SSB.. still a practicle tool?

[mixmaster]

From our experience, for Med, you don't need either because the distances just aren't that big. For further afield we went with SSB and no Sat phone. Found it great, we actually ended up using it for email even in European anchorages because it was convenient and free. Used it for weather all the time, coastal and offshore sailing. In the carib and if you make the return trip to Europe SSB is used a great deal more than in Europe which seems to be a dead spot for SSB usage.
On passage, we would use it for position reporting, weather (text, grib and weather fax), emails to family/friends, talking to other boats on passage and sometimes weather routing (Herb). All for "free".
A good setup should cost a £1k these days plus the modem and insulated backstay (if you go that route, we did).
This was 2 years ago. If I went again, I would add a sat phone to what we have but if getting only one I think i would still choose the SSB/Pactor modem combo.

 

[prv]

In the carib and if you make the return trip to Europe SSB is used a great deal more than in Europe which seems to be a dead spot for SSB usage..

Perhaps because the licensing process is a bit more involved here? Based on this thread I've just learned that Americans can get an SSB license for free just by filling in an online form.

Pete

 

[Gerry]

Twelve years of cruising, wouldn't be without the SSB.
Uses?

Downloading weather forecasts
Downloading weatherfax
sending and receiving email, thus keeping in touch with family
SSB nets, info on new countries, help sourcing parts, assistance with safety and security
Assistance in emergencies


Just replacing ours after a lightning strike prior to another Atlantic crossing. I won't be leaving without it!

 

[Boo2]

www.sailcom.co.uk

£2899.00 ! Gulp...

www.nevadaradio.co.uk

£8885.00 ! Double gulp...

Boo2

 

[oldvarnish]

£2899.00 ! Gulp...

£8885.00 ! Double gulp...

Boo2

Don't panic! With a bit of shopping around you can pick up an excellent set of second hand kit for under £1K. I think I got my set-up for just over £500.
A lot of SSBs are installed for Atlantic passages etc, and are then sold when the owner reverts to home waters sailing.

 

[Bilgediver]

Where can you get SSB sets in the UK ?

Boo2

Ebay.....Icom.......Yaesu (Standard Vertex) Some come with GMDSS

 

[Juniperskip]

Go Satphone!!!

Without a SSB you will miss the inane conversations about how the fishing is and what everyone had for dinner!

I fitted a satphone to communicate and download weather data for our last Atlantic crossing.

Also fitted an ICOM receiver. Great for weather fax in the med but out of range for much of the crossing. Listened to one of the nets for two nights. First night the propagation was so poor the group gave up and the rest of the time it was as above.

They do different things of course. Frankly if I want to discuss the weather en route I would pay a professional router and get his / her advice on the sat phone. This is what a lot of the pro crewed boats do. Not very expensive and knowledgeable, with all the internet resources at their warm finger tips.

 

[ffiill]

To reiterate-if you watch e bay or check out Martin Lynch for second hand and their site like this for private sales-Lynchline you will not go far wrong.
As to installation there is loads of info. across the net.
Licencing is the odd one.
To use a marine ssb the operator has to have an internationally agreed Long Range operators certificate for which you will have to pay-and watch out -our local college does the course aimed at commercial operators with course fees of over £1000-you can do alot better than that.Your call sign/licence for the boat is available as a free online registration service from ofcom.Anyone can licence the boat for marine ssb.
Ham licences are different and you need a full licence to operate at sea.Having said this the beginners and intermediate are easy if you ever studied o level physics.The exam as I recall costs £20.
Its worth remembering that all transoceanic commercial aircraft use ssb to communicate with air traffic control.
Why-because whilst SSB is subject to the vagaries of the atmosphere they have a continuity wheras satellites;sat phones etc are subject to the vagaries of the internet;commercial providers;if they fail its likely they will all fail all at once!
If you want some idea of wht is involved in installing SSB google the manual for Furuno FS1502 ssb tranceiver.
Full of very useful info.

 

[Bosun Higgs]

I'm a ham radio operator and have been playing with SSB for decades. And playing is the right word - its an interesting toy for those of a practical bent and you can slowly receive emails or weather charts and you can chat to pals.

