[AMRadio] 160 meter AM in Arizona

Fri Dec 19 16:13:47 EST 2025

Eric,

Be very careful with the  mouse leavings.  In that country they can 
carry hantavirus which is a real booger.  Wear a dust mask and medical 
gloves when working with that transmitter and be careful cleaning out 
the rest.   Once clean and disinfected, you will be ok.

There is/was some activity around here OK, TX on 1.885 in the winter.  
Until my wife became so ill, I operated with the stations that were 
regular at 9 PM.  W5KO, WB5HAK and KG5CW.  I have not been on with them 
in quite a while so am unsure of their activity.  It has been a very 
long time since I have heard much activity from AZ, NM and Southern 
Cal.  Most of the patrons have passed or moved, but there is always the 
possibility of you getting a bunch going.

Two things are required for successful operation on 160.  A very good 
antenna and high power.  As Rob said, put up a good vertical over a good 
ground field.  Here I have very good ground conductivity so I use an 
inverted L.  50 ft. of which is vertical and another 125 ft. 
horizontal.  My tower and mast for the beam is 70 ft. and I shunt fed it 
till I decided to put a TV antenna on it to get the distant larger city 
stations.  Under it I have about 12 radials of varying length and have 
been fairly successful.

I can hear a bunch out in the NE of the USA but many have low dipoles or 
poor antenna systems, so I cannot work them unless I have a beverage, 
which I had till we moved.  Don, K4KYV can, probably be heard if he is 
on, however he has not been as active as he was a few years ago.  If you 
do SSB, there is a weekly net on Tuesday night on 1.960 run by Matt 
KD0OS at 8 PM Mountain Time.  Matt runs it SSB and stations from MO, TX, 
OK, KS, NM, CO, SD and occasionally S. CA check in.  If You can check 
in, it would be a good place to stir up some activity.
There are several AM capable stations who check in there, Arne/K0AS in 
Spearfish, SD among them.  Give it a try.

73,

Jim,
W5JO
Southern OK

On 12/19/2025 11:55 AM, VZW engr wrote:
> I was considering starting out with a TX using a grid modulated 1AD4 as the
> final, and a mobile whip on a wood 4 by 4.   Not really.  :-)
>
> I don't yet have any 160 meter TX antennas.   I live on 20 acres and the
> nearest neighbors are far, far away, so I'm dealing only with "natural
> noise", both of which help, even if only a little.  I'll have to listen on
> 160 meters and "see what I hear" before I decide "what's next".
>
> I (carefully) cleaned out the mouse "debris" from the meter deck of the
> cabinet.  Unfortunately some mouse "debris" went down the sides of the
> cabinet and the smell remains.There appears to be no other issues with
> mouse intrusion.  I do want to remove all the electronics/electrical stuff
> and gently pressure wash out the cabinet interior so I can minimize the
> mouse smell..not sure if mouse or cigar smell is worse.  :-)  However, this
> will be a summertime project as I don't like "playing in the water" when
> it's below freezing for most of the day.  After that, a careful inspection
> of the wiring harness in the meter deck will be in order as mice like to
> chew on stuff.
>
> Eric
> WB6TIX
>
> On Fri, Dec 19, 2025 at 8:35 AM Rob Atkinson <ranchorobbo at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I think there's 160 m. AM activity in the southwest (S. Cal., AZ and
>> maybe NM) but I don't know much more about it.  With that transmitter
>> you have the power and audio.  You'll need to get a decent antenna
>> which on 160 usually means some kind of vertical with a good ground
>> system.  You can listen to 160 and get an idea of how good your
>> receiving setup is.  Using the tx antenna for receiving usually
>> doesn't work too well.  160 is typically a fall and winter band.  A
>> few die-hards operate there in the summer, but most of us aren't
>> masochists.
>>
>> 73
>>
>> Rob
>> K5UJ
>>
>> On Thu, Dec 18, 2025 at 8:49 PM VZW engr <vzwengr at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>   Does anyone know of activity in Arizona on 160 meters?
>>>
>>> I picked up CCA AM-1000D TX that I'm planning on moving to 160 meters.
>> It
>>> will be awhile, as the TX just arrived to its new home in my garage.
>>>
>>> Eric
>>> WB6TIX
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