Cruising Budget

[micoverde]

A couple of notes on EC's SSB comments -- there's no doubt that you can probably get more out of a $7000 SSB rig with a "pactor" III modem and sailmail etc than you can out of a $100 "yachtboy ssb hf reciever" but what you need to ask yourself is do you really care?

After crossing the Pacific I now understand my own requirements extremely well -- I only care about the ability to get long distance weather forecasts day and night (HF voice or weather fax with a laptop or demodulator) and sometimes listen in on nets for info on the next island group and/or emergencies. Not relying on GRIBs will make you more knowledgable about weather in general.

Full SSB installs are extremely expensive and complex monsters that draw a lot of power on trasmit. They're not for me but your mileage may vary.

I also caution anyone who thinks you're going to have excellent reception and transmission right out of the box with high end SSB rigs. I've sat in may anchorages pulling down weather faxes with my own anttenae which is just a piece of heavy wire taped to the backstay and had much better quality than my auto-tuner neighbors. There is a lot to be said for quality installs and good testing of setup.

good luck.

[CaptainK]

I have a question for either micoverde, Islandbound, or Jack (Euro Cruiser).

About this SSB device you guys keep talking about. About the expensive models, over the cheaper.

Is this device a radio of some sort. I'm trying to learn about different systems. Especially the electonic kind?

And which one of these devices really works, over the other SSB's? Which one works under adverse conditions. Or on a clear day?

And about the antenna rigging? Is it like the radar. You have to have it shielded, til the wire is up by the antenna?

And which manufactuer makes the best ones? What general price ranges do they fall under? I noticed micoverde mentioned $7,000 for the one he mentioned?