"Mike Coslo" wrote


So are SUV's. IIRC, you kinda like those!


You don't RC. I think they're idiotic!

Beep beep
de Hans, K0HB

KØHB wrote:
"Mike Coslo" wrote


So are SUV's. IIRC, you kinda like those!



You don't RC. I think they're idiotic!


Okay, so you were being sarcastic with that one post a while back. I
shudda know better. ;^)

- mike KB3EIA -

wrote:
http://www.classeradio.org/

73 de Jim, N2EY

Interesting stuff IMO

Anyone know BTW if the component's cited would the ability to operate
up in 6M or 2M band.

After all In those bands AM would be a relitively narrow Mode

"Mike Coslo" wrote

Okay, so you were being sarcastic with that one post a while back. I shudda
know better. ;^)

You must have me confused with somebody else. I wouldn't kid about a thing like
that!

K=D8HB wrote:
wrote

No because the project emphasizes AM, an old spectrum-hog mode
which ought to have been retired about 1965.

Why? AM is a legal mode, with advantages and disadvantages.

AM is a relic, inefficient in it's use of spectrum, and inefficient in it=
's use
of power (only half of the transmitted power contains intelligence and ha=
lf of
that half is discarded at the receiver!).

And they don't have no twin vfos or memories or autotuners and even
worse they don't have no ears at all . . WTF . .??!

One of the key elements of the spirit of experimentation in
something "different" is not being constrained by what is
considered electropolitically correct.

I don't know WTF the phrase "electropolitically correct" is even supposed=
to
mean.

Besides, the Class E technology can be adapted to
a variety of modes.

Yes, it certainly can. Which makes it all the more puzzling that they'd
showcase it with a doddering old mode like AM. Class E is technolog=
ically
interesting, and kind of "electro-sexy". Showcasing it in an "AM suit" is
equivalent to showcasing Jessica Simpson in a fully secured HAZMAT suit.

Incidentally, the technology is a little older than Jessica. See "Class-=
E, A
New Class of High-Efficiency Tuned, Single-Ended Switching Power Amplifie=
rs",
IEEE Journal of Solid State Circuits, Vol SC-10, June 1975, pp. 168-=
175.

Yea verily, I heard about class E beaucoup years ago and Googled it,
found the link to that paper but since I'm not an IEEE member I wasn't
allowed access to it.

Beep beep

DIT. =20

de Hans, K0HB

w3rv

an_old_friend wrote:
wrote:
http://www.classeradio.org/

73 de Jim, N2EY

Interesting stuff IMO

Anyone know BTW if the component's cited would the ability to operate
up in 6M or 2M band.

After all In those bands AM would be a relitively narrow Mode

Yeah, right. AM is narrower on 6 and 2 than it is on 75. Way to go
Colonel.

wrote:
an_old_friend wrote:
wrote:
http://www.classeradio.org/

73 de Jim, N2EY

Interesting stuff IMO

Anyone know BTW if the component's cited would the ability to operate
up in 6M or 2M band.

After all In those bands AM would be a relitively narrow Mode

Yeah, right. AM is narrower on 6 and 2 than it is on 75. Way to go
Colonel.

BUZZ blew it again

you can't read again. It is RELITIVELY narrower on any band where FM is
common

K=D8HB wrote:
wrote

No because the project emphasizes AM, an old spectrum-hog
mode which ought to have been retired about 1965.

Why? AM is a legal mode, with advantages and disadvantages.

AM is a relic, inefficient in it's use of spectrum, and
inefficient in it's use
of power (only half of the transmitted power contains
intelligence and half of
that half is discarded at the receiver!).

Actually, in an AM signal (full carrier modulated 100%) only 1/3 of the
power is in the sidebands. The other 2/3 is in the carrier.

In an AM receiver designed for the mode, all of the received sideband
power is used - none of it is discarded.

OTOH, the PEP of an AM signal is four times the carrier power.

By comparison, two SSB signals can easily fit in the spectrum used by
one AM signal. With no carrier heterodyne squealing.

OTOH, ten PSK31 or Morse Code signals can easily fit in the spectrum
used by one SSB signal. So who is the spectrum hog?

One of the key elements of the spirit of experimentation in
something "different" is not being constrained by what is
considered electropolitically correct.

I don't know WTF the phrase "electropolitically correct"
is even supposed to mean.

