side band?!?!?!?

[Zman]

The only AM I ever did or do is on 80m. I never could see the appeal of AM way back when I was on 11m and only use it on the ham bands when a bunch of us get together and do it the way phone started with classic old boat anchors.

AM on 75 is fun. I have done it a few times and i really enjoyed the QSOs with the other ops.. I mostly run an old Yaesu FT 101E with the AM filter.

 

[Zman]

It is easy to dump on the lowly 11m, but there are jerks any class. You know? my 11 year old can pass a HAM exam after studying for a week. Is that really what makes you think you are better than someone else? I think it is silly for anyone to be looking down their noses at anyone. Shame on all of you who do. You know, I played with a lot of radio freqs that are off limits to HAMs when I spent 6.5 years as in infantryman, and you know what? I still like playing with a CB. I like all radios. Sure there are jerks on 11M. Sure, when I hear so much echo that I can't understand what they are saying, it is annoying. I ignore them and talk to the clean stations. But to dog on the whole community because of just a few is ridiculously arrogant. On one side there are the crude CBers and the other side is the snobby HAMs. How childish that is. I thank God for all of the rest of you who just want to make some contacts and chew the rag a little. You make the hobby enjoyable for us all. My 2M mobile spends more time as a mobile scanner for public safety than anything else. Why? because there is hardly anything but static otherwise. HAM is a dying hobby. Why do you think the FCC dropped morse code? HAM provides a critical function in cases of emergcy and there aren't enough operators anymore to provide it. The FCC needs to lower the bar because no one cares about radios anymore. They are doing everything they can to bring more people in. Is that better or worse for you? The number of new licenses being issued are so far below those that are being lost. With these kinds of attitudes I don't wonder why. Stop scaring away and discouraging some of the would be "decent" operators. I am sure that most who read this will scoff at what I have said, but in 15 years when you turn on your rig and hear nothing but silence in your speaker; you can sit in and remember the glory days, when the bands were popping with activity, and how good it used to be.

This is PURE CRAP!!!! I am a ham with a 5 WPM General and i HAVE NEVER acted like im "holier than thou" or have i EVER treated a CBer like crap! Why? brecause im BOTH a ham and a CBer and i ENJOY ALL THINGS RADIO!!!

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

AM does have it appeal in that it is simple, no clarifying (not that that is hard),has generally better fidelity but than again the idea is to communicate not broadcast. It is also cheaper on the wallet. The disadvantages are that it is noisier than SSB and does not travel as far for a given power level because of the wider bandwidth. If you just ant to chat with the locals or occasional DX then fine. If you want to chat with the locals and enjoy TONS more of DX ten SSB is the way to go. SSB tends to have far less noise toys on it as well and for the most part DX operators are a bit more "professional". Note the quotes.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

AM on 75 is fun. I have done it a few times and i really enjoyed the QSOs with the other ops.. I mostly run an old Yaesu FT 101E with the AM filter.

I run a Heathkit DX-60B with no AM filter. :laugh: Microphone is a Sennheiser MD-421. I run a blistering 12 watt carrier controlled AM station with mod peaks to 50 watts.

 

[K9GAS]

I'm not sure I agree with cheaper on AM.
Plenty of DX on 160 AM in the winter but usually only during nets.
Most of the AM on 75 in the evening are usually low carrier with peaks of 100-130, some are 30-40 peaks. Round tables are generally Ind, where I am, Mich, IL, Mo, Tenn, Ala, Ga, Tx, WVa, Ny, Pa, Nj, you get the idea, not really local but no dx usually this time of year. I use a Gap Hearit and it eliminates the hash and I only hear static crashes, but you hear that on SSB as well. Interesting the Gap sounds natural on my tube Drake C-line set, but not so much on the Icom 7600. The AM groups are usually good people who encourage new ones getting into it and are happy to help.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

I'm not sure I agree with cheaper on AM.
Plenty of DX on 160 AM in the winter but usually only during nets.
Most of the AM on 75 in the evening are usually low carrier with peaks of 100-130, some are 30-40 peaks. Round tables are generally Ind, where I am, Mich, IL, Mo, Tenn, Ala, Ga, Tx, WVa, Ny, Pa, Nj, you get the idea, not really local but no dx usually this time of year. I use a Gap Hearit and it eliminates the hash and I only hear static crashes, but you hear that on SSB as well. Interesting the Gap sounds natural on my tube Drake C-line set, but not so much on the Icom 7600. The AM groups are usually good people who encourage new ones getting into it and are happy to help.

I said that in reference to 11m AM operations with a normal Cb or AM type export radio.

 

[K9GAS]

I was to on the price. In the earlier 70's when I was into cb all I could afford was the rad shack stuff or Sears. My uncle had the Johnson's and Brownings. When I was much older and good pay, I could still buy a SSB radio like the Rangers or Uniden XL cheaper than the AM Brownings I wanted.
Now that they're coming down, I don't want one. Isn't that the way it always is.

 

[Mudfoot]

The Sears and radio Shack stuff wasn't exactly that cheap either.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

I was to on the price. In the earlier 70's when I was into cb all I could afford was the rad shack stuff or Sears. My uncle had the Johnson's and Brownings. When I was much older and good pay, I could still buy a SSB radio like the Rangers or Uniden XL cheaper than the AM Brownings I wanted.
Now that they're coming down, I don't want one. Isn't that the way it always is.

Try comparing apples to apples. You made an unfair comparison.Ranger to Browning? :blink: Usually manufactures made two radios that were very nearly identical except one had SSB and the other didn't. The AM only version was always cheaper.

 

[K9GAS]

I actually made reference as a joke hence imocon.
I paid $49 for my sears and $39 for a tberry basic 23 channel.
Since you included cb section of availability including exports I assumed you were including quality.
So the only apples to apples is pocket book.
On the AM side of cb, most of the dedicated AM talkers probably have more money tied up than you have in your ham gear, again the joke, but probably not far off.
I don't think a barefoot 25ltd is going to heard without some backup on the 1-40 areas.
Hence again my joke about AM not being cheaper than SSB. I guess the dedicated AM'rs can clear that up for me. Let me get my flame suite out of the closet.