K1IED - K1KW

[pe1mph]

Hello AM lovers,
This afternoon I came from my work and listen in our livingroom.
I heard a station on 21.430 in AM with a big signal calling often CQ.
I am not sure but I guess WA1HLR?? were on 15 mtrs.
Quick I 'run' to my studio and tried to get a qso with him...
But.... a pity I didn't heard him back on the freq....

Later around 17.00 hour by me I listen to Ten mtrs.
Oh, big signals and many stations I could here in AM!
I heard Larry K1IED talking with PA0AM in AM on 29.040.
When their 'talk' were over I tried: 'Hello Larry how are you....?'
Hi, hi... and he came direct back for me, I am using only 8 Watts!
Larry had by me S2 to S9+ and I could hear him loud & clear.
Thanks for the nice qso Larry.

After our qso I did listen on Ten and many stations on the band in AM.
I heard Chuck K1KW talking with Cor PA0AM on 29.020.
His signal were S1 to S9+15 with a very nice audio.
Sorry, I had no time to talk with him..... 'Our dinner was ready'.
Maybe a next time I say 'Hello to Chuck....'.

I made a little recording with the Yeasu FRG 7000 connect with +/- 40 mtrs wire.


Good AM-DX,

Henk, pe1mph
Dokkum, The Netherlands

[Opcom]

You must have a huge antenna to hear those USA stations. I never can hear AM from overseas hams. I always enjoy your reports!

[pe1mph]

You must have a huge antenna to hear those USA stations. I never can hear AM from overseas hams. I always enjoy your reports!

Hi, hi Larry,
When you can jump (spring) high, maybe you can touch my wire...
Its hanging around 10 mtrs high!
Horizontale between the roof (chimney) and a tree.
Then with a home made ant. tuner and coaxcable to transmitter.
Thats the old Yeasu FT 901 DM, which makes only 8 watts of power.
When I speek, the powermeter goes up to +/- 10 Watts.

At this moment, 15.00 hour by us, I listen to Repeater FM on 29.620!
So  I think I can hear again AM from the USA on Ten mtrs.

Thanks for always our nice AM qso Larry,

Henk, PE1MPH
Dokkum, The Netherlands

[W2VW]

You must have a huge antenna to hear those USA stations. I never can hear AM from overseas hams. I always enjoy your reports!

My 10 meter antenna is made out of scrap stuff and looks like it.

It really isn't all that difficult.

Of course Tx to Yerp is a lot more difficult than from East Coast but plenty of other people further West are able.

This year should still be a blast on 10 AM.

[pe1mph]

You must have a huge antenna to hear those USA stations. I never can hear AM from overseas hams. I always enjoy your reports!

My 10 meter antenna is made out of scrap stuff and looks like it.

It really isn't all that difficult.

Of course Tx to Yerp is a lot more difficult than from East Coast but plenty of other people further West are able.

This year should still be a blast on 10 AM.

A blast?
I hope!

Today the fm repeater on 29.620 were good to hear, but...
I heard only 1 station in AM on Ten!
On 29.020 I heard Bob K2TV talking with Mervin GW8TBG.
Bob got S5 to S9+ by me, but I could not hear a word from Mervin....
I have spoken in the past with Mervin on 3615 and 3705/3710 khz in AM.
Strange... I did hear only Bob this afternoon on Ten and no others in AM!

Good DX,

Henk, pe1mph
Dokkum, The Netherlands

[W2VW]

Today the fm repeater on 29.620 were good to hear, but...
I heard only 1 station in AM on Ten!
On 29.020 I heard Bob K2TV talking with Mervin GW8TBG.
Bob got S5 to S9+ by me, but I could not hear a word from Mervin....
I have spoken in the past with Mervin on 3615 and 3705/3710 khz in AM.
Strange... I did hear only Bob this afternoon on Ten and no others in AM!

Good DX,

Henk, pe1mph
Dokkum, The Netherlands

Not many on 10 during the week. Most working people only have time over the weekend. Mervin will skip right over you most times on 10.

Keep trying :   )

When the band is open it has been great.

73,
Dave

[Steve - K4HX]

A huge antenna helps, especially when the band is mediocre. When the band is cooking, many mobiles are heard and easily worked. Huge antennas are not needed. Calling CQ often and at the right times of day is needed. 

[K1JJ]

Calling CQ often and at the right times of day is needed.  

