Looking for a SSB

[Kevin Kaldenbach]

I am looking for a Single Side Band. All I have as of now is the Dynaplate so I am looking for radio and tuner. also looking for a weather fax.

[Russell]

I am looking for a Single Side Band. All I have as of now is the Dynaplate so I am looking for radio and tuner. also looking for a weather fax.

I am not sure if anyone even makes weather fax units anymore. Most people use software on their computer connected to the SSB for weather faxes these days.

Used older model SSBs to show up on ebay with some frequency, its worth keeping an eye out there. If you intend to use a pactor modem on your SSB, be sure to do some research on some of the older models before you bid on them to see how easy it is to interface.

[Forrest]

Hi Kevin,

Breakwater Marine (on I45 in Houston) had a reconditioned ICOM M700 (not the pro - this is one of the older ones). I think they're asking 375$. This does not connect with the Pactor modem.

I have a reconditioned M700 that I plan to install this year sometime.

Forrest

[Kevin Kaldenbach]

This would mean I can not do e-mail with it?

[Forrest]

I'm pretty sure that's correct. However, I would talk to an outfit like Breakwater or www.sailmail.com, or a local marine electronics guru.

You have to weigh the costs between an older SSB and a Sat phone vs a newer SSB with a Pactor. It seems most of the full time cruisers have a newer SSB with a Pactor.

Forrest

[MFC]

This would mean I can not do e-mail with it?

That's right Kevin. The 3 ICOM units which are email capable are the 700PRO, the 710 and the 802. All of them require a pactor modem to send / receive email. Pactor modems are expensive ($800-1300). If you go with one of the non email capable units -- such as the ICOM 700 -- you can find them much cheaper.

Check out sailnet or cruisers forum for lots of good (if sometimes very opinionated) info. One guy named bill trayfors (handle: btrayfors) seems very knowledgable and helpful.

Matt

[Russell]

Matt,

I suspect you know more then me about this, but I was under the impression that even the older models can be modified to use pactor. Of course expecting one is handy with a soldering iron and not afraid of circut boards (and of course confident enough to not destroy a $1000 radio in the process).

A pactor ready SSB is of course easier, and the route I happily took myself.

Kevin, if I recall you have plans to cruise your boat, and forgive me if wrong, I beleive your plans are to cruise it solo since your wife is not interested in passagemaking. Especially when alone at sea, contact with the outside helps, a LOT. A pactor modem is expensive upfront, but trust me, it is the cheapest solution. You can buy an iridium phone on ebay for cheap, but check out the plans for usage.

Dollar for dollar, the cheapest solution, and the most globably available solution, still remains an SSB radio with a pactor modem. Initial investment is big, but so long as that investment is intended to last a 3 or 4 years, it is cost effective vs a satalite solution, not to mention far more reliable.

You mentioned weather fax in your post. While I do have weather fax ability, in actual cruising I have never used it. An SSB with pactor and an email host opens up so many options above and beyond.

noonsite.com for instance, you can send a formatted email, and for free, they will give you full port info on any country you are considering landfall in.

Sailmail, if you chose that as yoru provider (not cheap, $250 per year) offers a lot as well. You can send formatted emails to them to receive back weatherfax data, grib data, text forcasts, you name it. Airmail (the software you use for sailmail as well as airmail HF email (If you are ham licensed)) actually has GUI built in where you can select the area you want grib data for, it autoformats and sends the email for you to request that data.

HF radio has its issues, there is a learning curve for instance in understanding propigation and knowing what station to use at what time. It is not purely idiot proof, but the software you will use will help a lot. But its comparitively cheap when looking at current satilite solutions. The pain HF can be causes me to frequently compare satlite solutions, and a comprible solution does not yet exist.

If cruising is your goal, get an SSB that is pactor capible, and figure into your budget the cost of a pactor modem. Glitzy ads for globalstar and irdium may make them sound good, but in practice that are far far more expensive even compared to the silly hardware cost of pactor and an SSB that can interface with pactor.

[MFC]

Matt,

I suspect you know more then me about this, but I was under the impression that even the older models can be modified to use pactor. Of course expecting one is handy with a soldering iron and not afraid of circut boards (and of course confident enough to not destroy a $1000 radio in the process).

A pactor ready SSB is of course easier, and the route I happily took myself.

