SSB - Online resources for a newbie?

[demonboy]

Hi

As a live-aboard and an eventual blue water cruiser I know I'm going to need SSB, probably a transceiver, for weather and company. But where the hell do I start? I've been surveying ebay for some bargains but realise that I don't know the difference between an IC706 and rtty! I'm therefore putting any purchases on hold until I know what I'm doing.

If you know of any online resources, especially forums, I'd love to hear about your suggestions. Of course amateur ham sites would be good but it should really be nautical-related I guess.

Thanks!

 

[BrendanS]

If you are just starting, then this is an excellent introduction, though the regulations/coastguard etc etc bits are US based, not UK or international, so bear that in mind.

http://www.icomamerica.com/marine/ssb_book.asp

Useful info here once you actually have a set
http://www.yachtcom.co.uk/comms/MarineSSB.htm

Ham and marine SSB forum here
http://cruisenews.net/cgi-bin/mmham/webbbs_config.pl

Don't forget tho, you'll find many users here, so try posting any questions here first - you will not only get other users posting, but representatives from manufacturers like Icom, and Mike Martin who used to work for Ofcom, who can put some different perspectives on things.

Much of the advice you will be given will be technically illegal - Icom (Jon Brooks) and Mike Martin will tell you what is actually legal. The users will give you advice that is a bit more flexible. Which you decide to go with is down to your personal choice based on how happy you are with legal/technically illegal setup.

Many sets from ebay might not be legal in the UK for instance, though I see you are currently Med based, so maybe not so concerned about UK legistlation, but Euro legislation will still apply

 

[Ships_Cat]

To add to the references that Brendan has given, there are the following:

The Australian Maritime College have a very good operator's handbook which covers some equipment matters too. It can be downloaded at http://www.amcom.amc.edu.au/handbook/handbook2003.pdf.

SGC do a general (as opposed to just marine) HF book which is similar to, but complements the Icom one that Brendan has pointed to. It can be downloaded at http://www.sgcworld.com/Publications/Books/hfguidebook.pdf.

There are quite a number of marine oriented forums around but most do not have much activity on them. I sometimes watch the one Brendan mentions as well as the Seven Seas Cruising Association one at http://www.ssca.org/sscabb/index.php - look at the Communications option.

A problem with all the forums is that much of the advice is driven by witch craft, black magic or something as much "technical" advice is at variance to good professional sense and is counterproductive so don't rush out following the advice given. Be particularly wary about advice on antennas, grounds/earthing and radio frequency interference (which does not leave much to take notice of I guess /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif).

You need to decide if your interests are marine radio communications, amateur radio communications or just having contact with the outside world (in which case a phone - sat or cellular, depending on where you are - may be the best choice) - only you can answer those questions.

As Brendan has said, you will receive advice that is illegal eg using amateur sets on the marine bands, and only you can make any such decision for yourself. You will, however, be given much advice which is actually contrary to the international and your own states legal requirements. Mike Martin will be straightforward as far as the UK requirements are concerned, and those (apart from the technical type approvals of radios) echo those in most first world countries (although many might wish to convince you otherwise).

John

 

[TigaWave]

An interesting way to start and a useful back up is maybe to think about getting a cheap receiver, I have a targetHF3 and wire up the back stay and you can tune into the nets/weather/rtty and radio 4.
But your right next time I will get a transceiver, it would have been nice to join in some of the informal nets.
Have fun..

 

[jerryat]

Hi Demonboy,

I, amongst many others, have posted heaps of replies to your sort of questions and a search (even over the last few months) will produce a huge fund of info. including recommendations for the 'best' free (and commercial) software available to interpret the signals, type/models of transceivers etc.

There's lots of controversy re the legalities of licencing etc, but you can make your own decisions having read more of the views.

Cheers Jerry

 

[demonboy]

It's so encouraging to get some positive and useful responses. Thank you, I have my homework cut out for me.

 

[demonboy]

The Icom 735 seems to rate really well amongst ham enthusiasts, but one thing I don't understand is that it is described as 100w. A quote from one user describing it is:

"the rig was doing 120 watts sideband, 110 watts fm and on Am I had a 40watt carrier with a peak of about 80 watts on All bands"

I know I should be doing more reading and researching myself but can someone explain in lay-mans terms what this means?

