Hiya Dino! Welcome to the wonderful and meliflous world of Amateur AM!
Let me take a poke at answering some of your questions, though I'm sure there are other AM OPs who will add their comments too. > What radios are recommended? My limited experience tells me that current > production models really lack any AM prowess. It seems that Yaesu products appear the most amenable to AM operation, either through simple proper adjustments or ease of modification. The two most popular Yaesu transceivers are the FT-101 series and the FT-102. A good set of mods for the FT101 series is at http://www.amwindow.org/tech/htm/ft101.htm For further information on the FT-101 refer the The Yaesu FT-101 HF Transceiver Home Page by NW2M. http://www.qsl.net/nw2m/ FT-102 Mods info: http://www.amwindow.org/tech/htm/ft102.htm An alternative, and highly recommended is to find an older "boatanchor" AM transmitter, such as a Heath Apache, or DX-100. These run 100W out, but are fully self-contained plate modulated rigs that lend themselves well to mods and upgrades. Or find a smaller Johnson Ranger, at 50W out, it is still plate modulated, and the basis of a fine exciter for that big rig. > ...but I like TUBES! 500 watts of CLEAN AM power > would float my boat! You're in luck! There are several home-brew "projects" on the web, catering to 300-500W AM rigs: http://www.amwindow.org/tech/htm/813/813.htm This is the famous "Tesla 300" 813 rig. 300-500W depending on plate voltage and available iron. Wanna go state-of-the-art solid state? Build a fully solid state 300-500W AM transmitter! http://www.netway.com/~stevec/ham/classe.htm Class E AM Transmitter Descriptions, Circuits, Etc. There are two excellent websites dedicated to Amataeur AM: The "AM Window": http://www.amwindow.org/index.htm and W2INR's "AMFone" http://www.amfone.net/ The AM Window site also has a well attended, high traffic BBS forum, at: http://www.amwindow.org/wwwboard/wwwboard.html where you can post your questions, queries and concerns. All "the best" AM'ers hang out there! :-) > What antennas are recommended? Wire? Loaded verticals? Most AM'ers use wire antennas for the lower bands. Loaded verticals suffer from too many problems - feeding and loading, radiation angles, etc. A simple balanced-fed dipole will jo the job to start you off. > Is the Globe King really THAT expensive?! Is it worth it? You mean the one made in Paris Texas? Heh heh heh. The consensus is that you could build a better one for a lot less. 'Nuf said. > Is there a publication dedicated to AM radio? Sort of. Electric Radio, 14643 County Road G, Cortez, CO 81321-9575 Phone/FAX (970) 564-9185 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] The Electric Radio Index - a searchable index of ER articles and photos is available online or a downloadable version for DOS/Windows , Macintosh and Linux/UNIX users. Get the details at: http://www.amwindow.org/er/erindex.htm The AM Press/Exchange - The AM Press Exchange is the oldest AM publication and is devoted entirely to AM. It has been published since the late 1970's and has generally been more technical in its content than ER. Unfortunately, it has been published sporadically over the last several years. Now, back issues are available on the Web. http://www.amfone.net/AMPX/ampx.htm My recommendation is to spend some time on both the AM Window, http://www.amwindow.org/index.htm and AMFone http://www.amfone.net/, and check the forum at http://www.amwindow.org/wwwboard/wwwboard.html . Good luck, and welcome to the world of Amateur AM 73, Ed, VA3ES (a/k/a Piss-weak Ed) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ed Sieb, VA3ES [EMAIL PROTECTED] P. O. Box 8377, Ottawa Terminal, Ottawa, Ontario, K1G 3H8 613-738-8924 (H) AMI #529 Canadian Division Director. Member - Radio Club of America, QCWA, AWA Net Manager - Canadian Boat Anchor Net (3745 Kcs) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
