SSB

Chuckbear · Jan 25, 2009

Franklin, The info you ask for would probably take too much room here to cover it all. A link to get you started is http://www.yachtcom.info/ and a book I would highly recommend if you are serious about installing a unit yourself, and it is not that difficult, would be http://www.amazon.com/Marine-SSB-Radio-Idi-Yachts-Sideband/dp/0971564027 by Cap. Marti Brown which explains the entire process in laymans terms and walks you through the install.

Chuckbear · Jan 25, 2009

T allay some of your fears. we have had SSB on board for 15 years. There is no damage to our thru-hulls, but the ground plane does not have to be attached to them. You can opt to install a Dynaplate on the outside of your hull and connect to that. And yes you will need to drill holes thru the hull for this. So do you really want a SSB or not? If you do you will need to connect to thru-hulls or drill holes for the Dynaplate. If you don't want to do either of these than forget about installing a SSB. There are thousand of boats out cruising with SSB installations using both of these methods. What is your fear and what is the reality? That is where a complete understanding will make the decisions easy. Check out the link first and if you really want to proceed get the book. All of your questions will be answered.

windward54 · Jan 25, 2009

I recently installed a SSB on my boat and was surprised how easy it is. I installed an ICOM M802 and it took about a day and a half, working alone. When I bought the unit, I was thinking I would have to pay someone to do it. Turned out to be a lot easier then I thought.

1. On a sailboat, the normal antenna is a simple, long piece of wire. However, to work efficiently and send off power to the airwaves, the antenna has to be as close to a half wavelength as possible. Wavelengths vary between 160 meters all the way to 10 meters, so there is no way to have one wire match all the needed lengths. An antenna tuner electronically makes the antenna look like it is the proper length. If you don't have a tuner installed, power is reflected back into your radio and does not get out.

2. A counterpoise provides the second half of the length for the antenna. Also called a ground, a counterpoise can be easily obtained by most by running a copper foil from the transceiver to a thru-hull. You would also need to run a second strip of foil from the antenna tuner to the same thru-hull. Foil is used and not cable because radio waves travel along the surface of the copper. The foil has more surface then a cable. A ground can be obtained with a dynaplate, but you would have to mount this to the hull and punch a hole in the hull for the wires. Try the easy way first! One less thru-hull is always better in my book. And I inspect my thru-hulls on a regular basis. I have had no issues with the thru-hull I used, which was the engine raw water inlet. I used this one as it is always in the water.

I liked the ICOM M802 as I could mount the control head on my nav station and the transceiver got stowed away in a safe, out-of-the-way spot. I have pictures of the nav station on my profile page.

We also have a SSB/Ham group. Check out the Social Groups page. Most are hams, as there are a lot more ham operators out there. A fair number are like me, as my radio does both ham and SSB legally. I would suggest thinking about getting a ham license, as it compliments the SSB side very well. It will take only two test, neither is difficult if you study. There is no more Morse Code test, as this was dropped last year. And there are a lot more hams out there then boats with SSB. And hams out there love to talk on the air and seem to get a kick out of marine moble hams.

Feel free to e-maill me or send a private message if you would like more info!

Franklin said:
I searched the archives and found nothing to answer my questions so here it goes:

1) Why does one need a tuner with an SSB? I was under the impression the SSB radio unit comes with the tuner.

2) What the heck is counterpoise and why does the SSB need a special kind of ground to the sea?

I would really like to get an SSB (not a HAM) for my boat and would already have done so if it wasn't such a pain to install. I don't like the idea of connecting anything to my thru-hulls so that's out.

Captain Jaz · Jan 25, 2009

If like me your studying for your HAM test, you'll find these mock tests useful - http://www.qrz.com/xtest2.html

Brian D · Jan 25, 2009

Let me just amplify the tuner aspect of the question.

Most radios work on a 50 ohm load. This is impedance, not resistance. This basically means when the load matches the transformer's impedance, maximum power dissipation is met. This mean that the majority of the power a tube or transistor produces is fed to the load and is used. What remains is fed off as heat.

If the load does not match the transformer's impedance, the power that is sent to the load is mismatched and is returned to the transformer. Very little power is used at the load and what is returned is dissipated as heat. This can damage the transformer, tubes or transistor, and cause more internal damage to the radio. Solid State radios will normally shut down with a thermal cutoff switch. Tube radios will keep operating until a tube fails. When that happens, the high voltage supply in the radio could short and the radio could release all its smoke, at once. Not good in any fashion.

