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Old 28-07-2014, 08:16   #16
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Re: Sat-fi vs. SSB

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Originally Posted by Canibul View Post
I understand that for many it's a hobby. A very useful hobby. But for someone looking for simple and reliable and who is not looking for a new hobby, SSB is dated. I'm sure it was the cat's meow back in the day, but that day is gone. The stereotype of the HAM operator sitting in a quiet basement with his headphones surrounded by boxes with knobs and switches and dials and cables running everywhere is a stereotype for a reason. It's typical. I'm not knocking SSB for those that like it. But for those who just want to open a box, read the instruction manual once, and start using it, SSB is not that kind of thing at all. It's not simple, nor easy unless you plan to immerse yourself in it.

As for the advice to "hire a professional", well, that's useless to me, personally. There are none here to hire. And this brings up another point, if I have to hire a professional to make something on the boat work because it's beyond me, well, I really don't want that equipment on the boat. It needs to be something I can operate and repair. Or cheap enough to carry a spare. This, too, is not SSB.
The professional was to install the SSB. You do need to do some reading to use it properly. You weren't born with the knowledge to check your oil, make sure water is flowing out the exhaust, or how to bleed the injectors for your engine, so by your logic you shouldn't have an engine on your boat.
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Old 28-07-2014, 08:22   #17
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Re: Sat-fi vs. SSB

Not true. Hand an average cruiser a yanmar manual, let him read it once, and then ask him to follow the steps to adjust the valve clearance or bleed the injectors, and he will do it.

Hand him an iCom SSB manual, then ask him to contact someone with the radio. Forget it.

I got this boat with the two Yanmars and an iCom SSB. I've been through this.
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Old 28-07-2014, 08:41   #18
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Re: Sat-fi vs. SSB

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Not true. Hand an average cruiser a yanmar manual, let him read it once, and then ask him to follow the steps to adjust the valve clearance or bleed the injectors, and he will do it.

Hand him an iCom SSB manual, then ask him to contact someone with the radio. Forget it.

I got this boat with the two Yanmars and an iCom SSB. I've been through this.
You have mechanical knowledge that many do not.

Yanmar service manual:

1. Remove the valve rocker arm cover.
2. Crank the engine and set the piston to top dead center on the compression stroke.

A lot of assumptions about knowledge of engines and/or careful reading of lots of other parts of a several hundred page document.
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Old 28-07-2014, 11:14   #19
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Re: Sat-fi vs. SSB

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Originally Posted by Ex-Calif View Post
I am a tentative SSB fan - I am waiting for someone to post a thread that says - "Bought Radio Model XYZ, plugged it in and it works."
I've installed a lot of SSB radios - over a hundred. They just work. I've done several dozen recovery operations (*grin*) and most of the problems are original installation issues. Do it right and it just works. The biggest issues are connectors (I despise the Shakespeare crimp on PL-259 connectors) and various shortcuts.

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You still have to be somewhat of a rocket scientist to make HF work.
Rocket science is easy. The pointy end goes first and the fire comes out the back.

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you're right about the HF. I've been trying for three days to get a weather fax from a SSB receiver and a tablet. If I had been dependent upon this actually working out of the box, or even with some help, I'd be up the proverbial creek.
Something fundamental is wrong. Frequency selection, cables, and software selection. Can you hear the fax signal? It is distinctive.

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For weather and emergencies, I think it's pretty obvious that if you can call someone ashore with a sat phone, they can look up and read you everything you need with no hassle whatsoever. Plus you get to speak with someone of your choice, whom you know.
1. I can talk to someone I know quite easily with an SSB.

2. In a bona fide emergency I want to talk to someone close by who might help. SSB, especially SSB with DSC, will do that. Satphones will not.

SSB scenario (based on true events):

Weather develops that is a surprise and unpleasant. I'm several hundred miles East of South Carolina and can't get South. No indication of trouble in the 96 hour forecast from two days ago, but today's 48 hour forecast looks bad. Beat my head against the wall for a day and a half during which I have discussions with other weather geeks (who are getting a full night's sleep and have serious Internet at home) and exchange some e-mail with them. They provide counsel to turn back which, after some reflection (I'm exhausted) I take. The whole time I have dozens of enthusiastic folks ashore monitoring my progress and--quite frankly--providing very real emotional support. It's amazing what a couple minutes on the radio with someone that knows your whole story and is truly concerned about you will do.

