[AMRadio] Our Moderator posted the band plan opportunity back inMarch

[Jim Wilhite]

Pete, respectfully, in reference to the first paragraph, I have not heard AM 
signals on any frequencies outside of 3.875 to 3.890 except rarely.  This 
happens mostly because, as you state, that we limit ourselves to those 
frequencies where we know our friends will be.  Sometimes I do move to other 
frequencies and operate but not often.  That is no one's fault but mine; 
however if you heard the mess on 3.890 this past winter you would understand 
the rest of my comments.

Normally around 4:30 some AM stations in my area would start operating on 
3.890 and be there continuously until near 10:30 or so.   There were a group 
of hams in another part of the country that decided to move to 3.890 and 
seemed to think it was their frequency.  Because they lacked respect for 
those of us in 5 land they caused deliberate interference using numerous 
methods.   Those methods included using SSB on frequency and using a lot of 
power so that I could hear some of them over the AM operator near me plus 
tone emissions.  Some of them made comments that they would run the AM crowd 
off the frequency.

A number of people here can attest to the problem.

So in reference to your second paragraph, I have not heard or witnessed the 
ARRL attempting to use the OO system to mitigate the problem AM operators 
have by either actively engaging the offending parties nor providing 
information to League HQ nor providing tapes to the enforcement bureau of 
the FCC through that system.  It is my understanding they have done that in 
the past and been successful when people using other modes experienced 
similar problems.

Previously I have contacted an OO for this area requesting assistance in 
monitoring and recording to no avail.   The ARRL  should be actively engaged 
with helping members like me and others with our interference problems as 
best they can when we are operating legally.  I am a member of the ARRL for 
several reasons, but when it comes to assistance with an interference 
problem they are not present.  That is aggravating to me and others who are 
members and can be construed as uncaring.

In this case, specifically, they have returned to the same proposal hoping 
to gain support for a small membership community without providing support 
to our community of AM operators.  Remember I am fully aware of the support 
the ARRL provides for operators but in our case I feel they are falling 
down.  I hope your understand some people are very disappointed with this 
stance and would welcome help in solving this and other problems.  After all 
they do speak to the FCC about other matters and have been successful in 
some situations like this.

Jim
W5JO



-----Original Message----- 


***That's just not true Jim. Maybe in your area you limit yourself to
three frequencies for AM, but I don't know where in the rest of the world
they do that on 75/80 meters. There is absolutely no reason to limit
yourself to any frequency. Actually, no one owns a frequency, so it makes
no sense to even do that.  You can operate AM anywhere in the phone band
depending on you license class. Besides the typical 3870-3885 AM
hangouts, you can find AM operating down in the Extra portion,  anywhere
between 3700 and 3735, around 3838, and even up around 3960.




*** What kind of help do you want from the ARRL relative to AM?  The ARRL
is not the frequency police. If an amateur operator has consistent
problems of deliberate interference, they should report it to the FCC.
If an AM operator just ignores the consistent interference problem and
does nothing, that's their cross to bear.

Pete, wa2cwa