The AM Forum

I have been working 17 Meter AM wherever there has been a 10 Kc open space after 01:00 GMT the past few evenings. The band is very quiet, yet still open. Response the past few evenings has not only been favorable, but energetic. I get the expected " my first 17 Meter AM contact" response. Satanic slop bucket QRM has been non-existent. I thought I would share to encourage more of the same during that time period.

What Frequncy!

I have been simply calling CQ on the upper edge of the band, as it appears there is more activity near the middle and lower end of the designated phone portion. So I have been above 18.155, yet always below 18.163. I have been getting responses within 5 to 10 minutes from my initial CQ. It's been fun, and I am always up for a Sked!

 I will be listening as well. ( Might even call a few CQ's )
  My QRP rig at 10 watts ( 857D)  and an OCF dipole.
 I have worked a few west state side contacts and few BC .
  73's
  KB2RSK

   I called my first several CQ's today on 17 meter AM running 30 watts with my Flex 3000. I was on 18.150. I got no response, so I went USB. A fellow from Connecticut came back, and we had about a 45 minute QSO. Conditions were far better than on 15 meters just prior to that. The fellow I was talking to had heard me calling CQ on AM, but was reluctant to go AM. He did say that the copy was very good when I was on AM.

  So it appears that I can work some AM yet on 17 meters...Just got to try some more. Both my 15m vertical loop, and 80m OCF seem to tune up and work well on 17..This was at around 5 PM CST where the signals on 17m seemed to be about 10db stronger and with less QSB then 15 meters.

Jim
Wd5JKO 

Nice to hear of some AM operation on 17. I'd like to join in sometime.

18.157.5 USB is the QRP operator hangout on that band for folks in the field, so it would be good to be respectful of that frequency. There are often stations doing outdoor ops with 5 watts and minimalist antennas who aren't particularly loud, but who make quite successful contacts with other similar users. I've worked folks on that frequency on mountain tops, on Caribbean beaches, on bicycles and tricycles, and once in an ice fishing shack!
Maybe a little mixed mode operation with some of them can ensue. ;-)

Interesting, 17 meters never thought of AM here, who who knows.

This week will sit on or about qrp frequency and see if I do hear any am activity in the am hours 10-noon EST.

POB/K8LEN

With only 58 KHz of phone space for the entire band, it doesn't sound like a great place to make new amateur friends with some wide band AM carriers. I don't even hear any of the ESSB operators diddling on that band. And, of course, there is no contesting allowed on 17 meters either.

All the more reason to start some AM activity on 17 meters, to escape the contest activity on the other bands. And as far as bandwidth is concerned, don't run 6 khz or more of audio and you won't take up the entire band, 300 hz to 3000 hz audio bandwidth will work wonders, especially when running low power.

There has been sporadic AM activity on or about 18.150 since the 1980s. Never heard any complaints.

If using that criteria, why not just run SSB and get a 6db S/N improvement. I don't see any real "wow" to AM on 17 meters. But hey, whatever tickles your brain cells.

Had a nice AM contact today at 6 pm CST on 18,155. I worked N4BFR in Georgia. He was on a K3, and I was using my Flex 3000. Nice conditions, no QRM, and with 25 watts each station, and wire antennas, we had S7 to S9 signals both ways.

Nice Band.

Wd5JKO