Why is there so little use of FM on HF

[KB3ZGV]

Is it just that it never caught on? Or is there something about the HF bands that makes them unsuitable for FM?

[AB3MV]

FM is a bandwidth hog.

[KJ3N]

FM is a bandwidth hog.

^^^^This.^^^^

You want FM? Stick to 10m where there's plenty of room.

[KB3ZGV]

I haven't even heard it on 10

[KA9MOT]

Plenty of repeaters on 10M. Get your directory out.

[KG4CGC]

THERE ARE 4 BASIC FM REPEATER OUTPUT FREQUENCIES. Program them into a scanner and hook that up to a quarter wave whip. Run continuously. Next time the band opens up you'll hear them.

[N8YX]

Every time the band is up I hear repeater activity on 10. And the FM simplex crowd is fairly active on 29.600.

[X-Rated]

Every time the band is up ...

A KWM-2A gets it's wings.

[N8YX]

A KWM-2A gets it's wings.
But not on FM. Or AM, for that matter.

[W1GUH]

Bone up on your ham history. NBFM is limited to the same bandwidth as AM*. It was tried sometime around the 50's because FM is impervious to AM noise, as in static. Don't know if it was ever used much. Shortly thereafter was the SSB explosion and wiped most carrier-dependant emission types.

Got an AF-67 here that I could put on NBFM. Maybe there should be an "FM Window" on 75m?

* And, anyway, why does BW matter most of the time these days? Use of the bands during non-contest times is so minimal that BW is a big "don't care" except to those types who are offended by anything that "they" think is "wrong."

[KB3ZGV]

I also was wondering why bandwidth would be an issue. It doesn't seem like the bands are crowded at all here. After getting into this ham radio thing this year, I am surprised that there is so little activity.

Then again, all I have to compare it to is mid 70's CB where everything was so crowded it became useless. Were the amateur bands always this dead?

[X-Rated]

I also was wondering why bandwidth would be an issue. It doesn't seem like the bands are crowded at all here. After getting into this ham radio thing this year, I am surprised that there is so little activity.

Then again, all I have to compare it to is mid 70's CB where everything was so crowded it became useless. Were the amateur bands always this dead?

If you understand that regardless of how crowded your band is, the receiver sensitivity decreases with larger bandwidths. With a given radio, the S/N ratio will be best with something like a 250Hz filter for CW reception. But really, I don't think the FCC will knock on your door if you operate FM on 75M. Try it and let us know how that works out. I never thought much about it.

[KJ3N]

* And, anyway, why does BW matter most of the time these days?

Because the FCC says it does.

97.307(f)(1) No angle-modulated emission may have a modulation index greater than 1 at the highest modulation frequency.

That notation is for every HF band with the exception of 29-29.7 Mhz.

[KE5YPJ]

Where is the fm on vhf or any kind of operation for that matter. I guess all our locals 2m rigs only work during the thrs. night net. dead peters everywhere. mabyee we have become a society that can only socialize on fartbook. I love fm just wish there was more on the vhf and uhf bands here. mabye this would be better on a different thread.

[N8YX]

50.525

146.520
146.565
146.580
147.555

223.640

446.000

All these see regular usage in and around the Akron, OH area...

[n2ize]

Forget FM... Put those radios on AM !!! Where they belong !!

[kb2vxa]

Yeah right, hyellowy telephonium audio we don't want. If it's not made for yay-emm it won't play angel music.

[n2ize]

Yeah right, hyellowy telephonium audio we don't want. If it's not made for yay-emm it won't play angel music.

Actually some of the modern radios sound pretty good on yay-em. I was impressed with a few, even without mods. Of course getting decent yay-em out of em requires the carrier be backed way down into the piss weak zone.

[NQ6U]

Actually some of the modern radios sound pretty good on yay-em. I was impressed with a few, even without mods. Of course getting decent yay-em out of em requires the carrier be backed way down into the piss weak zone.

This one (http://k7dyy.com/) looks interesting. Not cheap, however.

http://k7dyy.com/

[kb2vxa]

"Of course getting decent yay-em out of em requires the carrier be backed way down into the piss weak zone."

Oh, so THAT'S why... he's a ham twice over. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl-DY8IsUB0

[n2ize]

This one (http://k7dyy.com/) looks interesting. Not cheap, however.

http://k7dyy.com/

Ah yes... the DYY Class D AM Transmitter. I was browsing around the AMFONE.net and came across some posts. Apparently some of the guys feel they sound quite good and they live up to the standards as advertised. There are many different schools of thought regarding higher powered AM rigs. Some of the guys prefer building Class E solid state rigs. Steve WA1QIX has some interesting designs for class E rigs and to be honest they don;t look all that hard or expensive to build. Most of the parts, i.e. MOSFET's etc. are readily available I would venture that in today's world it might be cheaper to build up a 1500 W PEP solid state class D or E rig from scratch than to build up a tube rig of similar power capacity from scratch..

Of course the drawback to going solid state is that you miss that nice bright warm orange glow of the plates and that warm aire blowing out of the transmitter. On cold windy winter nights there is nothing like a warm radio glowing bright. On the other hand the solid state rig might be good for the hot mummer months.

[KG4CGC]

Ah yes... the DYY Class D AM Transmitter. I was browsing around the AMFONE.net and came across some posts. Apparently some of the guys feel they sound quite good and they live up to the standards as advertised. There are many different schools of thought regarding higher powered AM rigs. Some of the guys prefer building Class E solid state rigs. Steve WA1QIX has some interesting designs for class E rigs and to be honest they don;t look all that hard or expensive to build. Most of the parts, i.e. MOSFET's etc. are readily available I would venture that in today's world it might be cheaper to build up a 1500 W PEP solid state class D or E rig from scratch than to build up a tube rig of similar power capacity from scratch..

Of course the drawback to going solid state is that you miss that nice bright warm orange glow of the plates and that warm aire blowing out of the transmitter. On cold windy winter nights there is nothing like a warm radio glowing bright. On the other hand the solid state rig might be good for the hot mummer months.

Stick a tube in your audio chain.

[kb2vxa]

OOOoooh, that sounds so KINKY!