AMfone came into existence as we all know it in the year 2002. It is the combination of three websites that were started in the 90's.

Brian WA5AM's - AM North America, Steve WB3HUZ's - The AM Window BBS, and  Gary W2INR's - The AM Classifieds

Here is Brian's original concept for AM North America   (AMfone)

I started this site back in the late part of 1997 with the intent of promoting the use of Amplitude Modulation on the Amateur bands. It was, and never will be intended as my personal home page, but rather a page for each and every enthusiast of AM.

Many things have come and gone with AM North America, trying to make it better suit the needs of the whole AM community. The name given to this site is by no means intended to leave out our international friends who also enjoy this wonderful mode.

The two most important additions to this site, which have no doubt, improved the popularity of the mode, is the rebirth of the AM Press/Exchange Online publication, and the AM Radio Email Reflector, the later of which has almost 200 members since late 1998.

Be sure to join the AM Radio Email Reflector if you are an AM enthusiast. It is not moderated, but monitored for content. We also have another list for debate type discussions involving politics of Amateur Radio with focus on AM operation.

I maintain this site for free, and truly enjoy doing it as my part in helping the promotion and reputation of this beloved mode. I encourage feedback and signing of the "logbook", if anything, just to know it's all worth my time and effort in helping someone out there.

If you are new to using AM, then you are in for a big reward! I switched to AM from SSB and CW years ago. I still enjoy all modes, with AM and CW as my preferences. I don't operate AM because it's the most efficient mode, but rather the flavor of nostalgia it has to me, and the beautiful audio properties inherent to amplitude modulation. If you listen to AM on a SSB rig, chances are you are only hearing one sideband, depending on which side of the carrier you are tuned to. You WILL NOT realize the true fidelity of the audio unless you can hear both sidebands and use an IF filter at least 3kcs wide, and the rig/speaker combination have a good bass and treble response.

If you have even the slightest interest in trying AM, get yourself an old SW broadcast receiver (preferably a tube type) at a flea market or yard sale to start with, and listen in on some of the activity on 75 meters (most between 3875 and 3890 kcs), and 160 (1880 to 1900). Be sure to hook up a speaker with good frequency response, and you will be amazed at how good many of the AM hams sound! Some like a true commercial broadcast station!

Some of your ham "buddies" might say "why do you want to use that old gear?" Well, tell 'em how many people collect old cars (not to mention drive 'em too!), and how they have become an investment.

Ah yes, the past is gone, and we know it shall never come back again, but that doesn't mean we can't re-live a bit of it in our own little abodes in some way. I am dedicating one room of my house to a project of total nostalgia with nothing but vintage gear and decor of the 30's and 40's, posters, antique QSL cards, etc... I say "dedicating", well I'm dedicated, but I haven't started the project yet.

I am rebuilding this old transmitter built in 1937 which will be housed in a old style Gates cabinet similar to a Collins 20V broadcast transmitter. It will be the main pride of my "Art Deco" room, since it will take up the most room, and weigh in at around 1500 lbs.!

Well, I think you get the picture of the "AM Bug".

One last word, and then surf away... I want to welcome anyone, no matter what mode you desire, SSB, CW, RTTY, etc! I love almost all modes of the hobby, it's the people that make the difference, not the mode... Just give us a chance, and the bug might bite you too!

 

OUR History

 

Step back in history and see the sites the way they looked around the turn of the century.

AM North America circa  2001    The AM Window circa 1998    The AM Bulletin Board circa 2000  

 The AM Classifieds circa 2000          The First AMfone site 2002

[ The above links should be viewed with IE. Firefox and other browsers did not exist and the formatting was for IE.]

Links courtesy of the Way Back Machine

 

Way back in the mid 90's when the internet was in its infancy, two AMers began websites dedicated to the AM mode. Brian WA5AM (W5AMI)  originated the site he called AM North America, and Steve (HUZ) WB3HUZ originated the site he called the AM Window which had our first Bulletin Board. Both sites grew in popularity among the AM crowd as we all moved into the digital world.

Paul WA3VJB was approached by Brian WA5AM (w5ami) to
find someone to take over the AM North America site. Paul was still on dialup internet service at the time, and had no skill in the art of HTML. But Paul recommended Gary N2INR (w2inr) who had originated and was refining a website called The AM Classifieds.

Brian and Gary and Paul worked out some details of handing over the creative concept of what would become AMfone, and came to terms on a suitable way to recognize Brian's pioneering work establishing the site. Gary decided he could handle the challenge of moving the webpage ahead, with his own AM Classifieds among the features, and accepted Brian's offer to proceed. The site and url was turned over to Gary and the beginnings of what we all know as AMfone began.

Paul and Gary wanted a site that continued the concept Brian had started, as well as complemented Steve's site which was already offering the most comprehensive collection of information for the AMer. Of key importance was to come up with a strategy to minimize redundancy and avoid being unwittingly competitive for material.

The first thing we did was rename the site. We tried several ideas but decided in the end the url Brian had selected for AM North America was best and so Paul and Gary created the new version of AM North America and in the year 2002 AMfone appeared on the internet for the first time.

The site needed more content so Paul and Gary started loading up articles, pictures, audio files, links, anything that could be used by the AMer, it was uploaded to the site.

In the year 2003 Gary was experimenting with BBS software so he could have a private forum for talking with his friends. Blaine N1GTU and Jay N3WWL were instrumental in getting this up and running. Word got out about the forum and eventually ended up being posted on the AM Window BBS and people started to stop by.

One day Gary came home and found over 300 people had joined the site. Not knowing exactly what was going on he went to his favorite site, The AM Window, and when he clicked to go to the forum, he was redirected back to the new AMfone site. Steve had decided turned the reins over and well the rest is history

So now we had for the first time AMfone as we all know it today. A combination of Brian's site AM North America, Steve's BBS from The AM Window, and Gary's site The AM classifieds.

The objective was to create as much available exposure as possible to promote the AM mode. We also wanted to have a place on the web for AMers world wide to meet and exchange ideas and information.

AMfone has grown over the last 6 years. Currently the site is visited by over 40 countries and all US call districts. We have over 1700 registered users. We have a large database of information on Vintage and AM radio with over 50,000 posts on over 5700 topics not to mention over half a gig of static data..

The site can no longer be managed by one person and we have a great group of people that volunteer their time and skills to help manage the site.

To name a few - -


- Jay N3WWL manages the Membership and Moderation of the site. In all essence Jay and his group run the site.


- Steve WB3HUZ and Brian WA5AM are still with us offering their help while managing their own sites The AM Window and The AM Reflector .


- Gary W2INR and Blaine N1GTU handle the business side of the site keeping the site running and constantly updating and improving AMfone.

A full listing of our Volunteers can be found HERE.

All of us at AMfone wish to thank our users for making AMfone one of the best radio sites on the internet. Without you it is only html - - -