Since the 1960's while enjoying the hobby of SWL, it was the AM operators of the era who I received an informal education from. Through their daily ramblings, they were sharing the trials and tribulations of operating and maintaining their AM transmitters. As a youth, I was hooked. The pride of having a great sounding station along with frequency stability was a constant as they experimented with differing approaches. Today, many of these operators and transmitters have become silent leaving room for a newer generation to take the reins of the art.
I don't have the physical room for one of these heavy metal setups (YL Restrictions), but I still long for those friendships and QSO's of past. Today I engage with modern technology with the challenge of trying to recapture the sounds of years past in a low drive highly processed transceiver. While I have come close, there are no substitutes for high drive AM techniques.
You will hear my attempts on 10/40/75 meters using the following:
* Rig: Yaesu FTDX-101MP
* Microphone: Heil PR-40 (W/Ukrainian 10 band EQ leveraged for the noise gate)
* Ameritron AL-811H modded with 572b's
* Various antennas
On receive, the rig feeds a set of Bose speakers which help with reproducing the rich tones of yesteryear.
All the best from the Great Northwest...
Michael - KG7HQ
First off welcome Michael. And your setup will sound great on AM. No need to run plate modulated heavy metal. Many of the new rigs work great with an amp on AM. Look forward to working you soon.
John McGrath N9AMI
AMI# 1488
Executive Director