[AMRadio] AM activity from 5-land

[D. Chester]

> I for one would like to see 5-land AM activity on 3870.  We seem to have a
> very active, if few in number, contingent of SSB operator(s) on the West
> Coast Calling Frequency.  Where are AM operators?  There is only one 
> station
> from Oklahoma who checks in regularly to the West Coast AMI net, 
> Wednesday's
> at 8:00pm, 7:00pm Central Time.  He also participates in groups that form 
> on
> other nights of the week.
>
> If there are > 100 stations operating AM in Texas, why none on 3870?
>
> 73 de Bill, AB6MT

I'd also like to hear more AM activity from 5-land in the new Extra class 
portion of 75m.  From the day of the band expansion, AM'ers have attempted 
to congregate near both sides of the 3700 kc/s boundary, in the upper part 
of the Extra segment and lower part of the Advanced segment.  There was much 
enthusiam  and much AM activity during the first couple of weeks after the 
expansion, but as the novelty wore off, AM activity down there has become 
very sparse, and most of the AM activity has migrated back up the 3870-90 
kc/s "ghetto".  I frequently call "CQ AM", but most of my responses are from 
SSB operators who decided to give AM a try, sometimes for  the very first 
time.  Many of these have turned out to be very interesting and enjoyable 
QSO's, and some of these operators have expressed interest in continuing to 
participate in AM activity now that they have experienced it.  However, I 
would like to hear more activity by the AM regulars in that part of the 
band.

Now, there is a contingent of rabid, anti-AM, Extra class operators in 
5-land, many from the Houston area, who just fire right up on top of any 
existing AM QSO they choose, and then proceed to gripe about the AM QRM.  I 
call them a dead-air group, because one of their tactics is to simply 
monitor the frequency and not transmit, for periods ranging anywhere from 20 
minutes to an hour or more, but just the instant that someone outside their 
little "group" fires up near the frequency, especially if that person is on 
AM, the frequency is suddenly "in use".  I have monitored their 
conversations a few times (little else to do, since I don't hear much, if 
any, AM in that part of the band) and heard them conspiring to send a 
massive number of complaints to Riley about the "deliberate interference" 
and "splatter" from the AM'ers.  I have never heard anything from the FCC on 
this, but remember what happened when the "No-Traffic" net conspired to send 
in complaints about Ashtabula Bill on 7290 kc/s.

Apparently most of these stations are close enough together  that they can 
simply talk over ongoing AM QSO's in other parts of the country, but 
evidently the AM signals are being heard, because they spend so much energy 
griping about AM.

If a few more 5-landers would help maintain a regular AM presence lower in 
the band, this activity would cease and those lids would QSY whenever they 
heard an AM QSO already in progress when they tuned to "their" frequency.

Don k4kyv