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 Previous: Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act Now in Both House and Senate |  Next: FCC Says Strengthened Rule Will Help Enforcement |
By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor
March 7, 2003
This week, visit a Web site where Amplitude Modulation is still the mode of the day.
My editor, Dave Hassler, K7CCC, is known to be appreciative of the Amplitude Modulation (AM) mode, so I asked him for a good Web site devoted to AM and he suggested The AM Window. I checked out Dave's suggestion and was so duly impressed with the Web site that I am featuring it here this week.
 The AM Window is a resource for hams worldwide who find Amplitude Modulation their cup of tea. |
Steve Ickes, WB3HUZ, built The AM Window as a resource for AMers worldwide and the site is celebrating its sixth anniversary. Although AM was once the main voice mode in Amateur Radio, now it is regarded as a specialty within the hobby. The Web site claims that AM is attractive to some because it "offers a warm, rich audio quality not found in other voice modes that provides for more personal interaction." But also, a major attraction for many enthusiasts is that the simplicity of AM circuit design encourages hands-on restoration, modification and homebrew construction to an extent no longer found with contemporary radio equipment.
The Web site has a lot of interesting features. It includes audio clips recorded off the air that demonstrate the audio quality of the AM mode. You can access a bulletin board where AMers exchange messages and share information related to their favorite mode.
The Web site's Tech page provides a cornucopia of AM-related technical information including transmitter and receiver modifications for more efficient operation, circuits for low powered "PW" (peanut whistle) AM transmitters, and a valuable library of model numbers, specifications and connection information for modulation transformers. For the newcomer, there are also tutorials on how to set up both modern solid-state and older tube gear, and how to keep those amplitude phone modulations clean, pleasant and inside prescribed bandwidth.
The site's Features page focuses on the people behind the microphone rather than the equipment in front of the operators. Finally, the Stuff page has links to other AM sites, information about AM events, a list of popular AM frequencies and information regarding Amplitude Modulation International (AMI); AMI is an organization of AMers dedicated to the enjoyment, promotion and preservation of AM.
Until next time, keep on surfin'.
Editor's note:
Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, resides in downtown Wolcott, Connecticut, and is a member
of the QQCC (QST quarter century club), i.e., he has been a QST writer for 25
years. Since getting his ticket in 1969, Stan has sampled nearly every entrée
in the Amateur Radio menu (including a stint as Connecticut Section Manager),
but he keeps coming back to his favorite preoccupations: VHF and packet radio.
As a result, he runs a 2-meter APRS digipeater and weather station (WA1LOU-15)
from his mountaintop location in central Connecticut. Stan has been a long time
advocate of using computers with Amateur Radio and wrote programs to dupe
contests and calculate antenna bearings way back in 1978. Today, he is on the
board of directors of the Tucson Amateur Packet Radio (TAPR) and uses his Mac
to surf the Internet searching for that perfect ham radio web page. To contact
Stan, send e-mail to wa1lou@arrl.net.
| Previous: Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act Now in Both House and Senate | Next: FCC Says Strengthened Rule Will Help Enforcement |
