ABSOLUTELY BEST HF ON AM

[rabbiporkchop]

Yeah I wouldn't call my taste HiFi so much as tailored frequency response with lots of highs. The microphones I use cut off the bottom end of the frequency response but the highs are phenomenal which actually makes it easier to pick my signal out of the mud

 

[Road Squawker]

... makes it easier to pick my signal out of the mud

Well, perhaps if you would buy a signal, you wouldn't be "in the mud".

 

[rabbiporkchop]

Well, perhaps if you would buy a signal, you wouldn't be "in the mud".

At 80 miles distances considering most people have lots of noise in their receivers being in the mud is kind of inevitable especially mobile to mobile.
Higher tones are always easier to distinguish than lower tones at greater distances.
I'm only using 300 Hertz to 4000 Hertz

 

[vkrules]

Yeah I wouldn't call my taste HiFi so much as tailored frequency response with lots of highs. The microphones I use cut off the bottom end of the frequency response but the highs are phenomenal which actually makes it easier to pick my signal out of the mud

At 80 miles distances considering most people have lots of noise in their receivers being in the mud is kind of inevitable especially mobile to mobile.
Higher tones are always easier to distinguish than lower tones at greater distances.
I'm only using 300 Hertz to 4000 Hertz

Completely agree! only way to go with weak signal work.
"Hifi' AM or even ESSB is for the 30 over 9 local brigade,

 

[Sonar]

Well yeah I wasn't thinking about the SDR stuff. I was thinking hardware not software. Most of the SDR stuff can sound pretty good on AM.

In layman's terms, can you explain why SDR will by Design sound better on A.M.?

 

[Sonar]

Well with enough mods and outboard gear any rig an be made to sound great but realistically speaking I believe the OP was asking about out-of-the-box performance. My FT-857D sounds pretty good on AM as well but I had to make some changes to the service menu settings regarding power output and ALC settings as well as reset the bias which was off considerably.

100% correct. I should've been more specific. Adding a specific mic maybe but I was asking with the thought of it (transceiver) right out of the box.

 

[Sonar]

Johnson valiant would be balls to the wall AM

I've heard many valiants back in the day and listened to a 500 from 75-87. The guy (Artie windjammer) who owned it lived a few blocks from me. Both have incredible audio and was actually thinking of those transmitters when posting my question. I know it's not likely that any transceiver SDR or other will sound as those transmitters did or, am I wrong?

 

[222DBFL]

Why not just get a good mic and a good AM radio and start there? Man I just can't see spending $3k or more to try to sound better. But that is just me. Maybe I am more frugal with my money. It's like someone else posted, it takes the fun and learning out of it. JMHO's.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

In layman's terms, can you explain why SDR will by Design sound better on A.M.?

All the filters are variable and can be opened up much wider than conventional radios. With software you can do a lot that is not practicable (or cheap) to do with hardware.

 

[Sonar]

Icom 7000 sounds great on AM after widening the frequency response from 100 hz to 4000 hz.

Why not just get a good mic and a good AM radio and start there? Man I just can't see spending $3k or more to try to sound better. But that is just me. Maybe I am more frugal with my money. It's like someone else posted, it takes the fun and learning out of it. JMHO's.

There's no way I myself would spend 3k either but I'd like to own a single transceiver that can operate on AM as well as it does on SSB. I only just posted I'd never put my sonar which sounds extremely nice on AM but am trying to down size my station's footprint. And I am after reading some of the answers to my post beginning to believe there's an alternative to my 38 year old technology that can not only sound much better on AM but making it possible for me to be operate a single transceiver for both modes. It took me almost 2 years to realize that my madison needs to be replaced with a much better sound SSB transceiver. If it's possible to find a single rig that does it all for about $1500 I'd make the move. Keep in mind I'm a chicken bander.

All the filters are variable and can be opened up much wider than conventional radios. With software you can do a lot that is not practicable (or cheap) to do with hardware.

Believe me when I say I've no plan's to purchase a flex or any SDR for that matter. As you figured early on I operate on 11 meters (only). I also mentioned I'd not stop operating my 2340. I would actually consider it at this point. I'

All the filters are variable and can be opened up much wider than conventional radios. With software you can do a lot that is not practicable (or cheap) to do with hardware.

