To SSB, or not to SSb...that is the question

[Jono as 2234]

What an interesting perspective, learning Morse code for fun.

[sv_pelagia]

Semaphore next!

Seriously though, I am fan and regular user of HF-SSB, but never CW (Morse).

[jordanbigel]

I relied on my SSB/Ham rig 15 years ago, when cruising the S. Pacific, for email and comms like radio nets and talking to other boats. I also had an Iridium handheld which was only used for emergencies, and calling the kid's grandparents on their birthdays (the cost was like $3/minute I think).

I'm planning another long term voyage in the next year or so and I have already upgraded my SSB/Ham rig. I am really hoping for Starlink to come online for maritime use, but if not, I will have an IridiumGO instead. I like backups. Most likely, the SSB rig will be the backup this time around. But since I will be retired at that point, cost will be a bigger factor than ever, so I am hoping to be able to use the SSB/Ham rig as much as possible to reduce satellite costs.

If I was starting fresh today I would probably skip the SSB/Ham. I was never a ham enthusiast, but, I have fond memories of using it in the past, and, I like free email (WinLink) and cheap email (SailMail) and I enjoy talking to random people on other continents from time to time (sitting in a remote anchorage unable to sleep at 1am, it can be entertaining, more so than listening to BBC most times).

[team karst]

Originally Posted by jordanbigel

I relied on my SSB/Ham rig 15 years ago, when cruising the S. Pacific, for email and comms like radio nets and talking to other boats. I also had an Iridium handheld which was only used for emergencies, and calling the kid's grandparents on their birthdays (the cost was like $3/minute I think).

I'm planning another long term voyage in the next year or so and I have already upgraded my SSB/Ham rig. I am really hoping for Starlink to come online for maritime use, but if not, I will have an IridiumGO instead. I like backups. Most likely, the SSB rig will be the backup this time around. But since I will be retired at that point, cost will be a bigger factor than ever, so I am hoping to be able to use the SSB/Ham rig as much as possible to reduce satellite costs.

If I was starting fresh today I would probably skip the SSB/Ham. I was never a ham enthusiast, but, I have fond memories of using it in the past, and, I like free email (WinLink) and cheap email (SailMail) and I enjoy talking to random people on other continents from time to time (sitting in a remote anchorage unable to sleep at 1am, it can be entertaining, more so than listening to BBC most times).

ditto for me. WB4SPT

[MicHughV]

This bears repeating...the radio is only one component.....you will need an antenna...usually an insulated backstay, but other options exist.
You will need a tuner, several varieties exist, depending on the radio you have or get.
You will need a good ground. Several option for this also exist.

Ok, now you got your radio. A SSB/Ham radio has multiple frequencies and specific bandwidths that you can use or allowed to use. You need to learn these. Frequencies are generally chosen based on distance between stations, time of day (or night) and other factors.

You don't just switch it on and start talking. Other folk might be on the frequency you'd like to use. Remember, if you can hear them, they can hear you.

My advice...there are usually several Ham Clubs in any area. Look these up, and join. Most Ham's are more than willing to teach you and help you get a radio installed.

This is not a plug and play thing. There is a learning curve involved.

[MicHughV]

Yep, in my day, morse code was a requirement to get a Ham Radio license that was of any use.

5 words per minute, would get you started. 13 words/minute could get you talking, and 20 words/minute could get you to play with the big boys.

Interestingly, I found morse code easier to learn at high speed than slow speed. At high speed the dots and dashes take on a sound, and it was easier to recognize the sound rather than count dots and dashes.

Yep.....dem wuz the days.....

[Stellar1970Cat]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

SSB/Ham is for the hobbyist....it requires a lot of knowledge, a lot of equipment and a desire to twiddle a lot of knobs.

Back in the day, a requirement to get a Ham license was the ability to do morse code. The higher the grade of license, the more words per minute of code as was required.
This has long since been done away with, as so few people still have an interest in Ham.

So too, are the SSB High Seas Operators, in bygone years, they were the old standby for offshore communications. All the High Seas Operators went off the air over 20 years ago.

By all means install one, just know the expense and learning curve involved. Besides the radio, you will need an antenna, an antenna tuner, and a good ground. $$$$$$

I learned Morse code in Finnish Army. My compulsory 11 month army experience was sometimes quite fun I was a guerrilla radioman and we used portable HF SSB or Morse to communicate. Skiing in forest, setting up camp in snow and setting up radio station was fun.
Then became radio and TV technician repairing all sorts of electronics over the years.
Later I got a job as a radio technician at UN Peacekeeping Forces in Golan Heights.
That was before Internet and to call to Finland we used HF radio. Calling with land line was too expensive then.

Fast forward to present day and now I live in my sailing catamaran in Australia.
My good friend has a ketch with HF radio so I could refresh my skills and use his gear. It could become handy if I accept his offer to join him to sail overseas?

New technology is all good if it works but refreshing my old acquired knowledge would be like time traveling.

[Stellar1970Cat]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

Yep, in my day, morse code was a requirement to get a Ham Radio license that was of any use.