 

[jerryat]

Hi Demonboy,

Not sure what the quote refers to, but suggest you may like to consider the Icom 706 MkII (or MkIII) which has a 100 watt output (variable) and, together with an AT4 ATU (automatic tuning unit) and a proper 75mm wide copper tape connected to your Cast iron keel or sintered plate, will give you superb coverage and reception. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif If you get it 'snipped' to open open the marine bands as well, (ducks below parapet in case Mike Martin is reading this /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif) you've got the lot.

Key thing for us whilst long term cruising in a small boat, was it's size - little larger than an ordinary car radio - and with a detachable and re-siteable front panel that allows you to hide the guts of the unit and just see the panel. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

We could talk to people from Tokyo to the Falklands (another yacht there actually) as well as Europe and the States. Kept us in clear contact with the superb Herb on our Pond circuits too. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Hope this helps

Cheers Jerry

 

[SimonJ]

I am just taking a break from Caribbean cruising where it is a rare day that you meet a qualified HF operator on a sailboat from the several 100s if not 1000s using SSB. Now that commercial ships mostly use various forms of SATcom very few other (non yachty)operators use commercial bands which are therefore effectively unpoliced. Thankfully! But how could they be anyway? HAm is of course a different matter.
As mentioned above an ICOM 706 Mk2g, for example, which is a ham radio works exeptionally well when opened up for marine bands. You may well NOT need an insulated backstay or sintered bronze earth plate. Lots of copper strip for the earth and a separate free running aerial work very well for me.
I have little confidence in the M Martin fellow if he is the same one who at a boat show a few years ago told me a US sourced VHF from ICOM was inferior and unacceptable in Europe because the US only made radios to CB standards! In the US incidentally you need a US style VHF radio to pick up weather channels, talk to US boats and shoreside. If I return to UK and use my US VHF it is apparently illegal - crazy! You cannot convince me US models are made to inferior standards. The only difference is the test each is given which ICOM say they would both pass! I mention this because I think there is a read acrosss to HF and asrguments about their suitability- a Ham radio opened up works well on all SSB freqs and is much cheaper (as well as more compact etc).
Sound (sorry) advice is to get the hang of things with a listening only SSB radio which is useful anyway for BBC world service, weather, listening to nets etc and then move on to a transceiver. Good luck.

 

[davidbains]

When not online you could read Mike Harris' "A Guide to Small Boat Radio" and the later
"Communications at Sea". The earlier guide contains a vast amount of radio info in a small
paperback.

 

[giraffehappy]

Hi Simon, am also on verge of committing to purchasing SSB, and am considering an Icom 706, opened up to wideband. I was told that they are made on a steel chassis, and are not suitable for marine life, whilst the 802 has an ?aluminium chassis, and won't corrode. Do you still think that the 706 is a good bet?

 

[Anonymous]

I'm sure that I read recently in this forum that ICOM are expected to soon introduce a new European legal marine radio with ham bands. Meanwhile, the downside of buying the 706 or 802 is that they aren't legal for maritime use in British-flagged vessels - maybe that doesn't bother you, maybe you won't get caught, but you need to be aware of the actual legal status. The Icom 710 is a legal marine set and can be opened for the ham bands (not strictly legally but probably nobody would find out) and at least on a routine inspection you would appear to have a legal set. Only a trained person would be able to prove otherwise, anyway, and I don't suppose that any foreign officials would bother to go that far whereas they might conceivably check to see whether your set is type approved for your vessel.

At the end of the day, you need to consider what you want your SSB for:-

Safety/distress?
Port and CG working?
Amateur radio 'chat' and marine nets?
Herb?
Weatherfax?
Sending and receiving emails?

 

[davidbains]

The Icom 706 is indeed a better vehicle radio than boat radio.
It does need a very healthy battery to get the best out of it.
However if you can charge newish batteries and keep it dry as poss
it will work well. Does need an ATU. Some other ham sets have them built in.

 

[jerryat]

Hi Giraffehappy,

We've had our 706 on board for the last eight years and it is still in genuinely perfect condition. It has done Pond circuits and two trips down to, and up through the Med. during that time, as well as countless Xchannel trips in all sorts of rotten weather. We too, wondered about a 'ham' radio being robust enough for our needs, but as you can see, it has more than filled our wildest expectations.