Yep.   Back in the 1940's - 60's there was a W1 in Mass (I think) who was always at the very top of the worked every country in the known universe disco duck DX list. He had a very modest beam and station.  The big guns couldn't understand how he did it.

His secret was that for many years he worked close to home and came home every lunch time and tuned the bands for the rare DX. He was always there for the DX-peditions, etc.

Being available for opportunity is 90% of the battle...

T

 

[pe1mph]

A huge antenna helps, especially when the band is mediocre. When the band is cooking, many mobiles are heard and easily worked. Huge antennas are not needed. Calling CQ often and at the right times of day is needed. 

Steve: the band is cooking

Now again big signal repeater on 29.620 FM.
Just I heard again a station talking to Mervin GW8TBG.
Sorry, I did not heard his call on 29.000.

Because I using low power I listen first before I try.
I monitoring: 29.000 & 21.430 for AM stations.
Evenso in our livingroom I keep my eyes & ears on these freq.

It is always a SURPRISE who I hear on Ten or 15 in AM!

Good DX,

Henk, pe1mph
Dokkum, The Netherlands

[Opcom]

haha well this is the interesting secret to how that works.. Home at lunch, and intensely active then. OK well noon here is 6PM in Europe.
I work from a base of operations 14 miles from Home, but my work is outdoor field work covering the whole city and I never know where I'll be for lunch until I check the SCADA in the morning to see what's up or down. You lucky guys, I am happy for you.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Not a lot of mystery or secret stuff. Been going on since the birth of amateur radio. If you also view the prop maps several times during the day over the span of several days, you can get a feel for what's working what at various times of day or season. Right now, 8PM EDT, all the U.S. has propagation into Japan and Australia on 10 meters. On 15 meters right now, most of the U.S. has propagation into Japan, South Pacific, and South America. On 20 meters, great propagation into all parts of Europe and will probably last through the night. Of course, if you're only looking for AM activity, that might be a problem. Throughout all three bands, I only heard one AM QSO. The great AM resurgence that people speak of, doesn't seem to always apply to frequencies above 14 MHz. Actually, I'm beginning to wonder if it applies to any bands. If I tune around 75 and 40 meters night after night, I always seem to hear the same stations.

[W2VW]

Not a lot of mystery or secret stuff. Been going on since the birth of amateur radio. If you also view the prop maps several times during the day over the span of several days, you can get a feel for what's working what at various times of day or season. Right now, 8PM EDT, all the U.S. has propagation into Japan and Australia on 10 meters. On 15 meters right now, most of the U.S. has propagation into Japan, South Pacific, and South America. On 20 meters, great propagation into all parts of Europe and will probably last through the night. Of course, if you're only looking for AM activity, that might be a problem. Throughout all three bands, I only heard one AM QSO. The great AM resurgence that people speak of, doesn't seem to always apply to frequencies above 14 MHz. Actually, I'm beginning to wonder if it applies to any bands. If I tune around 75 and 40 meters night after night, I always seem to hear the same stations.

Worked 4 folks on 10 AM after suppertime. Saw 2 additional unknown blips at good strength. The people on 10 AM have the skillset to move off busy spots and call cq. 

Dunno about resurgence but there are more people on 10 meter AM than the last two cycles which were stronger for propagation.

Prop maps are a blessing and a curse. The ones generated by phone op QSOs are not a complete indication of possible contacts.

Glad there are contests. They drive interesting people up to the top of 10. More contests please.

[Steve - K4HX]

Ya gotta call CQ. Looking around for activity and not calling CQ is lame.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Ya gotta call CQ. Looking around for activity and not calling CQ is lame.

Yes Steve, I call CQ all the time when I have the time (many times I just want background listening amusement when I'm working at the bench) but, the real point is that the AM activity just isn't there like it was not to many years ago. When I'm in the mood for a contact or two, and don't want to run the CQ machine into the ground, I just call CQ on SSB and always pick up a contact.

[pe1mph]

Ya gotta call CQ. Looking around for activity and not calling CQ is lame.

Yes Steve, I call CQ all the time when I have the time (many times I just want background listening amusement when I'm working at the bench) but, the real point is that the AM activity just isn't there like it was not to many years ago. When I'm in the mood for a contact or two, and don't want to run the CQ machine into the ground, I just call CQ on SSB and always pick up a contact.

A pity!
Today I heard no AM on Ten!
Evenso no repeater on 29.620...

Lets we hope next days better conditions...