It's a term I invented. It's political correctness applied to
technology.

Here's an example:

"AM is a relic, inefficient in its use of spectrum, and
inefficient in its use of power"

Besides, the Class E technology can be adapted to
a variety of modes.

Yes, it certainly can. Which makes it all the more
puzzling that they'd
showcase it with a doddering old mode like AM.

Does old mean bad?

PROFESSIONALS still use AM, btw. To some people, if something is used
by PROFESSIONALS, it's electropolitically correct.

Class E is technologically
interesting, and kind of "electro-sexy".

Why? For me, one of the attractions is that you can't just run out and
buy it.

Showcasing it in an "AM suit" is
equivalent to showcasing Jessica Simpson in a fully secured
HAZMAT suit.

Class E can't do SSB - it's not linear. Nor can it do PSK31 for the
same reason, although it might be adaptable with a modulator.

Incidentally, the technology is a little older than Jessica.

I prefer classier types.

See "Class-E, A
New Class of High-Efficiency Tuned, Single-Ended Switching
Power Amplifiers",
IEEE Journal of Solid State Circuits, Vol SC-10, June 1975, pp. 168-=
175.

Yup. But a theoretical paper is one thing, and a practical project
that's on-the-air is something else.

And there's a reason for the AM emphasis.

One of the advantages of AM is its extreme simplicity. Remember rigs
with simple screen modulators, or the classic "Simplest Modulator" that
plugged into the key jack of a cathode-keyed Morse Code transmitter?

One of the disadvantages of AM is the difficulty and expense of high
power. Remember 500 watt modulation transformers and all the trimmings
needed to run legal-limit AM back in the days of "1000 watts plate
input"?

High power AM for hams was so expensive that only a few legal-limit AM
rigs were ever built for hams. I know of only two - the Collins KW-1
and the EF Johnson Desk Kilowatt. Both were in the "if you have to ask
you can't afford them" price range. There was also the size and weight
situation. 6 foot rack weighing hundreds of pounds was 'compact'.

So it was a natural for hams to homebrew AM rigs and keep looking for
that magic idea which would make high power AM more affordable and
compact.

With SSB, the complexity is all in the small lowlevel stuff. How many
hams would homebrew an SSB transceiver?

But high power SSB could be done in a desktop box like the SB-220. At
first enterprising hams built their own, but that became increasingly
rare.

The SSB transceiver and the grounded-grid Class B linear amplifier did
as much to kill off homebrewing and tinkering
as any other factor.

73 de Jim, N2EY

KØHB wrote:
wrote


No because the project emphasizes AM, an old spectrum-hog mode
which ought to have been retired about 1965.


Why? AM is a legal mode, with advantages and disadvantages.


AM is a relic, inefficient in it's use of spectrum, and inefficient in it's use
of power (only half of the transmitted power contains intelligence and half of
that half is discarded at the receiver!).

But some hams still like to operate AM, nothing wrong with that.

Mike Coslo wrote:

Next thing ya know, someone will be building
dipoles with ladder line!

Been there...

;^). Then (shudder) things with tubes!!!!

You mean "hollow-state"? Oh yes, a good technology. Old, but with many
advantages.

Room for Morse CW, room for A.M. IMO.

And PSK31, SSB, RTTY, SSTV, etc.

Speaking of "room"....

One thing about amateur HF/MF AM operation that seems to
be quite different is the "old buzzard roundtable" type of QSO.

What happens in such a QSO is that several stations are on the same
frequency, transmitting in a round-robin sort of sequence. A
transmission may be 5, 10 or more minutes long. Each op gets to do a
serious monologue on whatever subject interests them. What makes the
difference is the ability of the speaker to be interesting to the
audience, and communicate verbally in a way
that is enjoyable. It's a developed skill, and some AMers are really
really good at it.

Yes, it could be done on SSB, but it's not as common.

If a bunch of hams are all using the same frequency, rather than being
spread out all over the band, isn't that spectrum efficiency?

Another good thing about AM is the publicity factor. Ask hams who were
licensed before about 1965 or so how they found out about ham radio,
and a high percentage will tell you they started out with some sort of
"shortwave" receiver, and came across some hams using AM. Listening to
the conversations got them hooked.

When SSB became the dominant amateur HF/MF voice mode, that method of
recruitment dried up.

73 de Jim, N2EY