[AMRadio] Is AM a special case, or is it "just another mode"?

[W2XJ]

I am a member but still can not open the link.

Sent from my iPad

On Jul 31, 2013, at 5:28 PM, "K5MYJ" <macklinbob at gmail.com> wrote:

> I can't read the editorial because I am not a member of the ARRL!
> 
> Is the ARRL trying to eliminate AM as an operating mode again?
> 
> There is no problem with AM here on the Left Coast.
> 
> Bob Macklin
> K5MYJ
> Seattle, Wa.
> "Real Radios Glow In The Dark"
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Donald Chester" <k4kyv at charter.net>
> To: <amradio at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, July 31, 2013 2:08 PM
> Subject: [AMRadio] Is AM a special case, or is it "just another mode"?
> 
> 
>> A debate has flared up in some ham radio discussion circles, triggered by a
>> QST editorial, whether AM should be regarded as a "legacy" or "speciality"
>> mode, or if it's "just another mode", nothing more than one more button to
>> push on a transceiver. If it's the latter, then what is the purpose of these
>> AM websites and mailing  lists in the first place? Why not just stay with
>> e-Ham and QRZ.com?  This discussion has not been heard on the air and
>> remains largely amongst what I like to call "cyber hams" whose presence is
>> visible on the internet, but whom you rarely if ever hear on the radio.
>> 
>> My take on the issue is that we can't afford to be "special" or
>> "exceptional" in the sense that AM privileges are granted only in a
>> footnote, permitting the mode to exist as an "exception" to the general
>> rules, as was proposed under the now-defunct ARRL bandwidth petition, and
>> presently listed in the non-binding IARU Band Plans. Were that the case, AM
>> could easily be eliminated altogether with the stroke of a pen or  the click
>> of a mouse, by simply erasing the footnote. AM privileges must remain firmly
>> embedded in the FCC rules as one of the mainstream modes of operation. But
>> to those of us who operate AM, there is more to the mode than just another
>> button to push on a radio. The present day AM community includes probably
>> one of the  last remaining vestiges of what has existed for close to a
>> century as genuine amateur radio. Amateur radio is more than just
>> "communications"  that we could just as easily carry out using a cell phone.
>> 
>> Equally disconcerting is the premise that "we must adapt to the 21st
>> century", a buzz-word I see of late whenever a topic like bandwidth
>> limitation, or plastic radios/appliance operation vs. home-building/vintage
>> AM comes up for discussion. In reality, adapting to the 21st century is a
>> strong argument AGAINST bandwidth limitation, since congestion on HF has
>> clearly decreased over the past 15 years or so, to the point that it's
>> largely a non-issue to-day, despite the inflated numbers of licensees in the
>> FCC data base. As to-day's high school kid would put it, "that bandwidth
>> obsession is SOooo twentieth century".
>> 
>> The QST editorial can be viewed at
>> http://www.arrl.org/files/file/QST/This%20Month%20in%20QST/September%202013/
>> ItSeemsToUs.pdf  The trigger mechanism was the reference to the infamous
>> bandwidth Docket 20777, which as originally proposed would have eliminated
>> AM on all amateur frequencies below 28.5 mc/s.
>> 
>> Don k4kyv
>> 
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