Last evening (Sat), I lit up the Racal 17 just to read the mail on 3880 AM
while I rewired a mic plug. What did I hear but a booming signal signing
"W1AW". What's this, the ARRL on AM?

Sure enough, two visitors from 6-land had been guest operating, and after
everyone else went home they decided to see if the bran new Icom 7800 would do
AM. It did, what a signal, thought they had an old Collins.

Dozens of AM stations lined up to work them. I tried to get in, but the Viking
II was not percolating too well into the antenna tuner, so I had to settle for
working a ocuple of the other guys while the guest ops took a supper break.

Here in Maine, I could copy (but not work) stations from my home digs of
Central PA. Anyway, it was inspirational to hear how many AM ops are around,
especially with a little "League" (unofficial) leadership.
73, Mike K. AA1UK

Oscar loves trash, but hates Spam! Delete him to reply to me.

Yes, I listened to that for a time too. It was cool. Unfortunately, after
the W1AW op went to supper, the conversation degenerated into a bunch of
guys trying to run everyone else off 75 meters. It was funny for a while,
until it just became pathetic.

I hadn't listened to 75 in a long time, and finally put up an inverted vee
to give my new TS 2000 a test on that band. Hadn't been on the band in
about 12 years, and figured most of those types of guys had finally died
off. Guess not.

Phil KD0UN


"Mike Knudsen" wrote in message
...
Last evening (Sat), I lit up the Racal 17 just to read the mail on 3880 AM
while I rewired a mic plug. What did I hear but a booming signal signing
"W1AW". What's this, the ARRL on AM?

Sure enough, two visitors from 6-land had been guest operating, and after
everyone else went home they decided to see if the bran new Icom 7800
would do
AM. It did, what a signal, thought they had an old Collins.

Dozens of AM stations lined up to work them. I tried to get in, but the
Viking
II was not percolating too well into the antenna tuner, so I had to settle
for
working a ocuple of the other guys while the guest ops took a supper
break.

Here in Maine, I could copy (but not work) stations from my home digs of
Central PA. Anyway, it was inspirational to hear how many AM ops are
around,
especially with a little "League" (unofficial) leadership.
73, Mike K. AA1UK

Oscar loves trash, but hates Spam! Delete him to reply to me.

Behold, PJ signalled from keyed 4-1000A filament:

Yes, I listened to that for a time too. It was cool. Unfortunately,
after the W1AW op went to supper, the conversation degenerated into a
bunch of guys trying to run everyone else off 75 meters. It was funny
for a while, until it just became pathetic.

I hadn't listened to 75 in a long time, and finally put up an inverted
vee to give my new TS 2000 a test on that band. Hadn't been on the band
in about 12 years, and figured most of those types of guys had finally
died off. Guess not.

Phil KD0UN

Hi Phil,

At hamfests, I frequently hear 75/80M referred to as "the toilet".

--
Gregg
*It's probably useful, even if it can't be SPICE'd*
http://geek.scorpiorising.ca

In article . net, "PJ"
writes:

Yes, I listened to that for a time too. It was cool. Unfortunately, after
the W1AW op went to supper, the conversation degenerated into a bunch of
guys trying to run everyone else off 75 meters. It was funny for a while,
until it just became pathetic.

I didn't hear it that way. The guys who filled in between the W1AW break were
taking breakers and "check-ins". A lot of them knew each other, of course.
There were a lot of carriers from guys tuning up, and breakers tromping on each
other, naturally. Some of the double and triple heterodynes were like a
singing commercial for SSB :-)

But I didn't take anything as rude or exclusive. There are of course plenty of
professional LIDs on 75 who need less testosterone and more medication, but
they are no way confined to AM. In fact, I feel a lot "safer" running AM on 75
than SSB.
73, Mike K.
Oscar loves trash, but hates Spam! Delete him to reply to me.

"Mike Knudsen" wrote in message
...
In article . net, "PJ"
writes:

Yes, I listened to that for a time too. It was cool. Unfortunately,
after
the W1AW op went to supper, the conversation degenerated into a bunch of
guys trying to run everyone else off 75 meters. It was funny for a
while,
until it just became pathetic.

I didn't hear it that way. The guys who filled in between the W1AW break
were
taking breakers and "check-ins". A lot of them knew each other, of
course.
There were a lot of carriers from guys tuning up, and breakers tromping on
each
other, naturally. Some of the double and triple heterodynes were like a
singing commercial for SSB :-)

But I didn't take anything as rude or exclusive. There are of course
plenty of
professional LIDs on 75 who need less testosterone and more medication,
but
they are no way confined to AM. In fact, I feel a lot "safer" running AM
on 75
than SSB.
73, Mike K.
Oscar loves trash, but hates Spam! Delete him to reply to me.

You should have heard 75 in the late 50, early 60s. That is when you had
wall to wall carriers and assorted hetrodynes from 3.8 to 4.0 every single
night until wee hours of the AM.

Dan/W4NTI

w4nti posted:
You should have heard 75 in the late 50, early 60s. That is when you had
wall to wall carriers and assorted hetrodynes from 3.8 to 4.0 every single
night until wee hours of the AM.

I was there, sometimes with, and sometimes without, carrier. I enjoyed 75
meters, and didn't mind the QRM - It was just part of the ham game. It was a
good band to connect up with friends and acquaintances. AM is much more
sociable than SSB just because you can recognize a voice without careful
tuning.

It was rare back then to encounter a foul-mouth.

Don

In article . net, "Dan/W4NTI"
w4nti@get rid of this mindspring.com writes:

You should have heard 75 in the late 50, early 60s. That is when you had
wall to wall carriers and assorted hetrodynes from 3.8 to 4.0 every single
night until wee hours of the AM.

I do remember that, vaguely. Isn't that the era when every good receiver had a
slot filter, notch filter, or Q-Multiplier reject filter? These lasted thru
the transition era from AM to SSB, when the sidewinders really had to suffer
those hets!
73, Mike K.

Oscar loves trash, but hates Spam! Delete him to reply to me.

AM was and is cool. Unfortunately, SSB is much better for everyone. I
remember the AM days well, too, and I had a lot of fun with it. And yes, it
was a mess back then.

I think that the bands are much easier to navigate now, without the AM, but
it is still good to hear the few who choose to run it from time to time.

I've been really impressed, actually with my new TS 2000 and it's DSP
function -- not for rejection of interference, actually, but for its ability
to open up to about 3 KHZ for SSB and really appreciate the fidelity that is
hidden in some of the better SSB station's signals. Of course, most are
limited by their transmission filter characteristics, but it actually sounds
pretty good.

Phil


"Mike Knudsen" wrote in message
...
In article . net,
"Dan/W4NTI"
w4nti@get rid of this mindspring.com writes:

You should have heard 75 in the late 50, early 60s. That is when you had
wall to wall carriers and assorted hetrodynes from 3.8 to 4.0 every
single
night until wee hours of the AM.

I do remember that, vaguely. Isn't that the era when every good receiver
had a
slot filter, notch filter, or Q-Multiplier reject filter? These lasted
thru
the transition era from AM to SSB, when the sidewinders really had to
suffer
those hets!
73, Mike K.

Oscar loves trash, but hates Spam! Delete him to reply to me.