Sat-phone scenario (extrapolated and quite made up):

Weather develops that is a surprise and unpleasant. I'm several hundred miles East of South Carolina and can't get South. No indication of trouble in the 96 hour gribs from two days ago, or in the 48 hour gribs today. The next day dawns and the gribs look awful but I can't tell where the center of the low is. I have only a few hours to get the boat ready for serious weather. Beat my head against the wall for a day and a half during which I have separate discussions with people ashore about weather and exchange some e-mail with them. Spend a lot of time trying to recover from dropped calls and connections. They provide counsel to turn back which, after some reflection (I'm exhausted and seriously ticked off) I take. I try to keep in touch ashore but other than the USCG watch center (who mostly want to know if I'm ready to abandon or not) I spend more time leaving messages on voice mail than anything else. Just when I'm getting a few minutes rest the *&%%$^ satphone rings with someone calling me back.


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Hearing impaired? Forget SSB.
I'll let all the hams I know with hearing and sight impairments know.

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Originally Posted by Canibul View Post
But for someone looking for simple and reliable and who is not looking for a new hobby, SSB is dated.
Simply not true. Satphones are attractive because they look like landline and cell phones. Unfortunately they don't work like them and the reliability isn't anything like the perception.

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As for the advice to "hire a professional", well, that's useless to me, personally. There are none here to hire. And this brings up another point, if I have to hire a professional to make something on the boat work because it's beyond me, well, I really don't want that equipment on the boat. It needs to be something I can operate and repair. Or cheap enough to carry a spare. This, too, is not SSB.
I have an engine alignment issue. You do mine and I'll do yours.
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Old 28-07-2014, 11:43   #20
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Re: Sat-fi vs. SSB

Auspicious,I apriciate your post! I think it's all about mindful precise thinking and setup.SSB is mariners godsend.
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Old 28-07-2014, 12:32   #21
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Re: Sat-fi vs. SSB

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If you are OK with the data costs I would go satellite. The Iridium Go is intriguing.

I am a tentative SSB fan - I am waiting for someone to post a thread that says - "Bought Radio Model XYZ, plugged it in and it works."

You still have to be somewhat of a rocket scientist to make HF work. I will eventually have, it, will learn to make it work but it is a skill to be learned.

I think Satphone data costs are gonna be a killer if you are truly expecting Broadband capability.
We have an Icom 802 and a 140 tuner which was plug and play. You can't really test an SSB in a marina, too much interference from other masts. Out there is where it counts and out there our Icom works.
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Old 28-07-2014, 12:51   #22
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Re: Sat-fi vs. SSB

As I have posted in the past, we had a new ICOM SSB and a Iridium satphone starting a two year Atlantic circle cruise.

The satphone was easily installed at the nav station using a external antenna. We worked hard to get a good install on the SSB with antenna tuner, ground plane, insulated backstay, and the research required to get it right. Conclusion: satphone 10X easier to install than a SSB.

We started the two year trip using both systems. By the middle of the first Atlantic crossing the SSB was shut off and essentially never used again. It was total aggravation to try to get weather and communicate.

The satphone was the easy button. It was reliable and worked every time. IMHO the SSB is old outdated technology.
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Old 28-07-2014, 13:55   #23
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Re: Sat-fi vs. SSB

[QUOTE=Auspicious;1594605]
1. I can talk to someone I know quite easily with an SSB.
I can talk to ANYone I know with a phone.
2. In a bona fide emergency I want to talk to someone close by who might help. SSB, especially SSB with DSC, will do that. Satphones will not.

Yeah, you're several hundred miles east of S. Carolina. I never will be. Here, my best bet for getting help from nearby is cell phone or marine VHF. I don't know anyone in this nation who uses SSB. So that's no help. I'd

SSB scenario (based on true events):
Sat-phone scenario (extrapolated and quite made up):

REally? We get to make up the situation in favor of one system or another? Okay, here's one. Boat hits reef hard off deserted island. You have to grab dinghy and make it a mile from the reef to the beach in a storm. There's no shelter or water on the island and your boat is going to be broken up shortly. Which are you going to take with you, the SSB installation or the Sat phone? You could only afford one or the other.





I'll let all the hams I know with hearing and sight impairments know.
Well, okay but make sure you do it in a force 7 or better, with an engine cranking, the hatch open, and a couple port lights blown out.


