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To AM or not to AM

Radio Tech

Radio Tech

Radio Operator
Sep 9, 2008
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North Carolina
www.gokarters.com
Think I have worked about every thing but not AM. I was tuning across 40 meters this morning and heard a few qso's going on in AM mode. This was getting me excited, Only if I had AM!.
Should have never sold my AM rigs I guess.

So how often do folks use am? Would it be worth it to tear my IC-745 apart to mod it for am? Anyone ever done that to a 745? And if so how was the quality of this rig.

Thoughts?
 

The IC-745 already has AM does it not? AM'ers are a pretty dedicated group and usually hang together on a few select frequencies on each band. I used to do a fair amount of AM and have slacked off quite a bit but this winter I plan to get back at it. I just use a Heath DX-60 with a Sennheiser MD-421 microphone and it sounds fantastic.
 
ButtFuzz said:
It does, indeed. BUT it is receive only for AM. The mod for AM TX is relatively complicated. BOOOOO!
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That's right. Thanks for jogging my memory. I forgot about that. :headbang

I think the best bet is to pick up a vintage AM rig like a DX-60 or DX-100 or possibly a Viking 2.Those make great sounding AM rigs and are not very expensive at all plus you can always add an afterburner for some more power later.
 
FT-200 hey? They were also known as the Tempo One.Does it look like this?


tempo1before.jpg


They were a half decent radio but the modulator tube was prone to microphonics. Not sure if there was a replacement for the problematic 7360 beam-deflection tube used as the balanced modulator or not.
 
Later Tempo Ones (FT-200) used a little plug-in board in place of the balanced modulator tOOb. These tubes are expensive now. Maybe they were then also.

That rig sucks on AM. It doesn't really make AM. It transmits one sideband and a re-inserted carrier. AM receive is through the filter which is an ssb filter. Not good.

If one removes and bypasses the crystal filter and disables the ALC the Tempo One makes an excellent 25 watt AM transmitter. Those mods will render the receiver too wide for use. A 9 mhz 6khz wide filter can be diode switched and retrofitted.

Nothing at all wrong with sweep tubes if they are used in a proper design. In the Tempo they will last a long time if not abused.
 
Yeah AM can be cool on HF...which ah....includes....11 meters
studsmatta.gif


Butcha really need to do a little research and make sure in advance that the rig you select will sound good on AM. Some ham rigs do, others don't. Most of the tube final boat anchors will be good but not all. The Yaesu 101 series are awesome but you'll need to have the optional AM filter or they will drive you nuts on the receive side.

Most all of the newer rigs will do well but again you need to make sure. My last Icom 746 was killer on AM. Sounded great. Did 40 watts with swing to 80 and that could be turned up some inside but never did. Could very safely be turned up to 50 and should swing to 100 and will probably do a bit more.

Good luck!
 
HiDef said:
Nothing at all wrong with sweep tubes if they are used in a proper design. In the Tempo they will last a long time if not abused.
Click to expand...

Agreed, I used a Drake T-4X for several years. You do have to baby them as far as matching (compared to 6146s) and keep them cool though.
 

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