Good summary of SPAM / AMI history.
A couple of additional notes. The creation of AM International (with the
AMI name resurrected from an earlier defunct AM group) was entered into only
reluctantly. After SPAM went inactive, numerous attempts to offer support
and assistance to the last SPAM president were ignored. Don - K4KYV,
David - W6PSS, Barry - N6CSW (ER's founder), myself and others felt it was a
critical time to have a national AM organizational voice, and jointly agreed
on its form and mission.
One of the last official acts of SPAM before it went silent was to petition
the FCC to allow AM stations to double their historic power level,
equivalent to about 6000 watts PEP output at 100% modulation. This occurred
early in the 1990s when the 10 year AM input power measurement grandfather
period was ending. At that time all AM transmitters would have to stay
within the new 1500 watt PEP output provision. The SPAM petition was
considered along with one that I had submitted to change from the old one KW
input power measurement to the roughly equivalent output power measurement
of 3000 watt PEP at 100% modulation. The ARRL also submitted a petition
requesting continuation of the historic AM power level by continuing to
grandfather the old measurement technique. The fourth petition considered
at the same time was not in the form of a petition, but a half page letter
from an amateur requesting removal of the AM mode from amateur bands.
Happily, the latter request was not successful and the FCC made a fairly
strong statement about AM and its place in amateur radio. Unfortunately,
the FCC denied the continuation of AM historic power levels in several
petition and petition reconsideration actions. And, it always mentioned in
a snide way that the AM community was even asking to double their power
level, which was the position of the obscure SPAM petition.
I agree with Don that Internet based AM interest communities are now the
effective watchdog for AM. But, AMI is alive and has a roll, more in the
Hoisy and Floyd tradition, providing an organizational framework and
materials to support regional AM promotion and club activities.
----- Original Message -----
From: "D. Chester" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2007 1:11 AM
Subject: [AMRadio] Re:SPAM
When Floyd unexpectedly went SK, Hoisy W4CJL who was founder of SPAM
agreed to let a guy in California take over. It took a while to get all
the SPAM paperwork, and there may have been a bank account, from Floyd's
estate. I heard that Floyd's parents were not totally cooperative. But
eventually the guy in CA got everything and began running SPAM.
He hit the ground running and for a few months it looked like he was going
be even more actively involved than Floyd. But he turned out to be a real
flash in the pan. He abruptly dropped from sight. No-one was ever able
to contact him to learn what happened. Ads for SPAM membership continued
to run in CQ magazine for a couple of years. I don't think anyone ever
solved the mystery.
A few years later, Dale KW1I resurrected AMI (AM International) to take
its place. Occasionally we still hear from AMI, but I think the internet
has pretty much replaced SPAM/AMI as a watchdog for threats against AM.
There is this reflector, plus the AM Forum, as well as sites like QRZ.com
and
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