Ok, our initial thought was to go for the Icom 710, but having used one throughout an earlier Pond circuit on a friend's boat. we were seriously unimpressed. In addition, the size, weight and PRICE was huge compared to the 706, even including the AT4 (ATU) we bought with it. We consulted with many people before going for the 706 and, almost without exception, the view was the same - for it's size, there was nothing to beat it.

Certainly on our last trip back from the Caribbean, we were regularly linking other yachts to Herb when their own radios were incapable of doing so. True, they may have had inferior installations (indeed I sorted out a couple of them in Horta, who'd been impressed with the clarity of our transmissions on the Carib/Azores bit) but Herb was regularly complimentary on our installation.

I don't understand David's comment re the 706 requiring a 'healthy' battery. Believe me, this is a definite requirement for ALL HF tranceivers if you want any chance of someone receiving you over long distances. It isn't all down to clever use of propagation!!

I have no relationship with Icom other than as a (slightly amazed) highly satisfied customer.

Cheers Jerry

 

[Benbow]

The 706 is a very well respected small set. Perosnally on the one ocasion I played with one, I found it difficult to use just because it is so small. I have not tried one at sea as you obviously have, and maybe my eyes are failing faster than yours, but I will be going for an intermediate sized set such as the Yaesu FT 897 on my /mm installation. I don't think the slightly greater size and weight will make any difference on a boat and the controls and display are that bit easier to use.

 

[jerryat]

Hi Benbow!

Yep, the FT897's very good according the guys in my Ham radio club, so you're making a sound choice. The 706 does have a smaller display than the bigger ham sets, but we have no problem at all in using it in any conditions. We only have a 'small' boat so space was also a consideration for us!

Frankly, once most of the regularly used frequencies (wefax, RTTY, Nets etc) are set up in the memory, it's only a question of turning one knob!!

Hope you're as delighted with the Yaesu as we are with our 706. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Cheers Jerry

 

[PaulJ]

I would not presume to offer advice on SSB because I too am a beginner at all this but I have just gone through the same process so here are my thoughts on a "it seems to work for me" basis......

I could not see any circumstances under which I would ever need to use a Marine HF frequency except in an emergency..... and in an emergency, you can call for help on ANY frequency. I want an SSB for using the many cruising nets, for downloading Weatherfax and possibly for e-mail, all of which can be done with a Ham rig. So that you COULD transmit on 2182 if you had to, many people get their rig widebanded.

I was not interested in Amateur Radio as an end in itself, purely as a means to do all these other things but to remain legal you HAVE to do the Amateur Radio licence. That was a pain in the a**e but really not too bad once you get down to it and actually there is quite a lot of useful information in the course which will help you when you come to install and operate the thing. They have abolished the morse test now, which is a blessing! I did the course in evening classes at a local school but I think most Amateur Radio clubs run courses from time to time or at least have somebody who can help you get through the exam.

SO..... To get me up and running without spending too much I bought an Icom 718 off ebay for about £350 (can't remember exactly) and a new SGC 230 ATU. I read the books of instructions and also there is a lot of info on the Icom and Sailmail websites, plus some invaluable help from this forum...... and it all seems to work!

The boat is not in the water yet (though that is getting perilously close!) but the SSB/ATU is installed and I have spoken to people from the middle of the USA, down to South Africa and East to Mongolia and a lot of places in between so I am happy that it works. It has downloaded Weatherfax with no problems and the 718 is supposed to be able to handle data for e-mail but I haven't tried that yet.

I bought the IC 718 as a cheap introduction to this mysterious art but frankly I think it is a GREAT set. It is well made and very simple to operate and so far I haven't found any reason to upgrade.

Paul

 

[SimonJ]

MY 706 is like new after 3 years. I see French chandlery magazines list them as avilable for marine use.
I still think a good bet!

 

[chibb]

PaulJ, how have you dealt with providing a ground for the SSB ? I've got a steel boat and was considering how sintered copper grounding strips could be used safely on a steel boat regarding ganvanic action etc. Was wondering wether the hull itself would be any use ? or if paint would easily insulate the effect?

 

[Benbow]

[ QUOTE ]
Was wondering wether the hull itself would be any use ? or if paint would easily insulate the effect?

[/ QUOTE ]

A steel hull is a perfect RF ground. Paint has no consequences. Adding a scintered ground plate is totally pointless under these circumstances.

Just make the shortest link you can between the ATU ground and the hull with a broad copper strip and you are laughing.