[AMRadio] Phone band expansion


Jack Schmidling jack at schmidling.com
Fri Oct 13 00:31:51 EDT 2006


Bob Maser wrote:

> Yeah, but I found that talking about how great AM is gets old after a 
> while.

Conversations are what YOU make of them.  If you let others control the 
conversation, you get what you deserve but I don't how this is unique to 
  AM.

>I experienced AM first hand as I became a ham in 1956.

1955 here

 > Now that SSB is the mode of
> choice for most hams, one gets used to VOX operation and the lock and 
> talk becomes tedious at best.

I never cared for vox but the lock and talk is a function of and 
controlled by fingers and not the modulation type and I agree it is very 
tedious.

I wonder why this is so habitual with AMers.  I suppose it goes back to 
the primitive days when one (at least I did) had to throw several 
switches and turn up/down the volume for each transmission.

Seems like it's just a matter of retraining.

>I find that when I get on AM(I still have 
> a pristine Valiant and HRO-60), a group gets together and by the time 
> that it gets back around, 20-30 minutes have expired.

This is not uncommon on SSB groups.

 > But
> I have found that it is nostalgia that attracts me to AM and nostalgia 
> is satisfied by small bites(for me at least).

I think what attracts me is the satisfaction of opening up a piece of 
gear and understanding what every part in it is and what for. I ponder 
electrons being sucked up by the plate and my voice controlling the 
flow. I gag when I open my rice box.

>If AM is getting so 
> popular, why aren't there any manufacturers producing any equipment?

No one would want it as it would be just another rice box with no 
nostalgic appeal.  After all, it really is not a very practical way to 
communicate.

js

-- 
PHOTO OF THE WEEK: http://schmidling.com/pow.htm
Astronomy, Beer, Cheese, Fiber,Gems, Sausage,Silver http://schmidling.com




More information about the AMRadio mailing list
This page last updated 19 Mar 2024.