Heads-up on AM Marathon and The Heavy Metal Rally this NYD's? And, more...

[ThaDood]

I blew off C2C AM and woke-up listening to the AM'ers on 3885kHz. Anyway, I heard them talk about an AM Marathon for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Then, the annual AM Heavy Metal Rally, for the weekend of 1/4 - 1/5/2025. (Called that since the idea is to use older tube Amateur and military gear, but anyone can get-in on this.) Where to monitor, and, or, talk?

160M - Centered around 1885kHz.

75M - From 3873 - 3885kHz. However, there is AM activity down near 3700kHz, in the Extra Portion of the band.

40M - From 7285 - 7295kHz. (Albeit, later in the day SW Broadcasters still crash this on 40M.)

20M - Call FREQ has been 14.286kHz. However, due to lots of SSB'er there, Timtron, WA1HLR suggested using from 14.320 - 14.345MHz. (I tend to agree with that practice.)

17M - Upper portion of that WARC band.

15M - Suggested 21.420 - 21.445MHz.

12M - Upper portion of that WARC band.

10M - Centered around 29.0000MHz (Calling FREQ.), with activity about every 10kHz up.

6M - Centered around 50.400MHz (Calling FREQ.), with activity about every 10kHz up.

2M - This has been considered a 'Local Option' upon where to operate. However, a suggested Calling FREQ could be 144.300MHz.

222MHz, 902MHz, 1.2Ghz, and up? Well, you could always experiment with AM where the band calls for 'Mixed Modes'.

Regardless, the idea is to have fun on AM. Hear you on? Hope so. OH yeah!!! The AM Rally starts on February 1st, 2025.  http://www.amrally.com/    This page is from this year, but could answer some questions.  https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?threads/heavy-metal-am-rally.895916/

Hear ya on-air AM? Hope so!!!!

[ThaDood]

Contest time, the next three weekends, starting with the ARRL VHF January Sweepsteaks. https://www.arrl.org/January-vhf   That's good practice for WFD, Winter Field Day.  https://winterfieldday.org/   That one is gaining more popularity, even local clubs are doing this one, this year. And then, the purely fun event, The AM Rally. http://www.amrally.com/   And, even if I don't seriously do these events for points, I don't mind giving out points as a contact and it tells me where my station can be heard. However, The AM Rally can be a bigger challenge, due to the nature of that mode. Barefoot power can still be heard, especially on the higher HF bands. Also, it's best to monitor your signal and to listen to your off-air signal for quality. Yep, there are broadcast quality AM stations out there, that use external EQ and processing. (I'm using that to tame the aggressive ALC in a Kenwood TS-2000X.) Rigs that were terrible in AM TX included the Yaesu FT-857D and FT-847. (I've heard better audio through a mattress.) If your rig has crisp, communication-type, quality audio, that works fine. In fact, that might help you in a pile-up, especially when W1AW gets in there. The good news is that most SDR rigs coming out sound super in AM TX mode right out-of-the-box. So, there's hope there. Regardless, have fun!!!!