A classic AM station was on the air--sporting the W1AW call sign--during the 2003 ARRL National Convention.

It was a perfect stage to showcase the grand old phone mode of amplitude modulation: the 2003 ARRL National Convention. The convention took place in Arlington, Texas June 20-23 and coincided with HamCom 2003. For the second year in a row, two special event stations were set up: one by the Dallas Amateur Radio Club to operate Morse and single-sideband, and another hosted by Quarter Century Wireless Association Chapter 207 and AM International to operate amplitude modulation. These two groups hosted the first-ever AM Forum at HamCom.

The AM Station

The W1AW/5 AM position was operated on Friday afternoon, all day Saturday and Sunday morning on the frequencies designated by the ARRL band plan as AM calling frequencies. A group of dedicated AMers manned the station and oversaw its operation whenever guest operators sat in. Each operator received a certificate and every station worked received a commemorative QSL card.

Robert Turner, W5APN, provided the main station, consisting of a Collins 75A-4 receiver and a Johnson Viking II transmitter. John King, K5CDV, loaned a second station consisting of an HRO receiver and a Barker and Williamson 5100 transmitter. Joe Isabella, N3JI, headed up the antenna raising party. The antenna system, mounted on the roof of the three-story building, comprised three inverted Vs on a single feed line for 75, 40, and 20 meters.

Joe Walsh, WB6ACU, takes the AM operator's position of W1AW/5 and works a station on 40 meters during HamCom 2003. [Mike Cowart, WA5CMI, Photo]

Perhaps the highlight of the weekend occurred when a celebrity guest operator, Joe Walsh, WB6ACU, made a contact Friday afternoon on 40 meters. Joe was on tour with the Eagles, and the band just happened to be performing in Dallas that weekend. He's a well-known collector and operator of many fine pieces of old AM gear. But the list of celebrities didn't end there. Also joining in the fun were ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, and Bob Heil, K9EID, who provided two of his company's new Classic microphones for the event.

The AM station at HamCom attracted large crowds and introduced many curious hams to the world of AM. One fellow was heard saying that now he knew what the AM button on his transceiver was for and he was going to try it when he got home. Another old-timer said he had forgotten how much fun it was to operate AM.

ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, listens in during an AM contact. [Mike Cowart, WA5CMI, Photo]

The AM Forum

At the AM Forum, Tim Long, N5DWV, gave two presentations that were presented originally at the Dayton Hamvention earlier this year. The first, originally made by Dale Gagnon, KW1I, covered AM International: its history, its purpose and how to join. The other presentation described the work done by Steve Cloutier, WA1QIX, on class E amplifiers/transmitters and class H modulation. Steve has done much pioneering in this area. The presentation was technical and the audience required some understanding of RF circuits to fully benefit from it. It is good to know that that not all AMers are content using the old technology, but instead continue to push the state of the art.

Amplitude modulation has been making strong inroads into our hobby over the past several years. Many old-timers are rediscovering the fun of restoring and operating transmitters and receivers they used many years ago proudly bearing names such as E.F. Johnson, World Radio Laboratories, Hammarlund, National, Collins and Hallicrafters. Interestingly, there are more newcomers to this mode than old-timers. Many newer hams are discovering the "high-fidelity" sound obtainable without audio processing and the gentlemanly roundtables that make this mode so alluring. In addition, new technologies and techniques are being applied to this mode just as they are in other facets of our hobby.

Licensed since 1962, Mike Cowart, WA5CMI, has spent his last six years on the air enjoying AM. He's a technical writer for Hewlett-Packard and is interested in all facets of ham radio. Cowart can be reached via e-mail at wa5cmi@arrl.net.

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