[Gonset] 2 Meter AM Repeater

[Robert Nickels]

On 12/17/2023 11:15 AM, Geoff Fors wrote:
> The only 2 Meter AM repeater I ever knew about was the Los Angeles 
> area homebrew one by Art Gentry that had the callsign K6MYK, circa 
> 1960+.  By 1970 most of us thought "AM? Yuck!"  But over the years I 
> have grown nostalgic and now miss it. 

While I was in college in the early 70s I went to southern California 
for an event and knowing that 2 meter FM was growing by leaps and 
bounds,  took my cheesy Montgomery Ward all-band portable radio with 
me.   It tuned the high VHF band so I figured I'd be all set - and I 
was, in that I could hear the K6MYK (or W6MEP, whichever) repeater just 
fine.   At least the signal was good and strong, but the modulation 
sounded a little funny.  I remember it played a voice ID and maybe other 
messages from a tape, which I thought was uber-cool.    After I got back 
home I learned it was AM - but the Airline detector didn't care ;-) 
During it's AM days (which I think ended shortly after my visit), I'll 
bet the Gooney Boxes of southern CA were probably the most frequent 
beneficiaries of this repeater.

Some info and a great pic here: https://www.qrz.com/db/W6MEP

Search for "Once Upon a California Hilltop" and the QST article about it 
with more details will come up.

73, Bob W9RAN