Bob Stein wrote:


Paul, I don't understand this "higher fidelity" hype. Amateur radio is
about communications, not high fidelity. Of course, AM is not the only
mode that is using excess spectrum. I understand that there are
sidebanders who are cluttering up the bands with their wideband signals,
although I have to admit that I have never heard them because I do not
listen much. But apparently Riley Hollingsworth has and has issued
warnings about such operation.

I hear you, Bob. Still, I think a reasonable argument can be made that words are but
a part (admittedly, the largest part, by far) of communicating, that contacts are
enhanced when the communicators voices are received as they would be face-to-face.
I'm just getting back into ham radio after being out of it, essentially, since the
late 70s. So I'm not really aware of any increased popularity of AM being due to its
greater audio fidelity. My guess is that any increased interest in AM these days has
as much, if not more, to do with the nostalgia factor than higher fidelity audio.
Even though SSB was firmly established when I got started in ham radio in the late
60s, AM was still in use enough for me to have some exposure to it. Rightly or
wrongly, I kind of associate it with the "good ole days" which, for me, meant the
days when people were still amazed at being able to communicate over long distances
without wires with a community of people who were friendly and often very, very radio
savvy.

CW obviously takes less spectrum, but let's face it, CW is dead. The
times, they are a'changin'.

Wow, now there's a topic. I wouldn't say CW is dead, but I would say it's a lot less
popular than it used to be. I agree the times are changing. I hear expletives and
exchanges on the air these days that I never (or virtually never) heard there 30
years ago. My impression is that the percentage of operators these days with a firm
technical grasp of radio is significantly less than it was then. For better or
worse, I'll let you and others decide, ham radio today seems to work and sound to me
a lot more like CB radio did back then (and probably still does today).


Frankly, at the risk of incurring flames, I would like to see AM
outlawed on the HF bands, just as spark was outlawed even before my
time. On the other hand, I firmly believe that ham radio is a dying
hobby, vis-a-vis computers, so it won't make any difference in the long run.

You'll get no flame from me. I understand your point of view and at some point may
end up agreeing with it. I just don't think banning AM at this time is necessary or
desirable. As to ham radio dying, it depends on what you mean by "dying". I agree
with you that many people will end up experimenting with and communicate using
computers who in the past would have gone into ham radio. And, I'll venture to guess
that of the pool of "potentials" who end up pursuing one of the two hobbies
exclusively, the larger group will go into computers (if we're lucky, that group will
include all of the inconsiderate rubes, not all of whom are CB-type appliance
operators, that one seems to encounter on the airwaves with greater and greater
frequency - no pun intended - these days. But, I don't think this necessarily
results in the death of ham radio. I think that there will always be enough people
interested in the concept and application of radio, communicating without any kind of
physical connection, for the hobby to remain alive. My recent introduction to the
Elecraft community of kit builders and radio operators gives me much hope in this
regard. But, of course, I could be wrong.


Nice to have a civilized discussion.

I agree.

73s,
Paul, N6LQ