What's the state of SSB

[goeasy123]

Before I invest time and money in SSB is it still relevant with other means of comms coming along?

[SailingGrant]

Very interested as well. I’m an avid ham shoreside, and would love to set up a HF rig on my live-aboard.

[wholybee]

If you are an avid HAM then for sure, get one, as you could be an avid HAM on board as well.

If you are NOT a HAM, and are looking for a way to get weather, email, emergency comms etc. then there are better ways for that. It really comes down to your personality. Would you like to spend an hour a day talking to strangers on a radio? Some do, some don't. I am firmly in the don't group. But many sailors really enjoy it.

[smac999]

I consider SSB to be a hobby. if you have hours a day to play around and learn how to use it. and enjoy it. then great. enjoy your hobby.

if you need a weather report, want it asap, and don't want to spend a year learning how to to it. or a day or 2 to get the correct ssb coms. get a sat phone or GO

[MicHughV]

BY chance, I have both SSB and Ham radio on my boat.
Back in the day, ATT had their "High Seas Operator". You could reach them pretty much anytime, day or night, and they would patch you into any part of the globe.

Alas, the High Seas Operator operation is no more, and hasn't been for quite some years.

My SSB mostly collects dust these days.

Ham Radio, on the other hand has numerous "radio nets" spread across the frequency range and operate at various times throughout the day, depending on what part of the globe you are in.

Additionally, prior to leaving, I was a member of a local Ham Club. These exist in most any town and I set up a radio schedule with them. Several Ham enthusiasts also had the ability to patch me into a phone line.

Generally speaking, most people that get their Ham licence, stop at the " General" license" level. Back in the day, morse code was still a requirement, but this is no more.
My advice, go for the " Amateur Extra" grade. It's bit more work, but opens up a part of the frequency range, which will not be so cluttered up.

Ham Radio does require some study and knowledge, but these are easily learned. You will have to spend hours at it to learn what frequencies work best, etc. For must people it's a "hobby"
The radio is only one aspect, you will still a need a tuner, a good ground and an antenna. Countless options exist, but by far way the simplest is an automatic tuner tied into the backstay.

For sure, sat phones, and the like are also available.

Trust this provides some insight.

[Discovery 15797]

I also have SSB/Ham radio and Iridium Go onboard. There are several factors to consider.

IMHO, if you are primarily inland/coastal cruising then SSB may not be as valuable to you unless you are also a ham radio enthusiast.

If you make long ocean passages (say > 10 days at sea) a ham radio is valuable (es. if you single-hand) for checking into the maritime nets (e.g. 14300 Mhz). The nets can track positions, relay message traffic, etc.

While sat phones are good, the coverage is not 100% global. There are still blind spots, calls get dropped, and it is a 1:1 connection.

I am also a ham radio enthusiast. I never operate my onboard Icom 802 SSB other than to check in to nets. HF radios suck a lot of juice. For me, it is a tool and a back up communication system. However, at anchor if I want to play radio I will break out my Elecraft Kx3 and either setup in the cockpit, or on the beach.

[MicHughV]

I should add that if you are computer savvy, you can also tie in your 'puter to the radio and download weather maps and the like

As above, I've enjoyed tinkering around with my Ham Rig.

For the newbie, a Ham radio and a SSB radio are basically the same thing, ie, they are both HF (high frequency Radio's, but there, the comparison stops. Nowadays, you can purchase a radio that can do both, but it's too complicated to explain here.

Your typical Ham radio will be a 100 watt model. what this means, every time you key the mike, it will slurp down 8 amps out of your battery. If you are prone to chit-chat, you'll quickly have a dead battery.

My best advice is to search out and join a Ham Club, Most any town will have dozens of these. Most Hams will be glad to bend over backwards to help you.

Several times a year, there Hamfests around the country. At these places, will be countless enthusiast to help explain any possible thing you might want or need.

In addition, you can find good used equipment there at a substantial discount.

The Ham fraternity is worldwide.

[SailingGrant]

I’m also impressed with the digital modes available on HF these days. You can live-chat/text anywhere in the world, send/receive emails, etc all with no internet whatsoever. Amazing

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by goeasy123

Before I invest time and money in SSB is it still relevant with other means of comms coming along?

That depends on where you are going to go and who you want to talk to. See for example this recent poll and the related discussion, and this recent thread.


HF-SSB is a less important part of the mix than it has been but is still in widespread (though not universal) use among cruisers who make longer passages and who frequent truly remote areas. Its utility has been compromised by the loss of coastal stations. There are substantial numbers of cruisers who use InReach and consider it sufficient, and see HF as being an expensive system to install that is of marginal utility beyond what InReach can provide.



Starlink is becoming a replacement for HF+pactor in remote anchorages where there is no cellular coverage, because of the much higher bandwidth.