5 words per minute, would get you started. 13 words/minute could get you talking, and 20 words/minute could get you to play with the big boys.

Interestingly, I found morse code easier to learn at high speed than slow speed. At high speed the dots and dashes take on a sound, and it was easier to recognize the sound rather than count dots and dashes.

Yep.....dem wuz the days.....

I did my compulsory Finnish army coscription as guerrilla radioman.
We talked marks per minute. Passing 80 marks per minute got us 3 day holiday and passing 100 marks per minute was 10 days holiday. So my last month was half holidays

[MicHughV]

Back in the day, my girlfriend at the time, had a dad that was an avid ham. He didn't want me traipsing around the oceans without being able to stay in touch with his daughter.
He built all his own equipment, etc, and could do code so fast as to make your head spin. Had your classic Ham Radio shed out back, with several types of antenna in his backyard.

Most of his Ham buddies were all code buddies. Very impressive bunch. His little finger know more about Ham Radio than I ever did.

He basically told me to get my Ham license or else......
He didn't like to fool around on the general bands as they were too cluttered for his taste, so pushed me to get my Extra license. So I did.

It took me some time, but I eventually became quite a Ham Radio enthusiast, though I don't mess around with it too much these days anymore.

[JC Reefer]

To loran-C or not to loran-C is practically what you are asking.

[Kiwi.]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Just buy an iridium Go. Forget all that 1960s HF nonsense.

Dave EI2GMB .

Ditto; after 40 years of SSB and various HF weather fax stuff we bought a Iridium Go and a Predictwind subscription for our last Tasman crossing. It was seamless and easy.
The crew, both young and old, loved the texting ability from their own phone and our family and friends loved the fact they could track us accross. I got daily weather and routing updates on email from MetBob which I then considered whilst viewing multiple forecast models from Predictwind. A medical emergency (which included unloading a crew member off onto a passing ship) has convinced me that a combimation of a good VHF with a quality AIS and satellite is the way to fly. We could identify a suitable ship (heading for New Zealand) way outside VHF range (sat AIS), talk on a phone line to medical advice in Aus & NZ, use VHF once the ship arrived, and arrange quarantine for our crew member by phone once they were on the ship.
Another consideration for me, was that all crew quickly learnt how to use the Iridium Go app on their phones so I was very confident that if the old man (me, the most experianced on the boat) was incapacitated others could take over communications.

[goboatingnow]

but I eventually became quite a Ham Radio enthusiast, though I don't mess around with it too much these days anymore.

nor do many people anywhere these days , most Amateur stuff is about digital modes these days

[Alueva]

Originally Posted by Kiwi.

Ditto; after 40 years of SSB and various HF weather fax stuff we bought a Iridium Go and a Predictwind subscription for our last Tasman crossing. It was seamless and easy.
The crew, both young and old, loved the texting ability from their own phone and our family and friends loved the fact they could track us accross. I got daily weather and routing updates on email from MetBob which I then considered whilst viewing multiple forecast models from Predictwind. A medical emergency (which included unloading a crew member off onto a passing ship) has convinced me that a combimation of a good VHF with a quality AIS and satellite is the way to fly. We could identify a suitable ship (heading for New Zealand) way outside VHF range (sat AIS), talk on a phone line to medical advice in Aus & NZ, use VHF once the ship arrived, and arrange quarantine for our crew member by phone once they were on the ship.
Another consideration for me, was that all crew quickly learnt how to use the Iridium Go app on their phones so I was very confident that if the old man (me, the most experianced on the boat) was incapacitated others could take over communications.

Hey Kiwi, I think your post sums it up for me. I will be sailing with my two young sons. They are used to mobiles and wi-fi etc. If the the proverbial was to hit the fan and something was to happen to me (God forbid), then I know they will be able to operate the Iridium GO and their phones and call fro help, even if it's via family ashore.
I am not the button twiddler type of guy, so simplicity is king for me. Someone also mentioned the cost of properly installing An HF SSB radio from scratch, I think it appears to be more financially viable to go with Iridium Go and PredictWind.
I like to thank you all for your input and for sharing memories. It all helped me make up my mind. And who knows, once I have spend some time on my new boat and I feel confident and adventurous to travel more and more remote, maybe I will end up installing HF. For now I feel I have enough stuff to learn and to get my head around.
It was great hearing from you all, may bump into you somewhere out there (not literally, of course)

[alctel]

I think all the 'just get a satphone' people are missing the point.

HF does something that satphones don't - you can talk on a frequency and anyone can listen in, it's a group conversation where you don't have to know who is on the other end of the line.

Satphones are better now at pulling in gribs and sending emails (for a cost), tracking is better done with an inreach, but for the ability to set up a sched with a group of boats crossing at the same time, or talk to a group of people spread out over an area (to, for example, ask what the weather is like in the next anchorage up) then there is no substitute.

Is that worth using HF? For me, yes. Maybe for you, no. But people claiming that satphones are a direct replacement are incorrect - there is literally nothing that is a direct replacement.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by JC Reefer

To loran-C or not to loran-C is practically what you are asking.

Yep, or the only Water boats">blue water boats are slow full keel boats.