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

wrote:
Mike Coslo wrote:

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


Been there...

Works well, does the ladder line dipole.


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


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

I agree. I've been learning a bit about them, and am pretty impressed.


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.

I was listening to one of those last night on 160. I don't think it is
anything I would like to do, but those guys seemed to be having a good
time..

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?

IMO.

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.

Heh, all that is before my time, unfortunately. But I can see where
that *would* get people interested.

- Mike KB3EIA -

- Mike KB3EIA