Shortwave Questions....

[Scott MacCready]

My new ketch came with a Yaeso FT-100 radio and an SGC sg-230 Smart tuner. Is anyone familiar with this setup? I know absolutely nothing about shortwave and would like to find a resource to learn about it's use. I don't even really know the difference between shortwave, ssb, etc... be gentile, Scott

[Scott F]

antenna tuner. Here are a couple of URL's.

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hamhf/3473.html

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/ ... /2834.html

Amateur Elec Supply out of Milwaukee sells both items as well

I don't have any experience with marine SSB but I don't think these cover the marine bands other than receive, just the ham radio bands.

The FT-100 is a nice little SSB, CW, FM transceiver that covers the HF bands and VHF as well. The SGC is an automatic antenna tuner, probably used for loading up a backstay.

The FT-100 is a general shortwave receiver as well. Hope that helps.

[DanaVin]

Try contacting Bill Scholz at W1HIJCW@aol.com
He's an expert on SSB marine radio, ham radio, swl, etc and also is in Telecommunications Resources for USCG Aux.
He works at HRO in Anaheim. Great fellow, very, very knowledgable on all that stuff.
He helped me with my Icom SSB Marine transceiver installation and the matching antenna unit for the insulated backstay.
Tell him I mentioned his name.
Thanks
DanaVin
"Gladys Erzella"
CD25, 1977, #541
San Diego Bay

[barfwinkle]

Happy Holidays Scott

1st and foremost, you must have a FCC Ham license to transmit on the FT-100. I am a Ham and I am sure that others will reply, but most Ham radios can be altered to send and receive across the spectrum (Ham & Marine, although not legal except in emergencies). You must have a General License in order to transmit on frequencies such as the Maritime Mobile Service Network, or the Pacific Seafarers Network among others, and that will requiring three tests I believe (a Technician, a General, and a Morse Code test send/receive 5 wpm).

I have no experience with the FT-100, preferring instead the Icom 706 (I have no experience with that one either I just like the Icoms, and have an IC 735).

Anyway, take a look at <a href="http://www.arrl.org">the Amateur Radio</a> web site for more information about Ham Radio.

Fair Winds and a very Merry Christmas

[Pete]

Give Parfait's Provider, has SSB and history with Ham Radios. I am sure he would love a call.

Pete

[DanaVin]

I understand that the FCC has eliminated the need for Morse Code in their licensing requirements as of either Jan. or Feb. 2006. That's when I plan on obtaininjg my Ham license.
I received the Marine License and the Boat License through the FCC's website very easily. Surprisingly, they arrived within a week.
Reminds me of when I use to listen to shortwave when I was 12 or 13 or so. I use to send letters to the stations and receive their ID. QSL cards verifying my information. My best find was a 50 watt station in the Solomon Islands (VQO2, I believe it was.)! Believe it or not, I received their card within three weeks! The same night I heard the 50,000 watt VOA station at Salonika, Greece. Since all inquiries for the VOA go to Washington, DC., I sent mine there. Ten months later to the day, I received the VOA verification. Go figure!
DanaVin

[Oswego John]

Hi Dana,

Yeah, I've heard the same thing about the morse code test.

Test your memory: Does anyone remember when you had (were supposed) to get a license for a CB set. First, the big semi rigs got into it. "I think we got a convoy". Then pickup truck owners all over the country (myself included) had to demonstrate the macho mannerisms and install twin antenae on either side of the truck cab.

Then campers, surf fishermen and 4 wheelers broke out in the CB rash and before anyone realized it, every other kid on the block had a CB. But of course, if anyone tried any funny stuff and jacked up the oupout power, the FCC would be breathing down their neck, pronto. Yeah, right. Don't forget to renew your license.

When people made a legitimate complaint to the FCC about chatter coming in over their TV sets, they were told, on a mimeographed form letter, to install a filter on their TV. Ah, government bureaucracy and problem solving at it's finest. I better shut up, I was part of the problem. I think that the statute of limits might save me.

Just reminiscing out loud, anyone remember?
OJ

[Russell]

FCC has not eliminated the morse code test, they have just proposed eliminating it. ARRL is opposing it, and they are certinaly the strongest voice in ameture radio. And if the elimination goes through it will be for the general licences, but the licenses above that will still need code. But general licenses do give you access to the frequencies that cruising boats typically want. Tech license (the one below General) does not offer a lot of what a cruiser wants in HAM, so general opening up to us without the need for code is definately a good thing.

[Andy Denmark]

Yaesu is good stuff but my preference is ICOM-706 with the SGC-2320 Smart Tuner -- that's what's on Rhiannon. They are comparable unless you want to use it for PACTOR (ham email), then the duty cycle is more than the little Yaesu can handle.

There is a very active Waterway Net on 7268 khz, LSB (aka 40 meters). You can listen to that at 0745 - 0830 every morning and see what a valuable resource it is for weather, boat to boat communications, boat locator, etc. It is mostly snowbirds who are hams and their shoreside counterparts.

Ask the P.O. if they had licenses and, if so, how the setup works. Grounding is critical but easy as the latest thinking is the "old way" of installing copper stripping throughout the boat is now proven to be no better than simply affecting a solid conection to the water itself.

If you want long distance nets, try the freqs around 14310 to 14330 (20 meters). These will let you hear cruising vessels communicating from all over the world.

I was first licensed in 1951 but let it lapse when Marines got in the way. Renewed in 1977 as WD4MIA and have been active, off and on, ever since. Get your General License, Scott. My brother-in-law in Yarmouth, ME, will be happy to help you -- he's W3EZ, a great guy and good sailor.
________
Ktm 525sx

[Scott F]

I'm a ham to, WA9WFA.