However ( and I have an SSB on board my boat) do not rely on it for emergency assistance , mayday calls etc. It might work but it also might not - comms via SSB is not a 100% reliable , every day, every minute type of system. Atmospheric conditions affect it, sunspots affect it and increasingly people arent listening out for it either.

Which is of course why it has been superceded by satellite comms under the GMDSS system with the only exception being the polar areas where you cannot have a geo stationary satellite.

 

[ffiill]

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??

Check out on google for operators manual for furuno fs 1502-useful installation hints.
You do not necessarily need a ground plate if you link all big metal objects on board together-fuel and water tanks;safety wires/rails;keel if metal;similarly speading copper mesh over the tops of grp tanks.
What you are doing is creating so called radials to dissapate energy and whilst a good link to salt water is a good way of doing it its not a necessity.
A simple long wire antenna taken up to the masthead by messenger line can be as sucessful as insulated back stay.
Equally I came across a link(I think on here somewhere)where someone ( a keen ham )sucessfully used his rig and safety wires as an an antenna because as he pointed out on a glassfibre boat they are usually well insulted by the glassfibre structure.

 

[KellysEye]

>I started looking at fitting said equipment and now not sure if I should bother.

I think you will regret it if you don't fit it. As I said it's the lifeblood of cruising.

>Frankly if I want to discuss the weather en route I would pay a professional router and get his / her advice on the sat phone.

I'm not sure why you would want to pay, over the Atlantic Herb is free. Or is it you pefer to discuss the weather?

 

[hughevans]

SSB radio.

SSB is essential for anyone contemplating ocean sailing. It is invaluable for long range comms. and weather. It is free compared with sat phones, but must be set up properly. We would no.t be without it.
Hugh and Shan Evans (yacht Stargazer).

 

[mike_bryon]

I do NOT consider SSB essential for either contemplating nor, more to the point, going ocean sailing. I have owned two sets. One I bought when I was relatively inexperienced; the latest boat came with a set. I hardly used either on a good many ocean passages and time in anchorages. I didn’t bother getting the current set repaired when it stopped working (didn’t realise for ages it was faulty) and eventually left it ashore.
I would estimate that the majority of boats here in the Caribbean get on just fine without it.

 

[Conachair]

SSB is essential for anyone contemplating ocean sailing.

I do NOT consider SSB essential for either contemplating nor, more to the point, going ocean sailing.

Those last 2 posts highlight brilliantly the wealth of definitive knowledge available on these hallowed forums and show just what an exact science sailing really is.

 

[MM5AHO]

I'm a ham radio operator and have been playing with SSB for decades. And playing is the right word - its an interesting toy for those of a practical bent and you can slowly receive emails or weather charts and you can chat to pals.

However ( and I have an SSB on board my boat) do not rely on it for emergency assistance , mayday calls etc. It might work but it also might not - comms via SSB is not a 100% reliable , every day, every minute type of system. Atmospheric conditions affect it, sunspots affect it and increasingly people arent listening out for it either.

Which is of course why it has been superceded by satellite comms under the GMDSS system with the only exception being the polar areas where you cannot have a geo stationary satellite.

I'm not so sure that atmospherics have much impact on the reliability of SSB (which is HF). Sunspots have a massive affect.
Atmospherics do affect VHF though.

 

[Conachair]

This blog might be of interest re offshore HF radio use.


Not sure how much she´s using marine SSb nets much, seems to be more ham stuff. And she´s on winlink, which you need a ham callsign for.

Also not sure how much of the comms is radio & how much is sat phone, pretty sure she has both.

http://www.winlink.org/dotnet/maps/PositionReportsDetail.aspx?callsign=KC2IOV

Thats a full on passage!!!!!!!!!!

 

[snowleopard]

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.

If you are thinking of going to the Caribbean, do it. Weather and safety nets over there and the opportunity to join a net while crossing.

The grounding plate (sintered bronze?) does work but a better bet or a worthwhile addition is a copper mesh on the inside of the hull to boost the grounding. You only really need copper tape from the ATU to the ground plate. Instead of replacing the backstay you can use a whip antenna - about 7 metres is ideal.

While you're at it, get a demodulator and weatherfax software. You could also get a full modem and sign up to Sailmail - useful to have but a bit crude by today's IT standards.