[AMRadio] 3600-3700

[D. Chester]

> Every body that wants to run A.M. go ahead and move down to the extra 
> band,
> then don't ask why A.M. is a dying mode !! A lot of "working stiff" still
> have to work 40 to 60 hrs a week, and for what ever reason don't have our
> "extra" but I really love A.M.
> Got to say, I'm beginning to feel like it's a one way relationship , you
> see. I'm not retired yet, and no I don't have a room full of old tube
> xmitters (but would love to have )Do have a old DX 40 that I'm close to
> getting on the air, and a three tube 811 amp, that may allow me to get 
> into
> a short QSO with some of you. It's really sad that in order to be "in the
> group" you've got to run a tube xmitter and a amp, at 300 to 800 watts,
> other wise, your just noise, and something to be tolerated with a short
> reply, and then move on to another "big rig" sounding station.
> This will most likely be my last post, sorry about the bitter mood, just
> letting my feeling show I guess. Maybe after the bands get better in a few
> years, I can have a little A.M. fun on 10 & 20 meters.
>
>
> A.M.,,,,,,,the EXTRA mode
>
> Bob Carpenter
> KB4WEC

You don't need to worry about "everybody" moving down to the Extra portion. 
If some of the AM operators do QSY, it will make operation on 3870-90 a lot 
more tolerable.  I tend to stay away from the "Ghetto" during prime time 
early evening hours because it has become too chaotic.  Start a QSO, and 
within 20 minutes the group will have grown to 5 to 8 members or more, one 
or two of which are guaranteed to have unreadable signals.  Add to that, 
mutual interference from another AM QSO 5 kHz away or possibly one to each 
side of the frequency, plus all the SSB trying to nudge in between.  If the 
QSO's become more manageable in size, everyone will enjoy AM operation more.

We need to maintain solid AM presence in EVERY segment of the band.  Another 
segment that begs for some nighttime AM activity is somewhere between 3800 
and 3850.  That's within the General privileges, new General-class territory 
created with the phone band expansion.  I often hear some activity there in 
the afternoon, but it always seems to disappear by sundown.  Best to get 
started in the late afternoon before the rock-bound VFO crowd shows up.

There was PLENTY of AM activity in the new Extra and Advanced segments right 
after the expansion (remember the AM Bandwarming Party?), but as soon as the 
novelty wore off, most of the AM ops retreated back to the congestion and 
QRM.

I don't think those CW guys have anything to gripe about, since they haven't 
lost any mode privileges, just licence class privileges.  And I doubt that 
the FCC would reconsider returning to restricting the segment to CW/data or 
otherwise reversing the expansion, since that would imply that they made an 
erroneous decision when they initially expanded the band, and bureaucratic 
government agencies are not very prone to do that -  witness  the AM power 
debacle.  So if they do start a petition, it might be more appropriate to 
seek to reduce or eliminate the exclusive Extra Class segments, not reduce 
phone privileges.

Time and the CW ops' complaints about the dearth of activity on 3600-3700, 
are proof enough that their worries about hoards of SSB'ers moving down and 
wiping out the low end of the band as soon as the mode restrictions were 
lifted, were unfounded.

It can only be a healthy move for the AM community to show more presence 
across 3600-3750 and 3800-3850.

Some of the frequencies "down below" where AM activity has been noted in the 
past include the vicinity of 3720-30, 3705, 3685 and 3675.  I have xtals for 
3610, 3620, 3645, 3711 and 3720, which I like to exercise occasionally, 
although I have full VFO capability and my VFO is not rock-bound to a single 
frequency like the VFO's appear to be on many of the whizz-bang digital SSB 
appliances.

Don k4kyv



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