SSB.. still a practicle tool?

Nostrodamus

Nostrodamus

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 Mar 2011
Messages
3,659
www.cygnus3.com
It seems to me that in the not to dim and distant past SSB for long time cruisers was essential.
Now that technology has moved on is it now a geeks toy or something that is still essential.
The cost of getting a set fitted and doing the courses to use one is expensive but are there other alternatives that are reliable or cheaper.
Are they used for anything besides chatting and listening to radio 4.
Now we have wi fi, mobile phones, and phones with world wide coverage do they still have their place on a boat.
I have to say I have not got one and have never used one so I just don't know and that is why I ask.
 
There are various uses for SSB sets. Not all can be replaced by other forms of technology.

1. Person-to-person communication - can be replaced by mobile or satphone.

2. Weather fax - can be replaced, at a cost, by mobile/satellite internet.

3. Listening to shipping forecast and other long-range weather info. Can be replaced by receiver only set.

4. Sending out all ships messages including Mayday, PanPan

5. Taking part in networks on passage or in a wide area e.g. the Caribbean.

6. Getting routing from Herb.

The last 3 are difficult or unsatisfactory by other means. I would say go for an SSB if planning to cross the Atlantic.
 
Last edited:
I would hazard an opinion that satellite technology is beginning to making the SSB redundant. The independence of a satellite phone from the yacht (at least while the phone battery lasts) is one positive feature.
 
prv said:
That's certainly true for point-to-point ship-to-shore uses, but that's not all SSB is used for.

Pete
Click to expand...

What other stuff would SSB uniquely support compared to satellite phones? I was thinking perhaps a net but conference calling is available via satellite phones now. Of course one does need to know numbers and cant just transmit to see who is out there. That ability and the free cost to use SSB (once its up and running) is a significant reason for having an SSB on long voyages.
 
BlowingOldBoots said:
What other stuff would SSB uniquely support compared to satellite phones? I was thinking perhaps a net
Click to expand...

I guess that's mostly what I'm thinking of too. I've never done any blue-water sailing on yachts so I'm not speaking from first-hand knowledge, but I get the impression there's a fair bit of yachtie HF chatter, particularly in American-influenced areas.

BlowingOldBoots said:
conference calling is available via satellite phones now.
Click to expand...

Sure, but nobody uses it for that, so you wouldn't have anyone to talk to. What matters is how things are generally done (at least by the sort of people you want to talk to), not what the technology is capable of.

Pete
 
prv said:
.... What matters is how things are generally done (at least by the sort of people you want to talk to), not what the technology is capable of.....
Click to expand...

Yes, that's important and very true. Probably the single most important reason for fitting an SSB.
 
They do seem to be used more in the Caribbean as far as I can make out.
Besides just for chatting are they used anywhere else?
Anyone know the cost of an average set up of a SSB?
 
snowleopard said:
There are various uses for SSB sets. Not all can be replaced by other forms of technology.

1. Person-to-person communication - can be replaced by mobile or satphone.

2. Weather fax - can be replaced, at a cost, by mobile/satellite internet.

3. Listening to shipping forecast and other long-range weather info. Can be replaced by receiver only set.

4. Sending out all ships messages including Mayday, PanPan

5. Taking part in networks on passage or in a wide area e.g. the Caribbean.

6. Getting routing from Herb.

The last 3 are difficult or unsatisfactory by other means. I would say go for an SSB if planning to cross the Atlantic.
Click to expand...
Person to person can be a little akward by other means-a sat phone is great as is any phone when you have a number to ring!or someone has your number!
I have just set up my Eton G3 SSB receiver at home on a long wire antenna.
I can download from Hamburg RTTY transmissions giving me weather reports from ships and buoys strung across the Atlantic or Weatherfaxes.I can listen into the Caribbean net and receive UK and US Volumet verbal airport weather conditions around the Atlantic.I can receive amateur band traffic transatlantic and as far south as the Canaries.
If I were out mid ocean there is something very reassuring about this particularly if I had a tranceiver set up.
As for cost if you go Ham you can pick up a good tranceiver for a little over £200 and a manual ATU for perhaps £100.
About 3 weeks ago on e bay a furuno marine ssb circa 2000 ish went with a weatherproof auto ATU for £350.00
My receiver £40 off ebay.
Highlands of Scotland surrounded by mountains
 
Last edited:
Most long distance boats carry and use SSB for the weather nets (including Herb), safety and security nets, ocean passage nets and general cruiser nets. None of those can be accessed by wifi, mobile phones or satphones. Put another way SSB is the lifeblood of long distance cruising. However if you are going to the Med don't bother with SSB or Satphone you are not going long distances and thus never far from mobile phone masts and wifi. There is a Mediteranean net but nobody uses it.
 
SSB

The OP must have read my mind. About 18 months ago I bought a new icom 802, with ATU and a ground plate .

I started looking at fitting said equipment and now not sure if I should bother. We do intend going further afield next season and possibly across the pond. But is it worth the trouble of drilling holes I the boat, adding thick copper strips thick cables from the battery and changing the back stay for an insulated aerial type.

Then there is the amount of power they use 25A on transmit? Ok only for a few minutes but without a generator the power has to be found from perhaps running the engine longer.

If we intended a four or five year circuit then I would not hesitate but with a sat phone and a call from a friend with weather info and text messages and you can take it in the life raft with you in an emergency I am really not so sure now??
 
Quite a contentious area as are so many.

I´ve gone ham. Did intermediate exam yesterday, 1 more exam to go then can get a call sign to use offshore. :cool:

So what! :rolleyes:

Did Atlantic with sat phone, long term the money side ain´t that good - it was about 35 quid a month just to keep the sim active, that´s before airtime. Maybe less now. If you´re thinking of just get a new sim per passage then I would think again, daily trip to the many customs offices on the island every day gets dull. If you just need comms for an each way across atlantic then maybe, but take onboard that next day deliverys ain´t next day, and maybe not ever.

So SSB I´m not sure of, but on the ham side, now onboard I can send and recieve email and it´s very shakey, pretty sure when I get into open ocean all will be better. There´s a bit of ham which seems reasuring in that if I yell and scream when it all goes bad, someone will most likely hear and pass on the message.

I would suggest that if you´re heading off for a long long time then ssb or ham will eventually end up on your boat.
 
Ah, the SSB versus satphone argument.

It's easy.

If you want to talk to the folks back home, or your weather router, or your stockbroker, or your cat sitter - get a satphone

If you want to talk to other boats during an ocean passage to share experiences and gather information, such as weather conditions - get an SSB

It's not one or the other. They do two different jobs. Once you understand the difference it is easy to choose a system to suit your circumstances.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Other threads that may be of interest

S
How much does re-upholstery cost?
Replies
11
Views
440
Dino
Dino
boatmike
Merry Fisher 695
Replies
3
Views
180
Bouba
Bouba
N
Integral Battery Electric Outboards… with MORE POWER!
Replies
11
Views
744
ontheplane
O
Y
The Seafarer 700 and NASA clipper sounders saga
Replies
10
Views
430
Dellquay13
Dellquay13

Share this page

Top