Understood. Thaks. Truthfully. I'm not computer literate and simplicity is a prerequisite for me. The closest I would get to an SDR would be a 7300. I've not heard one on AM as all my locals who run them do so strictly on SSB. And even though the locals who own those 7300 are ticket holders they spend most if not all their time on 38 LSB. I just threw that in there so if anyone thinks it's crazy that a chicken bander would consider spending $1500 on what would be a glorified cb radio, I'm not alone. I just wish I could stop having to go between two rigs and amps. I don't like having to use what is two separate stations to sound respectable on both. And doing it on 30 and 38 year old equipment is beginning to bother me. 73

 

[222DBFL]

Find a used Icom 7000 or something similar. Most HF radios can be made to sound good on both modes if you take the time to adjust the mic and power settings correctly. I have spoken to some on my Icom 746 on AM, and they were amazed at how well it sounded. I realize it's not an AM radio, but with some proper settings it does quite well. And it rocks on SSB.
Also I have talked on the kenwood 480sat on AM, and been told that is sounded just fine by some gents I didn't even know while out of town working with my boss. We had the radio setup in the camper he uses for extended stays. And we had a blast using it on both AM and SSB. Like I said, it all came down to setting it up correctly. With a good antenna setup, you really don't need much power to accomplish things. Just some food for thought. Not saying that HF radios are going to be as good as an AM radio, but if setup correctly they do work well. JMHO's. As for the Icom 7300, that is one sweet looking radio! And yes I am like you. An 11m freebander that uses an HF radio. Mostly on SSB, but I do occasionally get on AM with my old Icom 746. And that is with the stock mic as well. No eq's or outboard gear. Just the radio and my Sirio vector 4000. Does the job for me. Again, just some things to ponder on. If you ask enough and look around, I would think that you could find a radio to suit your needs for both AM and SSB use. But like they say. I'm just a cb'er, what do I know LOL!!!

 

[222DBFL]

I am planning on one day getting my ticket. But at the moment family has precedence over that. And I am not mad! The local group here where I am, most of the guys run HF radios on 11m SSB. So you aren't alone! Have a good one, and I hope you find something you like. Good luck. There is a lot to choose from. That is for sure!!
73 and God Bless from
222 Daytona Bch., FL.
Sean

 

[Sonar]

Unless it has tubes in it none of them were designed with AM operation in mind. AM is all but dead compared to the other voice modes and hams are not into being loud and proud on AM anyway. If it is distortion free and has half decent frequency response it is acceptable to 99%. The other 1 % build their own AM transmitters or rebuild old commercial stuff.

I recall you mentioning in a previous post that you had an excellent sounding dx 60. If I'm correct the dx 60 is comparable to the Johnson ranger. Besides the dx 60 needing an external vfo the biggest difference is it's screen modulated.
What's the difference between screen and plate modulation and does one sound better by design?

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

I recall you mentioning in a previous post that you had an excellent sounding dx 60. If I'm correct the dx 60 is comparable to the Johnson ranger. Besides the dx 60 needing an external vfo the biggest difference is it's screen modulated.
What's the difference between screen and plate modulation and does one sound better by design?

The DX-60B uses a type of screen modulation commonly called controlled carrier modulation. This is similar to the common CB way of having a low carrier with high voice peaks as in someone say they are running 4 watts swinging to 30 watts. Normally you should have a 4:1 ratio and the DX-60B is supposed to run 12 watts resting carrier and peaks of 50 watts with full modulation. the grid basically controls the amount of current flowing in the RF final stage.With this type of modulation the voltage stays constant and the current varies.With a plate modulated transmitter the plate voltage is varied by using a modulation transformer that causes the plate voltage to swing up and down with audio. Plate modulation requires a heavy modulation transformer adding weight and cost but it does offer generally better efficiency. Most tube type AM broadcast transmitters were plate modulated. They had a higher initial cost but lower running costs due to better efficiency resulting in lower power bills. A transmitter can sound great regardless if it has grid or plate modulation or in some cases a combination of both. Purists will argue that plate modulation is best for sound quality however tests have yet to prove it. In fact the modulation transformer and modulation reactor can limit the high frequency response unless great care is taken it the quality of those components. Plate modulation has a high steady carrier when there is no modulation but grid modulation or carrier controlled modulation has a low carrier when no modulation and high carrier with voice peaks. this can be a problem on a noisey band if the low carrier between words is not strong enough to be heard.

Some really good info about AM modulation is found of W8JI's site. In case you did not know W8JI is Tom (Charles) Rauch, designer of most of Ameritron's amplifiers. http://www.w8ji.com/amplitude_modulation.htm

 

[Shadetree Mechanic]

Great info, lots to think about for sure.