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AM filter....

74IN

Well-Known Member
Feb 17, 2003
1,831
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Labia
I know, I can't spell Why and had a case of Dirty Knuckles Sanchez.

The mode buttons are on the left of the VFO dial and top to bottom,,,,

LSB
USB
CW
AM
FM

I get AM SW much better on SSB and CW than AM.

One of these days the AM filter will go in...

YouTube - am filter
 

Hey 74, save your money. I don't think the filter will help any.

The problem is weak AM signals on a noisy band coupled with low modulated audio from the transmitting station.

Spin around the dial, when you get a very strong AM station you can listen to them just fine from AM, it's only the weak signals and/or weaker signal combined with crappy low audio they're putting out....makes it difficult to hear clearly from AM and they sound better from SSB. It's just the nature of the beast. An AM filter will make little difference. That's been my experience. Good luck.
 
You need the wide AM filter to keep the audio from sounding muddy and muffled.My Kenwood receiver has selectable bandwidth's of 2.7, 6 and 12 KHz and the audio on even the BIG stations sounds poor on the 2.7 KHz SSB filter. They sound pretty good on the 6 KHz filter and man do they sound nice on the 12 KHz filter providing there is nobody on a nearby frequency.
 
I get AM SW much better on SSB and CW than AM.

One of these days the AM filter will go in...

Well...you *WILL* get better AM reception on SSB than AM.

It's called listening to only one sideband of signal that has two sidebands and a carrier.

Synchronous detection (locking onto one sideband and injecting your own carrier) is a godsend if done correctly....

If most of your problem is in "fades" rather than bleeds, an AM filter isn't going to help much.
 
Filters do work well if selected properly for what you intend to listen to. That requires some thought. The simplest solution would be an adjustable filter that will do the necessary width without much degrading of sensitivity (one of the trade-offs with filters). Be prepared to spend as much on such a thingy as you probably did for your receiver. They are not common, require a lot of money and preparation for use. To the best of my knowledge, I've never heard anyone I would spend that kind of money on to listen to, sorry 'bout that.
DSP filtering is probably the closest you can get to that variable, one size fit's all, kind of filter. They do have their own qwerks though, so they are seldom -the- best solution for any particular listening problem. They do get 'close' though.
The only recommendation I'd make about filtering/filters is to get them from a company who specializes in them, which is very seldom the manufacturer of the radio. I'm a fan of Kenwood, but have to say that they produce the worst filters I've listened to. I've found that 'Inrad' produces the best filters I think I've listened to. If they make a filter for your particular radio you can bet that it's better than the ones normally supplied by the manufacturer of the radio. It still requires some thought about what their intended use is 'for'. That isn't as simple as it seems.
- 'Doc
 
If you want good AM reception on CB get a CB with a cristal latis filter like a Cobra 148GTL has, AM & SSB will sound real good......Oldtimer
 
Well...you *WILL* get better AM reception on SSB than AM.

It's called listening to only one sideband of signal that has two sidebands and a carrier.

Synchronous detection (locking onto one sideband and injecting your own carrier) is a godsend if done correctly....

If most of your problem is in "fades" rather than bleeds, an AM filter isn't going to help much.


All true. I used to tune the AM broadcast band in SSB mode looking for overseas stations. The SSB mode offered narrower filters for actually being able to separate signals as well as increased sensitivity not to mention the fact that the heterodynes made carrier detection easier. Also when listening to only one sideband you are less prone to selective fading of the signal. In the end however a good solid AM signal does need a wide bandwidth receiver to take advantage of the true sound quality it has to offer.
 
Ah ha... a filter in hand is better than two in the bush.

Well a good part is, if it doesn't do much of anything for you, these filters have pretty good resale value and someone will always buy it up on ebay or wherever and you'll get most of your money back.

Fo shizzle !!!!!!!!!!!
 
All true. I used to tune the AM broadcast band in SSB mode looking for overseas stations. The SSB mode offered narrower filters for actually being able to separate signals as well as increased sensitivity not to mention the fact that the heterodynes made carrier detection easier. Also when listening to only one sideband you are less prone to selective fading of the signal. In the end however a good solid AM signal does need a wide bandwidth receiver to take advantage of the true sound quality it has to offer.

I agree...listening to AM BCB with a 12 kHz filter inline will blow your mind after listening to a steady diet of SSB.

The only problem with synchronous detection is in the truly marginal signal. My Drake R-8 spends more time searching to lock on than anything else. Course, like you said, when that happens, it's best to switch to LSB and keep on digging. I used to DX MW RDF beacons and nabbed quite a few in LSB...
 
That audio is from an AM signal through the ssb filter as others have said.

There are mods on the WWW to totally bypass the 8.83 filter on AM. This makes nice sound but leaves the signal open to lots of junk from either side.

Install that AM filter if you like AM. It's not the world's best shape factor but it's OK. Kenwood also had a dummy filter in some of the rigs of that era. It used an additional I.F. can on a board. IIRC the 930 came with that if it didn't have an AM filter factory installed.

You want really good sync detection? Pipe the I.F. out into a softrock66. Filtering done in DSP and it actually works well on AM.
 

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