Fellow hams,

Like many others, I occasionally use AM on both 160 and 80 meters. My
reasons for doing so are probably typical: I do it because it reminds
me of the first transmitter I owned, and of other rigs and earlier
times, before I had the money to buy new equipment and linear
amplifiers. I also have many good friends who operate AM, and I like
to talk to them as well as to my friends who use CW or SSB.

I'm writing this to ask that hams who don't favor AM make allowances for us:
it seems that the "AM Window" on 80 meters is being taken over by hams
operating SSB, sometimes with blunt, on-the-air comments to the effect that
those running AM aren't entitled to use the space. There have been skirmishes,
complaints, acrimonious debates, and even outright jamming lately, and I'm
afraid it will escalate to the point that FCC action will be needed.

I'm going to be blunt he I'm not a psychologist, but I think those who
oppose AM are making a big mistake by not treating AM operators with the
same standard of on-air behavior that they show to other hams. I'm not sure
why this "range war" has started, but it's only logical endpoint is with
reduced privileges for ALL hams, not just those who use AM.

Our hobby is at a crossroads: with young technophiles gravitating to the
Internet, and military forces needing neither CW operators nor technicians,
the future we face at the frequency-bargaining table and in the public's mind
is no longer in the hands of benevolent government agencies eager for
trained personnel who can be pressed into service quickly. In fact, the
future of the hobby is now in OUR hands, and unless we start working together
and stop sniping at each other over minor things like the modes we use, we're
going to fade away without anyone noticing.

FWIW. YMMV.

73, Bill W1AC

(Filter qrm for direct replies)

Bill Horne, W1AC wrote:
Fellow hams,

Like many others, I occasionally use AM on both 160 and 80 meters. My
reasons for doing so are probably typical: I do it because it reminds
me of the first transmitter I owned, and of other rigs and earlier
times, before I had the money to buy new equipment and linear
amplifiers. I also have many good friends who operate AM, and I like
to talk to them as well as to my friends who use CW or SSB.

I'm writing this to ask that hams who don't favor AM make allowances for us:
it seems that the "AM Window" on 80 meters is being taken over by hams
operating SSB, sometimes with blunt, on-the-air comments to the effect that
those running AM aren't entitled to use the space. There have been skirmishes,
complaints, acrimonious debates, and even outright jamming lately, and I'm
afraid it will escalate to the point that FCC action will be needed.

I'm going to be blunt he I'm not a psychologist, but I think those who
oppose AM are making a big mistake by not treating AM operators with the
same standard of on-air behavior that they show to other hams. I'm not sure
why this "range war" has started, but it's only logical endpoint is with
reduced privileges for ALL hams, not just those who use AM.

There is an element on 75 meters that just seems to hate the idea of
Hams having fun, and want to spoil it for others.

I suspect that they don't really have all that much against AM'ers, or
at least no more than they have against anyone else in the hobby. Though
no doubt they bring up the mode as a wedge to "justify" their harassment.

I believe that we are at a good point in the timeline of Amateur radio
that we need to have the amateurs who are being interfered with to start
documenting the interference, and sending it off to the F.C.C.

RDP - Record, Document, Pursue


Our hobby is at a crossroads: with young technophiles gravitating to the
Internet, and military forces needing neither CW operators nor technicians,
the future we face at the frequency-bargaining table and in the public's mind
is no longer in the hands of benevolent government agencies eager for
trained personnel who can be pressed into service quickly. In fact, the
future of the hobby is now in OUR hands, and unless we start working together
and stop sniping at each other over minor things like the modes we use, we're
going to fade away without anyone noticing.

You're pretty much right there Bill, although I would not quite agree
on tekkie folks going to the internet. I don't think we're producing
many tech folks at all. But that's another issue.

I am convinced that what we need a

Kind and friendly folk who are willing to take the newbies under their
wing and teach them.

Folk who do not judge other Hams by their favorite mode of operation.

Folk who are willing to go after the jammers and riff raff and follow
through with that RDP.

- 73 de Mike KB3EIA -

On Jun 11, 1:20 pm, Michael Coslo wrote:


There is an element on 75 meters that just seems to hate the idea of
Hams having fun, and want to spoil it for others.

There are a lot of cbers on the ham bands who happen to have ham
licenses.

On Jun 11, 11:20?am, Michael Coslo wrote:
Bill Horne, W1AC wrote:
Fellow hams,
You're pretty much right there Bill, although I would not quite agree
on tekkie folks going to the internet. I don't think we're producing
many tech folks at all. But that's another issue.