Russell,
I have read a a bunch about this, but have no first hand knowledge (I own a 700Pro which I am planning to install this spring). The 3 radios I mentioned are the only ICOM's I know of which are advertised as email capable. It is *very* possible that there are procedures to modify older rigs, I just don't know about them. The folks at CF are probably the best resource (it seems to be the most friendly of the big sailing forums) for info on modifying rigs. There is definitely a wealth of info on SSB installation there which I will be making use of and I suspect Kevin will as well.

Do you hear cruisers talking about WINMOR Russell? Apparently it is a non proprietary HF / computer interface supposed to provide email capabilities without the absurd cost of pactor. It sounds promising -- but it seems unclear when or if the necessary infrastructure will be in place to make it feasible to forego the pactor modem. Sure would be nice to spend that $$$ elsewhere . . .

[Russell]

Do you hear cruisers talking about WINMOR Russell? Apparently it is a non proprietary HF / computer interface supposed to provide email capabilities without the absurd cost of pactor. It sounds promising -- but it seems unclear when or if the necessary infrastructure will be in place to make it feasible to forego the pactor modem. Sure would be nice to spend that $$$ elsewhere . . .

No, I had not heard about WINMOR before, I just looked it up after reading your post though, I thought i recalled reading something about using a computers soundcard only as a means to relay data years ago, perhaps it was WINMOR. A way to do email over HF without the pactor would be terrific, but in the little I read, it sounds like you are correct that it is lacking in infrastructure to be a reliable alternative to pactor right now.

Personally I am looking forward to the day that satalite data comms become more affordable, I think the long term solution lies there, with reliability, no HF fussiness or huge learning curve to use. I am frankly surprised the costs are still so astronomical for airtime and dataspeeds remain so slow, it seems like a technology area that would be making leaps and bounds every year, but it really has not seen much change at all in a decade. For the foreseeable future, pactor is really the only option I think.

[Como No Cruising]

Hi Folks: Our personal experience echos Russell's comments. I would go one further and suggest that the Ham Radio General License requirements are somewhat simplified from years past and that a Ham licence is well worth pursuing. That opens you up to free email via WinLink. Sailmail is also excellent, and we have used both for communications and weather. There is a wealth of weather info that is available offshore via either path. Propagation programs somewhat simplify the process of picking frequencies.
There are many Ham Maritime Mobile Nets that you can listen to without having a license; particularly useful in the Carribbean. And, as Russell can advise you, there are some very good SSB cruiser nets where you can obtain all sorts of useful information, from where to get the best Pizza on a particular island and places to avoid, best anchoring, etc..
Hope to see you out there soon, Kevin.

Will & Annie

[Kevin Kaldenbach]

Can someone make sense of the choices in Pactor modems? There are some big difference in price and the website I looked at just confused me. I will most likely get a refurbished M710 from Ebay. Also, are the at140 tuners all the same? Some adds say it is for the M802. There are also some At 130s out there but I dont know what they fit.

[MFC]

Kevin -

I'm not all the way through the process, so take this response with that in mind . . . (but I'm pretty sure of the basics)

The AT 130 is matched to the M700 and the M710. The AT 120 may work with the 700 & 710 too (check that). The AT 140 is matched with the 802 (it may work with the 700 and 710 -- not sure). If you are looking for used equipement, I may be able to put you onto a tuner (AT130).

As for pactor modems, the biggest difference is PI, PII or PIII. You won't find a modem called a PIII (they are all "upgrades to PII's). Some PIIs are upgradeable with only software -- some need a chip (only the factory installs). As I understand it, PI is outdated. PII should be fine for email, PIII is useful if you want to send / rec larger files (e.g., grib files). Beyond that, the differences in the modems seem to relate to cable types (USB being the most modern) and manner in which your modem interfaces with your computer.

I'd seriously recommend looking up some of the guys on CF who live this stuff. There have also been some very cheap rigs sold there over the past month or so.

Matt

[Kevin Kaldenbach]

Tell me more about the used tuner.

[MFC]

Check the Carib 1500 website -- "gear for sale" section. There's a guy with an electronics shop and he has radios and tuners for sale. He has 130's listed for $250. You might make him an offer and maybe get a little better price tioo. His radios aren't so cheap but maybe he'd come down on those too.

[Klem]

Kevin,

I have an older (~15 years) Icom SSB/FM/AM/CW unit that I no longer use that would work if you are only looking into SSB capabilities. It is currently at my parents house and I haven't turned it on for probably 2 years but it worked perfectly then. It was sold as a ham radio unit but transmits on marine frequencies as well.

If this is something that you might be interested in, shoot me a PM and I can take a look at it next time I visit my parents to get the model number.