Good DX,

Henk, pe1mph
Dokkum, The Netherlands

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Worked 4 folks on 10 AM after suppertime. Saw 2 additional unknown blips at good strength. The people on 10 AM have the skillset to move off busy spots and call cq. 

"Skill set"?: Over this past Sunday afternoon, at one point I heard three different AM QSO's all around 29.000 (no one was quite zero beat) at the same time.

Dunno about resurgence but there are more people on 10 meter AM than the last two cycles which were stronger for propagation.

Prop maps are a blessing and a curse. The ones generated by phone op QSOs are not a complete indication of possible contacts.

Glad there are contests. They drive interesting people up to the top of 10. More contests please.

Various yearly DX contests always seem to drive many of contesters above 29.0. But it's always fun confusing them with too much carrier, no sideband suppression, etc.

[Steve - K4HX]

Mostly irrelevant since this is AMfone and the purpose is to post and encourage AM activity.

Since 2012, I've rarely had a CQ on AM go unanswered on 10 meters. I pick my time for best chances to certain areas of the world. One got me an answer from a JA. It's like the lottery - ya gotta buy a ticket to win.  Too many people listening does no one any good (unless you like listening to hiss).

Ya gotta call CQ. Looking around for activity and not calling CQ is lame.

Yes Steve, I call CQ all the time when I have the time (many times I just want background listening amusement when I'm working at the bench) but, the real point is that the AM activity just isn't there like it was not to many years ago. When I'm in the mood for a contact or two, and don't want to run the CQ machine into the ground, I just call CQ on SSB and always pick up a contact.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

After several CQ's without any answers, I just move to another mode if I have the time. Picking the best time (the prop maps help a lot) is also how I worked my JA's and a ZL on 10 AM. Sometimes I'll roll down to the low end of the phone band (28.305) to see if any of the JA's are breaking through on AM there. As far as hiss, I come from many years of 6 meter activity; hiss is the norm especially for weak signal or scatter work.

Mostly irrelevant since this is AMfone and the purpose is to post and encourage AM activity.

Since 2012, I've rarely had a CQ on AM go unanswered on 10 meters. I pick my time for best chances to certain areas of the world. One got me an answer from a JA. It's like the lottery - ya gotta buy a ticket to win.   Too many people listening does no one any good (unless you like listening to hiss).

Ya gotta call CQ. Looking around for activity and not calling CQ is lame.

Yes Steve, I call CQ all the time when I have the time (many times I just want background listening amusement when I'm working at the bench) but, the real point is that the AM activity just isn't there like it was not to many years ago. When I'm in the mood for a contact or two, and don't want to run the CQ machine into the ground, I just call CQ on SSB and always pick up a contact.

[Steve - K4HX]

I knew there was something wrong with you. 

As far as hiss, I come from many years of 6 meter activity; hiss is the norm especially for weak signal or scatter work.

[pe1mph]

Hello AM Lovers,

Yesterday I heard NO AM on Ten (and 15 mtrs).
Totaly nothing....

At the beginning from the evening 18.00 hours by us...
I could hear the FM repeater on 29.620 very weak.

I told my AM friends Jean (F6AQK) and Fortunato (9H1ES).
There are sometimes good contitions on Ten (and 15 mtrs).
Maybe they can make, like me, a nice qso with AM lovers in the USA!


Good dx,

Henk, pe1mph
Dokkum, The Netherlands

[Steve - K4HX]

Just pulled some numbers from my log. From the time I got back on 10 meters in early November 2011 to the end of March 2014, the following occurred on the AM mode.

Total contacts: 198
States Worked: 15
Continents: 4
Zones: 12
Counties Worked (DXCC): 29
Prefixes: 96
Days Active: 2011 - 19, 2012 - 9, 2013 - 14, 2014 - 15, Total - 57

So, as you can see, I was not on the air a large amount, mostly on weekends in the fall months and a few in the spring months.

About 90-95 percent of these contacts were made running low power, 25-30 watts to a full-wave rectangular loop at 60 feet.

When the band is open, big stuff is not needed.

Calling CQ often and at the right times of day is needed.  

Yep.   Back in the 1940's - 60's there was a W1 in Mass (I think) who was always at the very top of the worked every country in the known universe disco duck DX list. He had a very modest beam and station.  The big guns couldn't understand how he did it.

His secret was that for many years he worked close to home and came home every lunch time and tuned the bands for the rare DX. He was always there for the DX-peditions, etc.

Being available for opportunity is 90% of the battle...

T