I am convinced that what we need a

Kind and friendly folk who are willing to take the newbies under their
wing and teach them.

Ahem...most of the "newbies" recently getting on HF aren't "new" at
all but
have now been able to administratively change their class as a result
of
FCC 06-178. [I am a relatively rare extra-out-of-the-box who has been
IN
radio longer than most here, but I'm cheering for the recent
'upgraders.']

BTW, I've never had any "Elmer" since my Army active duty time ended
in
1956. The closest to that I've gotten since is to silently observe
others
operating their rigs and, once in a while, get to say a few words as a
guest third-party. First-hand observation can teach much and the
'teacher'
doesn't have to explain anything, certainly not lecture.

Folk who do not judge other Hams by their favorite mode of operation.

Whoa! BIG issue from what I've heard. Usually its against DSB AM as
if it
is some cardinal sin! I don't understand it even though I've heard
all the
rationales of "limited bandspace" and all that for years.

The very last time hams got more bandspace on HF was 28 years ago at
WARC-79. Lately the FCC gave out a few channels at "60m" instead
of the ARRL-requested band of frequencies. Nobody in any position of
amateur leadership seems to be doing anything about getting more band-
space in HF, yet HF is much less used overall now than it was 28
years ago.

Folk who are willing to go after the jammers and riff raff and follow
through with that RDP.

I don't know about all this "riff-raff" stuff since I've not heard
much, yet I
can receive fairly good over HF, same as most others. So far, I've
only
had one UNIDENTIFIED Raddio Kopp try to flash his badge about my
using the phrase "roger that" instead of just 'roger.' :-)

How does one follow up on the Unidentified riff-raff without having a
trio
of DF-equipped hams all taking bearings at the same time? Shout and
holler in newsgroups and other forums and demand somebody do
something?!? Listening to 10m here I just don't get all that
"jamming"
and "riff-raff" supposedly done by CBers, just hams doing their ham
thing with a few complaining about that CBer riff-raff. :-(

I like the sound of DSB AM. Saves having to retweak tuning for a
network
of SSB users, none of which are exactly on-frequency.

73, Len AF6AY

cmdr buzz corey wrote:
On Jun 11, 1:20 pm, Michael Coslo wrote:

There is an element on 75 meters that just seems to hate the idea of
Hams having fun, and want to spoil it for others.

There are a lot of cbers on the ham bands who happen to have ham
licenses.



I would respectfully note that the problems cannot all be laid at the
feet of those who use/used Citizen band radios. It is a kind of
convenient word to generalize with, but in the end can add to the problems.

But more importantly, what are we going to do about it? Somewhere
between the world of "You will not say the word "roger" lest ye be
banned from my repeater", and the Dodge City of 75 meters is a middle
ground that needs explored.

Basically, Hams need to accept that there are some of us who have
different accents from us, and may talk differently.

We need to not get spun up when someone says "My handle is...". Or
Roger, or whatever. People who speak Q-signals and give 5 of 9 reports
should not berate others for silly language.

On the other hand, people who interfere with others communications need
dealt with, and dealt with harshly once found.

- 73 de Mike KB3EIA -

AF6AY wrote:
On Jun 11, 11:20?am, Michael Coslo wrote:
Bill Horne, W1AC wrote:
Fellow hams,
You're pretty much right there Bill, although I would not quite agree
on tekkie folks going to the internet. I don't think we're producing
many tech folks at all. But that's another issue.

I am convinced that what we need a

Kind and friendly folk who are willing to take the newbies under their
wing and teach them.

Ahem...most of the "newbies" recently getting on HF aren't "new" at
all but have now been able to administratively change their class as a result
of FCC 06-178. [I am a relatively rare extra-out-of-the-box who has been
IN radio longer than most here, but I'm cheering for the recent
'upgraders.']

True enough, but I'm not really addressing admin upgrades. There is a
new group of Hams who are interested in radio, but may not know all that
much. In our area we nave new Hams who haven't used a soldering iron. We
teach 'em how to use one.

There are some Hams who would hold these unpolished gems in contempt
for their lack of knowledge.



Folk who do not judge other Hams by their favorite mode of operation.

Whoa! BIG issue from what I've heard. Usually its against DSB AM as
if it is some cardinal sin! I don't understand it even though I've heard
all the rationales of "limited bandspace" and all that for years.


There is some contention here. The enhanced bandwidth SSB crowd is
pretty roundly panned for their use of bandwidth. Theey might point out
that the AM'ers also use a lot.

