1 - Historically Amateurs referred to band by the wavelength, not frequency.
It's caused no end of confusion over the years to newer hams. So 160 meters is the "top" band meaning the longest wavelength. It all began when Hams were forced all the way "down" to only 200 meters by the US Government to keep them off of the "useful" longer wavelengths. Back then "everyone knew" that no one could get out of their back yards at only 200 meters. 300 to 700 meters were the favored wavelengths for real communications, with commercial stations capable of huge antennas using much longer wavelengths yet. Skip propagation and the Heaviside (ionosphere) were unknown. All communications was thought to be by ground wave. Putting hams on 200 meters then was thought to be the end of Ham radio; sort of like limiting Hams to simplex operation at 5 GHz would be today. So Hams reluctantly hung around 200 meters, with a lot of then hanging closer to 150 meters, certain that they'd never be heard way down at 200 meters, until the government put it's bureaucratic foot down and started enforcing the rules. Then, of course, the first inklings of "skip" propagation were discovered around 200 meters (which is about the top end of the current AM Standard Broadcast Band in North America) and, for the experimenters among the fraternity, the rush was on to get "down" to shorter and shorter wavelengths. While that was happening, the 200 meter (later the 160 meter) band was the one most commonly used for traffic relays with its more stable and predictable propagation. After WWII, when the 160 meter band was swamped with LORAN QRM, that job shifted on "down" to 80 meters. 2 and 3 - I belong to this list, which often has discussions about anything to do with operating on any band and any mode that an Elecraft rig uses, and to one other. Since I enjoy tinkering with parts that are supposed to glow when in operation (tubes) I belong to the glowbugs list at http://tinyurl.com/2r9y4 Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- Question 1: With 160 meters being the LOWEST band in frequency, why is it referred to as TOP band? Question 2: If there are more appropriate lists for discussing ham radio related topics of general interest, what are they? Question 3: What amateur radio related lists do you yourself value belonging to? So far I've only found the Elecraft and QRP-L groups to be of lasting interest. Thanks, Bill _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft You must subscribe to post. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, Unsub etc): http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft page: http://www.elecraft.com |
On Jun 7, 2004, at 3:10 PM, [hidden email] wrote: > Question 1: With 160 meters being the LOWEST band in frequency, why > is it > referred to as TOP band? Top band in meters. Also in manners (generally). Also known as "The Gentlemen's Band". > Question 2: If there are more appropriate lists for discussing ham > radio > related topics of general interest, what are they? There's a bunch supported by Contesting.com and QTH.net. > Question 3: What amateur radio related lists do you yourself value > belonging > to? [hidden email], [hidden email] (charter member). I also belong to two Heathkit lists and the RFI list, too. Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL Mail: [hidden email] Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!" -- Wilbur Wright, 1901 _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft You must subscribe to post. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, Unsub etc): http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft page: http://www.elecraft.com |
"TOP BAND" refers to the highest wavelength band available to the radio
amateur in the USA (at present). If you have Microsoft "Outlook Express", Goto the View Folders functions and bring up the "newsgroups" list. If it is the first time, it will take a while online to load the list! Then you can select a search term like "radio" and it will bring up all the "groups" with that term in its name. There is a bunch of them dealing with ham radio etc. Also you might try looking them up on qrz.com. Think they have links to various groups. Or even try the "Google" search engine online and it will keep you busy for hours searching for the groups that deal with what you are interested in. Old time radio can be found on the "glowbugs" and "boatanchor" groups. Ditto "specialty" groups like PSK31, etc. Hope this helps. 73, Sandy W5TVW ----- Original Message ----- From: <[hidden email]> To: <[hidden email]>; <[hidden email]> Sent: Monday, June 07, 2004 2:10 PM Subject: [Elecraft] 3 questions | Question 1: With 160 meters being the LOWEST band in frequency, why is it | referred to as TOP band? | | Question 2: If there are more appropriate lists for discussing ham radio | related topics of general interest, what are they? | | Question 3: What amateur radio related lists do you yourself value belonging | to? | | So far I've only found the Elecraft and QRP-L groups to be of lasting | interest. | | Thanks, Bill | _______________________________________________ | Elecraft mailing list | Post to: [hidden email] | http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft | You must subscribe to post. | Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, Unsub etc): http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm | Elecraft page: http://www.elecraft.com | | _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft You must subscribe to post. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, Unsub etc): http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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