I have an engine alignment issue. You do mine and I'll do yours.
.I'll help you with anything I can. I haven't done an engine alignment yet, but hey, it ain't rocket surgery.
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Old 28-07-2014, 14:50   #24
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Re: Sat-fi vs. SSB

Quote:
Originally Posted by Canibul View Post
Not true. Hand an average cruiser a yanmar manual, let him read it once, and then ask him to follow the steps to adjust the valve clearance or bleed the injectors, and he will do it.

Hand him an iCom SSB manual, then ask him to contact someone with the radio. Forget it.

I got this boat with the two Yanmars and an iCom SSB. I've been through this.
Most of the comments here favorable to SSB for a number of reasons seems to be the conventional wisdom. With a Satphone, you can only call one person. With an SSB, you can make general calls to a wide variety of people and in an emergency, you want the widest possible audience.

If you personally have had a problem using your SSB, you might want to be a bit more introspective about the reason(s) rather than blaming the problem on an inanimate object with which most of us have no problem.
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Old 29-07-2014, 05:22   #25
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Re: Sat-fi vs. SSB

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Besides cost, what are the pros and cons of Sat-fi vs. SSB?
I am considering purchasing an SSB as a way to get weather and email when offshore but have always wanted broadband internet so I could work while traveling. Satellite data subscription costs have been coming down & recent Sat-fi equipment such as the Inmarsat IsatHub iSavi bring broadband within reach.
Hallo - Just wanted to jump in really quickly and point out that the IsatHub will likely not work well (or at all) on your boat. It is a fixed satellite unit, very much like a BGAN terminal, that needs a precise fix on a satellite in order to operate. Since this is quite difficult to achieve on a boat, even while at anchor, such a unit would, in my opinion, be a waste unless you're exclusively planning on using it on shore.

If you are looking for satellite broadband at sea, you'll have to stick with one of the following units:

Iridium Pilot
Inmarsat Fleetbroadband 150, 250, or 500
VSAT Mini V3
Inmarsat Fleet One

If you are looking to do simple weather and email, you really don't need a broadband unit, but would be well served by something like an Iridium GO!, an Iridium handheld (like the 9555), or a RedPort Aurora. Adding compression services to any of those devices (if they don't come with them already) gives you full email, weather, and voice capabilities for less money than a full SSB installation (and a lot less headache).

(Full disclosure: we're a satellite equipment company and while we used to sell SSB modems and equipment and even operated a station at one point, we have completely closed our SSB sales and support over the last 5 years to switch fully to satellite. I'm not saying our advice isn't valid, but that if given the choice between satellite and SSB it's pretty clear which we're going to pick. Here's a detailed blog post on the subject, if you're interested: http://web.globalmarinenet.com/blog/...is-Really-Free).
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Old 29-07-2014, 05:44   #26
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Re: Sat-fi vs. SSB

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Originally Posted by Canibul View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Auspicious View Post
1. I can talk to someone I know quite easily with an SSB.
I can talk to ANYone I know with a phone.
Fair enough. I can talk to anyone I know with a phone also although the mechanics take a few steps. Ship-to-shore through commercial services like Shipcom and Brunei Radio or phone patches (the same thing) through ham radio - easily arranged on MMSN.

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Auspicious View Post
2. In a bona fide emergency I want to talk to someone close by who might help. SSB, especially SSB with DSC, will do that. Satphones will not.
Yeah, you're several hundred miles east of S. Carolina. I never will be. Here, my best bet for getting help from nearby is cell phone or marine VHF.
I agree. If your cruising grounds are in range of VHF and cell I'm not clear why you carry a satellite phone at all.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Canibul View Post
Really? We get to make up the situation in favor of one system or another? Okay, here's one. Boat hits reef hard off deserted island. You have to grab dinghy and make it a mile from the reef to the beach in a storm. There's no shelter or water on the island and your boat is going to be broken up shortly. Which are you going to take with you, the SSB installation or the Sat phone? You could only afford one or the other.
I didn't make up the scenario - it was very real for me. I extrapolated my SSB experience to a satellite phone based on my personal experience with both systems.

Your abandon ship scenario, whether into a dinghy or a life raft, is one of two (in my mind) where a sat-phone is more desirable than an SSB. I would rather have an EPIRB and a waterproof handheld VHF. A small solar charger for the VHF would be nice as well. An EPIRB is life safety equipment and built accordingly. The current generation of waterproof VHF radios is pretty sturdy. Sat-phones are prone to drowning. *grin*

The other scenario where a sat-phone is indisputably a better choice is when there is something specific ashore that requires ready dial-up access. That is usually a elderly parent or other dependent with medical issues or high-touch business responsibilities. I can't even imagine trying to get a parent's doctor to accommodate Shipcom shore-to-ship procedures.