My thoughts are that the AM is a legacy mode, and there really aren't a
lot of practitioners, so I am willing to put up with that bit of extra
use. Wide band SSB on the other hand, is just a mode that doesn't serve
much purpose.


Folk who are willing to go after the jammers and riff raff and follow
through with that RDP.

I don't know about all this "riff-raff" stuff since I've not heard
much, yet I can receive fairly good over HF, same as most others. So far, I've
only had one UNIDENTIFIED Raddio Kopp try to flash his badge about my
using the phrase "roger that" instead of just 'roger.' :-)

There is a fair amount of interference out there. It isn't really too
many people, much less than 1 percent, but that small group can wreak
some havoc.

And as I have said before, there is altogether too much worry about
saying the exact correct words. If more hams worried about actual
problems, and less about speech patterns, it would be FB... ;^)


How does one follow up on the Unidentified riff-raff without having a
trio of DF-equipped hams all taking bearings at the same time?

More or less just that, Len. There are a lot of Hams who love
Fox-Hunts. This would be different from most fox hunting, but would
serve an actual useful purpose. We have Hams who travel to some pretty
awful places to DXpedition. Seems a few might want to do some direction
finding.

Sometimes this isn't even needed, as some of the miscreants aren't too
secretive about their callsigns.

Shout and holler in newsgroups and other forums and demand somebody do
something?!?

Hehe, people have tried that for some time, and it doesn't work too well.




Listening to 10m here I just don't get all that
"jamming"
and "riff-raff" supposedly done by CBers, just hams doing their ham
thing with a few complaining about that CBer riff-raff. :-(

I don't spend a lot of time on 10 m, but what time I have spent there,
the inhabitants have been pretty well behaved. Most of my experience
with the bad guys has been on 75 meters, and a little on 20.


I like the sound of DSB AM. Saves having to retweak tuning for a
network of SSB users, none of which are exactly on-frequency.

On Tue, 12 Jun 2007 09:53:34 EDT, Michael Coslo wrote:

Somewhere
between the world of "You will not say the word "roger" lest ye be
banned from my repeater", and the Dodge City of 75 meters is a middle
ground that needs explored.

"Roger that, 10-4...good buddy...." g
--

73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane

From a Clearing in the Silicon Forest
Beaverton (Washington County) Oregon

e-mail: k2asp [at] arrl [dot] net

On Jun 12, 7:53 am, Michael Coslo wrote:
cmdr buzz coreywrote:
On Jun 11, 1:20 pm, Michael Coslo wrote:

There is an element on 75 meters that just seems to hate the idea of
Hams having fun, and want to spoil it for others.

There are a lot of cbers on the ham bands who happen to have ham
licenses.

I would respectfully note that the problems cannot all be laid at the
feet of those who use/used Citizen band radios. It is a kind of
convenient word to generalize with, but in the end can add to the problems.

But more importantly, what are we going to do about it? Somewhere
between the world of "You will not say the word "roger" lest ye be
banned from my repeater", and the Dodge City of 75 meters is a middle
ground that needs explored.

Basically, Hams need to accept that there are some of us who have
different accents from us, and may talk differently.

We need to not get spun up when someone says "My handle is...". Or
Roger, or whatever. People who speak Q-signals and give 5 of 9 reports
should not berate others for silly language.

On the other hand, people who interfere with others communications need
dealt with, and dealt with harshly once found.

- 73 de Mike KB3EIA -

I will rephrase that...there are a lot of cbers and cb types who have
ham licenses.

"Phil Kane" wrote

"Roger that, 10-4...good buddy...." g

Yeahhhhh, the personal here is Howard....

And now back to our regularly scheduled program.

N7SO

I would respectfully note that the problems cannot all be laid at the feet
of those who use/used Citizen band radios. It is a kind of convenient word
to generalize with, but in the end can add to the problems.

In my experience the bulk of "problem" operators were on air before CB
became a popular hobby.

Using the term "CBer" as a derogatory remark can only lead to pointless
arguments. A tactic some very successfully use as a means to divert debate
away from the fact that bad operators are bad operators regardless of their
other interests, and focus on those newer to the hobby than themselves.

Can we use the term "CBer" to describe people who use CB radio? And accept
that CB is really off topic for this group so why are we talking about these
guys anyway?

--
Jack VK2CJC / MM0AXL
Mid North Coast Amateur Radio Group
www.mncarg.org