, eastern, to midwestern, to southeastern.

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

At around 10:30 PM ET last night there were four concurrent AM QSOs on 80/75: 3675 or so, 3718, 3770/75 and 3880. There might even have been another beginning on 3885. Now that's what I call spreading out!

[The Slab Bacon]

What are we 160 meter guys...chopped liver? There's LOTS of activity on 1885, as well as some in the Northeast on 1930 (break-in) and 1945. 1880 and 1890 can also get quite busy at times.

Since getting things to play on 160, I have been listening down there quite a bit and activity is sometimes quite sparse there from the northeast. It seems that the 160 boys are all early birds and dont stay up very late, even on weekends. I guess that it is just due to the crappy band condx lately.
                                                            The Slab Bacon

[WA3VJB]

Yeah Frank I heard you and Cue Ball on 160 talking MoPars yesterday, then Chris OMH checks in and starts talking Fords.

[W3SLK]

Made another convert last night on 75. I was on or about 3715Khz calling CQ. That area of the band was pretty quiet so I wasn't expecting too much so I went back to reading my 1938 Editors & Engineers Handbook. Lo and behold a fellow comes back to my CQ. Carl, K3LEN, out of Halliford, VA and I had a real nice QSO. Later, Todd, KA1KAQ, and Duane, KK4AM, joined in. Carl was running a FT-1000 and said that he got the rig in the early 90's and that he had never had it on AM before until last night. He began to lament about how he used to have a Valiant I and sold it, in the early 80's. That was the last time he was on AM. Now he said he going to make it a point to join in because he enjoyed the camaraderie that was exemplified last night.