Is there any point in keeping our SSB radio?

[sailingharry]

I think his point is that once you've made the substantial outlay for a SSB, you basically never pay another dime.

While I think the Iridium GO is a pretty good value, at least if you ignore Starlink, it is a significant monthly cost. If you become financially constrained, you might turn it off - and then you have nothing.

Note, I have both an SSB and an Iridium GO on our boat. If we ever go offshore, I will absolutely spring for the Go data plan. So this is not a dig at the Go.

[goboatingnow]

If you have some form of sat comms realistically HF is redundant unless you see the radio activity in itself as a hobby. Then that’s fine but on an objective basis sat comm has few drawbacks and is a better choice these days.

[sailingharry]

So I read through this entire thread. And several people I have alluded to the idea that amortized over 20 years, HF is pretty cheap. And I would agree that it was.

But I'm not sure that past results are indicative of future. If, as foxy is considering, significant time and effort is required to repair an hf system -- or even worse, install a new one -- I have to wonder the amortization period.

Systems installed 5, 10, or 20 years ago are getting active use today. And they will continue to provide value and security for some time to come. But I suspect that value will rapidly decline. While a high percentage of ocean cruisers may have single side band, I suspect that an even higher percentage of boats less than 5 years old do not. And the percentages will therefore continue to shift. So the question that needs to be asked is not how valuable has a system installed 20 years ago been, but how valuable will a brand new system be in 10 years.

Full disclosure. I am a coastal cruiser in areas where there is zero HF cruising support, the northern maritimes of Canada. So I am cruising in effective VHF and cell phone range, and get none of the potential camaraderie or weather forecasting that tropical cruisers get. While my boat has an installed SSB, I have yet to successfully receive or transmit on it (I have tried), and so I'm probably in foxy's situation.

[sv_pelagia]

Originally Posted by sailingharry

Full disclosure. I am a coastal cruiser in areas where there is zero HF cruising support, the northern maritimes of Canada. .

https://maritimeamateur.ca/maritime-amateur-radio-nets

Also, CCG does regular weather broadcasts on MF. (VERY helpful in places with poor or absent VHF Wx reception.)

[RaymondR]

In Australia the maritime safety authorities still monitor HF the calling and emergency frequencies.

I don't know if it still exists but in the manned radio room days SOLAS had a requirement for stand alone emergency frequency receivers in ships radio rooms.

I coastal cruise and use my HF radio for receiving weather reports when out of VHF or mobile range and also have used it to have skeds with friends who are cruising outside mobile range and might want me to notify their families that they are OK or to organize parts.

So in my case it's worth having because I cruise areas with patchy mobile and data stretches but which however are mostly serviced by terrestrial mobile phone and data systems.

[wingssail]

We don't have an Icom 802. We have an ancient Icom M700 and a Pactor III. It served us well on our circumnavigation. With a sailmail subscription we used it to send and receive email from our aol account. We used it to receive GRIB files and WEFAX weather. We even downloaded all sorts of saildocs, including text versions of web pages. We listened and checked in on SSB nets which was helpful (to hear what other boats in the ocean were experiencing). We kept track of our friends as they checked in. We drew our own surface analysis charts with grease pencil on a plastic sheet (over a PAPER chart!) when we heard their reports. And we had the security of knowing that we could reach out if we needed to. All of this except the sailmail subscription was free of charge. We had this communication connection across the entire globe.

Now we don't cross oceans, but we still cruise where there is no cell phone service and we don't have a satellite system (nor do we wish to spend the monthly fees to have satellite). In the sea of Cortez this spring, for example, we checked in with the SSB nets and got excellent voice weather.

So our Icom SSB is still valuable and I'll keep it functional. We are not radio hobbyists, but keeping all our options open and saving money is how we roll.

[sailingharry]

Originally Posted by sv_pelagia

https://maritimeamateur.ca/maritime-amateur-radio-nets

Also, CCG does regular weather broadcasts on MF. (VERY helpful in places with poor or absent VHF Wx reception.)

Thanks. Interesting link. The vast majority look like 2M, and I suspect the rest are ham, not Marine SSB. But I am a ham (licensed, but never actually used it) and my unit is opened. I'm going to try and listen in, maybe tonight.

So far, my weather has been the internet, our cell connections have been fairly solid. Surprisingly solid.

[sv_pelagia]

Yes, they are HAM nets. You likely won't hear much if you are in a marina (or anchored in town/city).

Note also that CGS gives regular (~4x daily) forecastsfor many areas over SSB from: Sydney, Sambro, Yarmouth, as well as Newfoundland and Labrador. Details are provided in the annual "Radio Aids to Navigation" https://www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca/publicatio...m-2022-eng.pdf

We use cell data for text forecasts when available. But the majority of coastal British Columbia does not have cell coverage, and VHF Wx is too often difficult to obtain.

(We found these CGS SSB Wx broadcasts very helpful when on the west coast of Haida Gwaii this summer. Other times, we used HAM, Winlink and Pactor modem for forecasts.)

[sailingharry]

I'm still going to try those nets. But it won't be today. I just realized that when I took the mast out for the Erie Canal in June, I never reconnected the antenna. Kind of shows how much I use it! LOL I have to take down the bimini and rig a bosun's chair on the back stay to get to the connection - not that big a job but it still takes a bit of time.

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by sailingharry

I'm still going to try those nets. But it won't be today. I just realized that when I took the mast out for the Erie Canal in June, I never reconnected the antenna. Kind of shows how much I use it! LOL I have to take down the bimini and rig a bosun's chair on the back stay to get to the connection - not that big a job but it still takes a bit of time.

I know that unpleasant task well. Holding yourself in place at the backstay while you swing around in a bosun's chair trying to attacth that antenna. Whew!

But my experience trying to check out those SSB nets and WEFAX and Grib downloads never seems to work very well when I am trying it out in test mode in the marina or in town.

I guess it does prove that HF is a bit fiddly. Only when you are out there for real and have to time and the motivation does it seem to get working.

[JPA Cate]

AT present, Jim is loading the whole rig except the backstay from the capshroud, very easy to access, and really near the radio. An ICOM 746, about 30 yrs. old, and never been in the shop.

We loaded the whole rig in our Standfast 36, and had the amusing experience from somewhere in the Tuamotos (with Jim's reciprocal FO0 call) of talking to a chap in England who said our antenna couldn't possibly work. This chat went on for about 20 min. Suuuuure, the antenna didn't work! Riiiiiight.

Ann

[team karst]

hmmm. USAF has been spending $15MUSD annually on replacement HF Comm equip.
Of course they also have access to the most sophisticated sat com available.

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by team karst

hmmm. USAF has been spending $15MUSD annually on replacement HF Comm equip.
Of course they also have access to the most sophisticated sat com available.

Not a problem for folks who would spend $40,000 on a toilet seat.

[Celestialsailor]

Well let me throw water on the fire here. Until today, I had no experience with iridium. My friend recently bought a new one and is using it for his journey from Washington State, up to the north end of Vancouver Island. I had not talked with him for a week or so since he was struggling with the iridium. He called me today to my cell phone. First, my phone did not ring and his call went to message. He called again only to experience a 5+ second delay. Then after 2 minutes, I could hear him but he could not hear me. we hung up and tried again and the same thing happened. He had told me he had borrowed the use of someone Starlink and amazed how fast it was. I'm wondering what it would be like to use Starlink with Skype.

[Eder]

Starlink works great with Skype although most sailors have moved on to more contemporary video calling.