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I'll let all the hams I know with hearing and sight impairments know.
Well, okay but make sure you do it in a force 7 or better, with an engine cranking, the hatch open, and a couple port lights blown out.
In F7 the hatch won't be open unless you mean the engine room hatch, in which case I'm not going to be attempting any communication until the engine is buttoned up regardless of technology. I think blown-out port lights are overstated as a problem; leaking yes but not blown out. If you have forty year old ports that might be a more likely problem but not with more modern installations. Still with the wind howling and the engine pounding boats are noisy places. With an SSB I can use noise-cancelling headphones (I use Bose Quiet-Comfort II headphones). The microphones that come with Icom 802 and 801E radios are pretty good in high noise environments - I don't have a problem being understood with high background noise. Sat-phones on the other hand are hard to interface with anything other than the in-built speaker and microphone. That is changing with increasing support for Bluetooth but then you are faced with finding good headsets that work in a high noise environment. Bluetooth also means one more thing to keep charged.

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Originally Posted by Hannah on 'Rita T' View Post
We have an Icom 802 and a 140 tuner which was plug and play. You can't really test an SSB in a marina, too much interference from other masts. Out there is where it counts and out there our Icom works.
This is a critical point. Meaningful testing and even useful training can be problematic in a marina - all the masts and rigging, battery chargers, air conditioners, refrigeration systems, and shore side systems like air compressers, saws, drills, and other commercial and residential emitters can be a nightmare.

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The satphone was easily installed at the nav station using a external antenna. We worked hard to get a good install on the SSB with antenna tuner, ground plane, insulated backstay, and the research required to get it right. Conclusion: satphone 10X easier to install than a SSB.
Shouldn't be ten times easier. "Research required to get it right" doesn't sound promising.

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We started the two year trip using both systems. By the middle of the first Atlantic crossing the SSB was shut off and essentially never used again. It was total aggravation to try to get weather and communicate.
How much time did you spend learning about and understanding propagation? Weather fax? Basic meterology? There is a lot of good material on the web and classes are available in person and as webinars. I can send anyone interested a list. How does the time you spent learning about effectively using HF/SSB radio compare to what you spent learning about diesel engines, sail trim, watermakers, refrigeration, and other systems aboard?

I have trained people to be effective with HF/SSB on voice, weather fax, and e-mail in three hours. How much of an investment is that? Webinars are less expensive but take longer total time.

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The satphone was the easy button. It was reliable and worked every time. IMHO the SSB is old outdated technology.
HF/SSB is old but not outdated. Many military services including the US ones continue to use HF as a back-up to primary operational communications systems. Commercial sat-phones are considered a convenience but not adequate for operations. My personal experience is similar.

All this technology is a bit of a moving target. Who would have thought five years ago that Inmarsat would have entered the personal communication space? Iridium and Globalstar recapitalization have improved performance. There remains good reason that satellite phones are not part of GMDSS. Perhaps someday that will change.
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Old 29-07-2014, 06:23   #27
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Re: Sat-fi vs. SSB

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Here's a detailed blog post on the subject, if you're interested: http://web.globalmarinenet.com/blog/...is-Really-Free).
If you're going to try to sell your expertise, it pays to gets the basics right. Otherwise you look as though you don't know your business:

"We're about to get technical, so bear with us. HF Radio consumes 30 Amps/hr (1) during a transmission, and 2 Amps/hr (2) just to listen. Compare that to an Iridium handheld which uses 0.4 Amps/hr (3) at all times.
A typical yacht charging system runs at 60 Amps with an 60-80% charging efficiency. This mans 40 Amps per hour (4) of charging capacity.
That 10kb GRIB file, taking 10 minutes to download over HF (if we're lucky), means 5 Amps (5) of power off the battery. With the charging efficiency on a typical yacht, we would be looking at 8 minutes to put that power back into the battery."


A. You are confused about the meaning of "Amps" (an instaneous measure of current) and "Amp Hours" (a measure of power consumption).



There is no such thing as "Amps/Hr" or "Amps per Hour". The correct terms above should be:

1. 30 Amps
2. 2 Amps
3, 0.4 Amps
4. 40 Amp Hours per Hour.

