AM was how everyone operated before SSB took over, and a dedicated group still uses it. The appeal is audio quality: an AM signal with a good microphone and a wide receiver filter sounds noticeably richer than SSB.
It is inefficient — most of the power goes into a carrier that conveys nothing — but that is rather the point for the people who run it. Vintage equipment is a large part of the culture here.
At a Glance
- Category
- Phone
- Bandwidth
- About 6 kHz
- What you need
- A radio that supports AM transmit — not all modern ones do
- Where to listen
- Informal AM calling frequencies, particularly on 75 and 160 meters