The sideband channels have become an unbearable wasteland up here for the last few weeks. What is wrong with people !?!? Even 555 has been jammed up all day every day by those idiots up in Springfield Illinois who think it's their 'business' channel ! And the closer we get to Christmas the crazier it's become. I guess everybody with a radio is on vacation, drinking heavily and pissed at the world or something......... It started with 38 and 42 and now the malaise seems to have spread to the entire band from 36 on up.
For now I have given up on sideband during the daytime skip hours and for the first time in more than 30 years I have been hanging on the AM channels below channel 1 and having a blast with my old Cobra 148GTL and a small amp, which combination sounds amazing on AM mode. I get about 30 watts deadkey and swing to around 120 watts or so, which is plenty as I seem to be able to work pretty much anyone I can hear.
It's weird, for the last few skip cycles it seemed like all the goofs were on AM and the good operators were on sideband. Now all of a sudden it seems to have switched around and the sideband channels are where the gong show is. Go figure !
We now return you to your regularly scheduled insanity.........
For now I have given up on sideband during the daytime skip hours and for the first time in more than 30 years I have been hanging on the AM channels below channel 1 and having a blast with my old Cobra 148GTL and a small amp, which combination sounds amazing on AM mode. I get about 30 watts deadkey and swing to around 120 watts or so, which is plenty as I seem to be able to work pretty much anyone I can hear.
It's weird, for the last few skip cycles it seemed like all the goofs were on AM and the good operators were on sideband. Now all of a sudden it seems to have switched around and the sideband channels are where the gong show is. Go figure !
We now return you to your regularly scheduled insanity.........