Hi all,
I'm looking for a way to get
weather and stay in basic communication with a shore contact while
offshore. I'm not that concerned about
DSC; I already have an
EPIRB and a PLB. My
boat currently has a really old Icon M-700
marine SSB that barely receives anything. I'm going to replace it -
what should I replace it with?
HF ham radios like the IC-7200 are much cheaper than their
marine counterparts and can receive marine
SSB transmissions (i.e. nets, NOAA, Chris Parker) while providing access to the ham nets, WINMOR
email, etc. Is ship-to-ship marine SSB still alive? How about SSB nets? Am I going to miss anything important by not being able to transmit on these bands?
OR... should I just get a satellite-based tool instead? Are they more reliable and/or easier than
HF radio for my purposes?
I have a ship's station
license, an amateur tech
license (taking the general test in a week), and understand that it is illegal to transmit on the marine SSB bands using a ham
radio.
Thanks for your suggestions