The tuner, as explained by Karl in post #4 will match the transmitter side and the antenna side. This will allow for maximum transferable power. But this still does not make the radiator, or antenna, efficient. That is only done through proper design. But it will help in getting your signal out.

Join us on the Ham Forum here at SBO. Granted we are hams, but the principle applies to SSB operations also. They are both the same, just licensed differently.

Good luck.

windward54 · Jan 25, 2009

Or as always say, it is just one big happy band plan!

Don't forget Brian, some of us do both SSB and ham. I am amused sometimes that on the same radio I am sometimes WDE4472 and at different spots I am KI6CZP.

Brian D · Jan 25, 2009

Yeah, Karl, like I said, licensed differently. I will eventually apply for a Maritime license. One day. LOL

Ed Schenck · Jan 25, 2009

Antenna for SSB simplified.

Lots of good skinny so far. And even with my HAM license I would not be qualified to give much more help. But I have a radio and I do NOT have a counterpoise. If you use your backstay for one-half of the antenna then yes, you do require the other half to run through the boat as copper foil. There are, however, other options if you are really opposed to that.

I built my own "Inverted-V". I just run it up with a spare halyard, the pointy end. The two legs are attached to the toerail. But understand that for me it is an emergency thing. It is not used very often.

Then there are some rail mounted options like the Outbacker:
http://www.outbackerantennas.com/index.html . My issue has always been the cutting of the backstay and insertiion of the terminals. I know that everybody does it but I can't.

windward54 · Jan 25, 2009

Franklin, don't confuse a radio ground with an electrical ground. Two different things. And hams use tuners as well, but it depends on their setups in their shack. On land, there are more options when it comes to antennas, so for lots of applications, a tuner is not needed. On boats, there is only a couple of options. With no backstay, it gets harder. I say one guy that installed a fake backstay just to have an antenna. Don't know how it worked out for him.

And yes, the code is now gone.

windward54 · Jan 26, 2009

And Ed, I use a Gam antenna. It slides over the backstay, and can be installed at the dock if you do not have a split backstay. My backstay is split, so I had someone go up and press on the last 10 or 15 feet. Works great for me and I didn't have to cut the stay.

www.gamelectronicsinc.com

Bill Roosa · Jan 26, 2009

Antennas

They

Bill Roosa · Jan 26, 2009

Antennas

They are not all created equal

There is a big perception that you HAVE to use a half dipole antenna and the associated antenna tuner with its hard to achieve ground. You could also use a full dipole and forgo the ground all together.

I recommend you get an antenna book and read it before you go hanging one in your rigging. There are lots of options.

MoonSailer · Jan 26, 2009

What about just a reciever to get weather??? Any suggestions for good recievers???

Ross · Jan 26, 2009

I googled SSB transceivers this morning and got this amoung many others.
http://hf-ssb-transceiver.at-communication.com/en/qmac/transceiver_hf90.html

windward54 · Jan 26, 2009

And Bill, you are probably refering to a half dipole antenna. It is half a wavelength long, requires no ground, and works great. Only problem with using this on a boat is the length. If you are talking on channel 12A, your antenna is going to be a little less then 39 feet long, end to end. Probably doable for most, especially if you do an inverted V setup. But switch to talk on 4A, and now your half dipole antenna has to be just under 117 feet long. Gets a little tough to get that one up. Hence the antenna tuner. My antenna is 34 feet long, but a tuner will work with shorter lengths if needed.

sailaway78 · Jan 26, 2009

Check with TonyB

Franklin, if he is still in your area, give TonyB a shout. He installed a rail mount antenna for his ham setup when we brought it over from Tampa. Seems like it was 6 or 8 feet overall. I don't know squat about it, but what he used had a couple of different clips, and for some bands you used one clip, for other bands you used another. Seemed like it worked fairly well.

Bill Roosa · Jan 27, 2009

Windward

You are of course right, it is normally considered to be 1/2 wavelength. My point was you can modify any/all the antennas with capacitors and chokes to get "results" but that requires a little knowledge of what is out there and how it is used (ban plan and personal interest) to use it to begin with. The only thing I dislike about a dipole is the height (1/2 wave) you need to get it above the ground to get directionality out of it. Omni is fine for close in work but those center of the ocean things need some beam focusing.

Who knows you might even be able to get by on a higher freq with a directional antenna all the way across the ocean if you know what you are doing.