Like I said, I don't know much about marine SSB since cruising a small inland lake doesn't require it. I have thought about putting a small ssb transceiver like the Icom IC-706MKII G onboard for playing radio and sailing at the same time. Propagation has been so poor that 10 and 15 have been pretty much closed down for the past year. 20 meters is pretty quiet, so there wasn't much motivation to put a radio in.

Another poster on here said it was easy to get a marine license to operate. Makes sense. If I were cruising coastal areas or big inland lakes, I'd get a marine license to operate SSB.

I don't know if the FT-100 has capability to be 'modified' to cover the marine ssb band. In its stock for it is not marine type accepted for what ever thats worth.

Yes I'm old enough to remember when CB had a license. That was in the late 60's. I don't recall when licensing went away, probably in the early 70's.

Right now you still need to know Morse code at 5 words a minute to have access to the high frequency SSB frequencies. No code license gives you access to the VHF frequencies. There are groups trying to eliminate the morse code requirement but it hasn't occurred yet. The frequencies where the Maritime nets occur is 14 Mhz (20 meters) and that requires a minimum of a General class license.

Oh I should have mentioned, the FT-100 is capable of spanning the world under the right conditions whereas our typical marine VHF radio spans tens of miles.

[Parfait's Provider]

Scott,

As Pete said, I can probably help, but Andy is the local expert. We have Marine SSB on board Parfait, but haven't finished the installation. We also have a slot for ham radio, but keep it at home so long as I am not going cruising. I have yet to try Andy's theory on grounding, but I know it is important and if Andy's way works well, that is much easier than some other ideas that have been tried. The SSCA has a booklet on ham installations and you can borrow mine if you are interested. Marine licenses, also necessary for RADAR and some other important services, run $200 is memory serves, but that is for a 10 year license. You will need a ham license to participate in the networks Andy has mentioned, but you can listen without the license.

The ICOM site has an installation manual for marine SSB that is pretty comprehensive and written in nearly perfect English, unlike some manuals from that part of the world. I think if you Google "marine SSB" and "ham radio boat" you will get more info than we could possibly provide here in many moons.

Looking forward to seeing you in Feb. if not sooner.

[DanaVin]

I was in trucking management about that time. When the CB craze took off, we had to get copies of all the line drivers CB licenses and keep them on file. When we went on vacation, we took along our Cobra CB unit and kept in touch with RV'ers and truckers where ever we went. We did obtain our license but as you said, the vast majority of users didn't bother. Difficult to enforce such a regulation when the user is so mobil to begin with.
We listened to many truckers during our lengthy travels and for the most part the conversations were very enjoyable. Some state smokies even had them in their patrol cars. And, of course, they kept us from the receiving end of a speeding ticket.
DanaVin

[fenixrises]

Hi Scott,

A couple of good sites about marine radio and hams.

On http://cruisenews.net/cgi-bin/mmham/webbbs_config.pl Bill Trayfors and Greg seem to be the resident experts.

The SSCA Discussion Board http://www.ssca.org/sscabb/index.php?ac ... ic&forum=7 also has a lot of topical information.

The American Radio Relay League http://www.arrl.org/ has tons of general information about hams.

Also QRZ.com @ http://199.245.125.13/index.html.

QRZ has free online tests to help you get your ham license. And you can download a freeware program to learn morse code.

Generally ham radios cannot legally be used on the marine SSB frequencies. Many ham radios can be (illegally) easily modified to operate on the marine SSB frequencies. BUT the commercial receiving stations can usually easily tell that you are transmitting using a ham radio. That is because most ham radios are not built to the same standards as marine SSB radios.

Getting your General ham license is not too difficult. It requires two multiple choice 35 question tests and a 5WPM code test. I just recently took my tests. So I am now KI4WWB.

It is a good idea to get your license but in an emergency anyone can transmit on any radio for help.

Happy sails to you,
Fred B.

[Andy Denmark]

That's a bit much!

If you're nominating me for that title then I respectfully decline.

Like a beat up old car, lots of years and lots of miles is all.

Actually, this grounding concept comes from Gordon West who writes in a lot of the sailing mags about ham radio aboard boats.. I tried his method on Rhiannon and found it to be very effective based solely on signal reports on 80, 40 & 20 meters. We did side-by-side (1/2 mile apart) comparisons with another boat and identical rig (ICOM 706 Mk II w/ SGC-230, both with backstay antennas but entirely different grounding systems). If there was any difference it wasn't discernable at the receiving end, either in signal strength or audio. That's good enough for me.

As for learning the code, it's really easy if you don't try and learn it by the "dots and dashes" method but hear it as bundles of rhythm instead. CW is great fun and HF CW gets the best DX there is. It's fun on a cold miserable day (like today) in some remote anchorage when you get tired of reading, boat chores, etc.

Years ago, I listed International Morse Code as a foreign language on my grad school application -- and it was accepted! (but only after some discussion)

The Pamlico Amateur Radio Society (nearly 50 members) meets at the Village Restaurant the last Saturday of every month at 0900. These folks are almost exclusively cruising hams and they are a wealth of information. I'd love to have you visit as my guest sometime. Meanwhile, listen in on the Waterway Net (I listen but rarely check in).

Andy - WD4MIA
________
Montana Medical Marijuana

[kwood]

I have not seen details on a grounding system that does not involve the copper strips. Is it sufficient to tie a single ground wire into the Cape Dory grounding plate, or are additional grounding plates required?