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View Full Version : Which is more popular in the USA SSB or AM ?



Sticky Fingers
06-22-2020, 08:07 AM
Just sittin here wondering whats more popular in the states SSB or AM . AM here in NZ is rare only the truckies on chnl 11 (26.450 in NZ) use AM . SSB is by far more used and popular here , we also use 27mhz cb chnl's as well , but everyone I know and talk to on radio are pretty much only on SSB. The only time I might listen to AM is when the skip is runnin from the states and we hear some stuff on AM but it's usually just a big unintelligible noise. I often wonder why AM is still even a thing , it's pretty much rubbish compared to SSB...... What do you use ? I'm SSB all the way .

whiteastro
06-22-2020, 03:32 PM
I know some guys that don't like sideband and stick to AM. Some people like Am because every cheap radio has AM but not every radio has sideband and you don't have to tune a AM radio in. It's called different strokes for different fokes. I like the extra power of SSB when you are stationary but AM fills the bill when your on the road.

Buzzweiser
10-20-2020, 01:19 AM
In my area of the "States" we have both users. The AM guys seem to be more avid to tomfoolery and nonsense type talking. There are a few exceptions. They also seem to be the ones who like the big amps more. They still kinda play my station is bigger than yours game to some extent. Especially the Channel 6 and 28 crowd. Now the Ch 6 guys stay on 6 and talk flatside but the others you will find on many other channels. They tend to group by wherever the loudest guy close to them talks most. Probably more due to bleedover than anything. Then when DX rolls the all pile to 28.
Now the SSB'rs here locally are more of a roundtable chatty bunch. Most run 100watt ham rigs and stay above channel 40. Some have modest amps for that extra kick when the DX rolls but most run about 100watts. They are scattered over a wider area than the AM'rs. The group I chat with the most are scattered around about 5 counties. We routinely talk 75 miles or so on any given evening depending on who's on in the group.
Late at night I channel surf and wave a hand at many of the groups both AM and SSB.
73's