[AMRadio] Bandwidth, AM, special case, just another button to push

[rbethman]

I've taken this link and did the tiny url thing.

<http://tinyurl.com/7c2x6tw>

I *hope* this is what was intended.

Bob - N0DGN

On 8/2/2013 2:25 PM, Donald Chester wrote:
> From: Bob Stevens <bob at choateco.net>
>
>> AM is not  "special mode" it's just Another way of transmitting a signal to
> the ether... 73,  Bob K9ING
>
> So is talking on a cell phone.
>
>> Nothing more nor nothing less. Leave us alone & we will leave you alone.
> Lots of kcs out there. I work >AM, CW and SSB but I don't hold one above the
> other. It's all hamming. 73 es hve fun with our great hobby.
> Some have been flamed on other message boards for singling out AM as a
> "legacy mode". The same could be said of CW, which dates back at least as
> far as AM. I don't believe calling attention to that fact in any way
> endangers the status AM or could lead to the elimination of AM or CW from
> the amateur bands. The most dangerous aspect of promoting AM as a "special
> mode" would be to establish a blanket bandwidth limit at something like 2.8
> kHz, and then allow AM to exist only via a mere footnote, as in the case of
> the IARU Band Plans, and with the now-defunct ARRL "Son of 20777" bandwidth
> petition.
>
> Region 2 Bandplan:
> http://www.iaru-r2.org/documents/explorer/files/Plan%20de%20bandas%20|%20Ban
> d-plan/R2%20LF-MF-HF%20Bandplan%202010.pdf
>
> AM enthusiasts consider the mode to be more than just another button to push
> on a  transceiver. Already, the "just another mode" phenomenon prevails to
> the point than more often than not when I call CQ  I get a response from
> someone who says he decided to push the button and try out AM for the first
> time. Now don't take this the wrong way;  this is NOT meant to discourage
> anyone in any way from trying out AM; some of those transceiver
> button-pushers have said they liked what they heard and came back for more
> AM operation, some have become  regulars and have AM operating procedure
> down pat, and a few have ended up acquiring or building a plate modulated
> transmitter. And we  must remember, they comprise about the only remaining
> source of newcomers to the AM community, so we shouldn't dismiss them out of
> hand. But still, many of the ops I run into on the air, even some who have
> become more or less regulars, don't have a clue about AM operating
> procedure; for example, one of the most annoying practices I encounter is
> the tendency to be transmitting, then abruptly drop the carrier right in
> mid- sentence, without  saying "over" or "go ahead", or in any other way
> indicating that the op has turned it back to me, so I'm not sure if the band
> changed, they had a rig failure or if they turned it back. I don't mind
> explaining AM procedure and helping a newcomer get his rig tuned up properly
> on AM, but I must admit that it kind of gets old when practically every QSO
> goes that direction.
>
> One of the things I have always enjoyed about meeting someone new was to
> exchange station descriptions. This was especially true when the other op
> was  running a homebrew rig, or an otherwise unusual transmitter, and we
> would each describe the tubes we were running in the final and what we used
> to modulate. To-day, those exchanges are rare; whenever I tell the other op
> that I am running a class-C final, I can usually tell that he hasn't a clue
> what I am talking about. I have noticed the same thing on CW. I miss those
> conversations that go something like "I'm using a pair of... modulated by a
> pair of..."  And, it doesn't have to be  tube-related. The Class-E guys find
> plenty of state-of-the-art technology to keep their conversations going for
> hours at a time. When I hear the other op read off a string of numbers,
> "TSFTDX50001AX" I don't have any more of a clue what he is talking about
> than he does when I describe my HF-300 triodes in Class-C modulated by a
> pair of 810s in class-B.
>
> AM enthusiasts share something with the often scorned hi-fi SSB (ESSB)
> crowd, in that we are willing to open up the box and modify our rigs, take
> pride in signal quality, and that a good part of our conversation is about
> technical matters and improving our stations. To me those are just a few of
> the things that make AM an "exceptional" mode, and that's what makes it
> interesting. I find it kind of boring to talk on a mobile phone.
>
> Don k4kyv
>