Iridium and iridium-based services, including InReach, Certus, Iridium Go!, and Spot, have been available for a while and are widely used for weather, basic text messages, and in some cases phone calls.



Proposals to provide cellular gap-filling coverage via satellite, if successful, are the next likely source of disruption.

[olewsaa]

Your question, is SSB is relevant, the answer depend on your expected usage.
If you go for Ham radio you have a close to unlimited number of other hams to talk to, email, online text (rtty) etc. This is an interesting hobby. As for safety you have no 24/7/365 listening on the Ham bands, and today there are also limitied monitoring on the HF calling frequencies. You can receive weather charts etc via HF, but as all HF is vairying conditions. Ham radios comes in many sizes, my small G90 is only 20W and work well on digital modes.

The sat. options are simpler, easier to use, but have a price tag. As for emergencies a small handheld self sustaining device like inReach will work even when you're sitting in a life raft. I personally think this little device is a very good option, you can receive weather updates, either by a service or someone ashore. For anything more that text messages, you'll need a more fixed installation, Iridium Go really want a fixed antenna.

So for social chat, Ham radio is gold.

Ole
LB4PJ/MM

[Pizzazz]

Ham radio is a hobby. Some people love it, others think they may like it but never use it after installation. A good way to decide for yourself is to get an SSB receiver for a couple hundred dollars and interface it to a laptop/phone (with a good antenna).

You will be able to do the following: receive weather faxes; listen on marine nets to see if you like the discussions; receive navtex weather; receive HF DSC test messages from other ships - this is really cool because using a program called DX Atlas, you can automatically plot the location of these cargo ships and you can see in real time actual propagation paths; you can also listen on ham radio digital conversations.

Having done all of this, and if you get the bug, then you can invest in the transmit capability (antenna, isolators, tuner, ground, transceiver... $4-5,000).

Lastly, if you really just need weather for long passages, you can technically do this with only the receive function. Your AIS transmit is picked up by satellites and available online. A friend onshore can track your location and send your customized weather reports (via rtty, sitor, sstv, there are multiples protocols) that you will only be able to receive but not confirm receipt off. Sounds a bit clunky but that is what the hobby is about. If you don't have AIS transmit, get Inreach and request any information you need (stock quotes, weather routing, etc.) and you friend send you the information.

[Brian.D]

SSB is like sailing: it requires experience. One does not just jump into a boat with sails and bam! they know how to sail. The same with SSB: one does not just turn it on a presto... we have comms.

The problem is everyone wants instant this or instant that. Ain't gonna happen. Not even with satellite. Good satellite means have a good, solid connection to the bird. Good HF means knowing which band is open to where and when.

Like sailing, knowing where the wind is coming from and where you want to go, are they compatible? Most times, no, one has to tack this way or that way to get to where one wants to go.

One learned how to sail and it took time, so if one wants SSB, one has to learn how and when to use it.

JMHO

[ChrisJHC]

It’s odd: I used my HF frequently for the last week.
Just turned it on, confirmed it was set to the right frequency and transmitted/recieved.
No issues.

Admittedly, this was for voice only.

[Tupaia]

Originally Posted by Discovery 15797

I also have SSB/Ham radio and Iridium Go onboard. There are several factors to consider.

IMHO, if you are primarily inland/coastal cruising then SSB may not be as valuable to you unless you are also a ham radio enthusiast.

If you make long ocean passages (say > 10 days at sea) a ham radio is valuable (es. if you single-hand) for checking into the maritime nets (e.g. 14300 Mhz). The nets can track positions, relay message traffic, etc.

While sat phones are good, the coverage is not 100% global. There are still blind spots, calls get dropped, and it is a 1:1 connection.

I am also a ham radio enthusiast. I never operate my onboard Icom 802 SSB other than to check in to nets. HF radios suck a lot of juice. For me, it is a tool and a back up communication system. However, at anchor if I want to play radio I will break out my Elecraft Kx3 and either setup in the cockpit, or on the beach.

Think this sums it up pretty well.


One thing many non-SSB users miss is the localised weather information gleaned from other boats on passage that is not obtainable from downloaded data.

As an example knowing a vessel 20Nm north of you has an adverse current can benefit your choice of routes.

[Tudorsailor]

Originally Posted by goeasy123

Before I invest time and money in SSB is it still relevant with other means of comms coming along?

Does it not depend on your future plans?

I think for the ARC they have a daily SSB net. I am planning joining the Viking Atlantic Crossing and I am less sure that all will have an SSB.

If only doing coastal sailing, an SSB is not required

There is the option to get a portable SSB to receive only and in theory you can get weatherfax.

The last consideration is the licence. In the States, getting the licence to use an SSB is apparently a simple tick box addition to the MMSI registration

In the UK, one has to do the Long Range Radio Course and take the exam, so 5 days and several hundred pounds in cost (plus hotel if its not local to you)

So no simple answer

TS