5. 5 Amp Hours

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Old 29-07-2014, 06:27   #28
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Re: Sat-fi vs. SSB

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Here's a detailed blog post on the subject, if you're interested: http://web.globalmarinenet.com/blog/...is-Really-Free).
With all due respect to GMN I take exception to some of the elements of their blog posting.

Quid-pro-quo disclosure: I do electronics and instrument installation. I support both HF/SSB and satellite systems. I'm a certified KVH installer among other things (Raymarine, Standard Horizon, Simrad, ...). I do NOT sell hardware. I do installations and training.

The GMN blog posting has a lot of merit. There are some errors.

Cost for an Icom 802, including all the odds and ends, is around $2650US from reputable sources. A pactor modem is around $1300US. The installation price of $1000US is in the ballpark - a lot depends on access on the boat. That's a $4000US equipment cost vice the $5000US cited in the GMN's blog post. Antennas will be $250 - $600US installed depending on the approach taken.

A handheld sat-phone is an apples to oranges comparison with an HF/SSB installation. I portion of my business is adding car-kits and marine external antennas to boats for customers with handheld phones. Some of those customers are starting from scratch since they lost their phones and sometimes their laptops to water damage trying to connect from the cockpit. A full kit from GMN is $3400US, including 500 minutes - back that out at their regular price and the equipment cost is $2700, a lot more than the $1200US cited. Installation is usually a little less than for HF/SSB but mounting the marine external antenna can be surprising difficult depending on the boat. If you need to add an antenna arm to a pole costs can mount.

The blog post talks about waiting for an open channel for HF/SSB e-mail. That can certainly be a problem but not to the extent described. What is missing from the comparison is the propensity for dropped calls and data connections on satellite systems.

The blog post talks about grib files but ignores weather fax. Synoptic weather charts available by weather fax at no cost are arguably better, more useful weather products than gribs. Downloading synoptic charts over satellite phones is time-consuming and expensive. I don't recall ever needing 10-15 minutes to download gribs over HF/SSB e-mail as cited in the blog post.

The power consumption section is a real problem. First and most important there is no such thing as Amps/hr. Misuse of units makes everything suspect. In most cases Amps/hr is used when Amps is the correct unit, and in a couple of cases Amps is used for what appears to be energy which should be Amp·hr (often used as Ah, Ahr, or Amp-hr). Further, duty cycle is not addressed which would cut the power consumption of HF/SSB in half or more. I understand the attempt to monetize power consumption but many cruisers use wind and solar. As long as total consumption can be managed there is no marginal cost for energy.

GMN quite properly cites the $250US/year cost of Sailmail as a running cost for HF/SSB e-mail. While Winlink is free to licensed hams there is a restriction against pecuniary interests being communicated over ham radio.

If someone is stuck in a thunderstorm it is a little late to be looking for weather information. Most cruisers look at weather once, sometimes twice, a day at regular times.

The blog post ignores satellite signal attenuation due to weather, particularly cloud cover and rain.

I challenge the statement that there is a broader selection of weather files by sat-phone. Between weather fax and Saildocs (free) I cannot think of a product that is not available over HF/SSB. Are you talking about proprietary products? Those can be e-mailed as easily to HF/SSB as to a sat-phone.

I think the GMN blog post is 85% of the way to a technically valid comparison. I volunteer to work directly with you to clean up the power consumption section. Getting everything right can only add to your credibility.
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Old 29-07-2014, 06:55   #29
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Re: Sat-fi vs. SSB

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If you're going to try to sell your expertise, it pays to gets the basics right.
Besides the terminology mistakes that you pointed out, the numbers quoted do not sound at all "typical" to me. At the very least, they are WAY off for my personal HF radio and charging system. Seems like he is exaggerating to try to make his point.

Regardless of that, there are some people who don't want to mess with HF radios. They feel that a sat-phone is easier, better, whatever. In general, I think that trying to change their minds is pretty pointless. To each his own.
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Old 29-07-2014, 07:42   #30
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Re: Sat-fi vs. SSB

With all the systems and complexity of a modern cruising yacht I tend to toward desperate measures to minimize task loading. This objective will let me focus on the finer aspects of cruising (like happy hour.)

Trading an SSB for a satphone is a huge step in task loading reduction. The satphone lets me be on my schedule. Simple and easy. I don't have to worry about years of poor propagation and some user on the other side of the world stepping on my frequency.

Furthermore, two Atlantic crossings and two years of cruising taught us that the GRIB files were more than adequate weather information. We just didn't need more. Synoptic weather charts were not missed. This is a case where less is more.
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