Ham vs SSB

[patturner]

I know this has been hashed over in the past, but I thought since I'm in the process of putting a radio on board I might as well see what the current wisdom is here. I've been looking at the Icom 802 which is a Marine SSB unit that also can transmit on Ham freqs and the Icom 706 MK II G which is a Ham right that can be opened up to use the Marine bands ..... and can also be used as a VHF radio. Both of these radios have a removable front panel which is nice for the small nav station in my CD. The 706 MK II is about half the cost of the 802. Asside from studing to get the Ham license (which I've done some of) why would someone choose the 802 over the 706 MK II G? Is it that much easier to use the SSB channels on the 802 over the 706?

Any insight would be appreciated.

Pat
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[Russell]

Marine SSB Radios are 150 watts, HAM radios I think are ussually 100 watts. HAM radios I think tend to have more options you can tweak, if your really into radio then they may be more fun to play with, if you not the SSB radios are probably easier to use.

I have the 802 and am extreamly pleased with it. Though having looked at a friends 706 they are far more compact. Though I would miss having the numeric keypad which is a very nice feature of the 802.

[nikon4004]

Coming from a ham, don;t mess with the innards on a 706. Or any ham radio for that matter. They are NOT type accepted to work outside the ham bands, and if you get into trouble, they may not work at all.


Steve KB8UTA
boatless in Ohio, but not for long

[xnk]

An amateur (ham) radio license allows you to transmit a full 1500 watts, except for the 30 meter band where it's 200 watts. If you're limited to 100 watts it's because of your equipment, not any licensing restrictions.

I assume that the marine SSB license test is a lot easier than the amateur general exam, but the license is 200 dollars, whereas the ham license is only 14 bucks or so. You're gonna be a lot better off if you've gone to the trouble of getting the more comprehensive license. It pays to understand a little bit of the technology you're using.

Richard K7XNK

[Parfait's Provider]

My view is that you want marine SSB for the convenience of being able to tell the crew how to operate it to successfully reach the coast guard or a marine ham net. Group A, B or C; Channel 1 thru 16; push to talk. You want a ham rig for the fun of it all and the opportunity to explore the world of short wave radio. Parfait's nav station is configured to hold both an ICOM M-700 marine SSB and an ICOM IC-739 ham rig. They aren't completely installed yet, but they will fit on the shelf above the nav table with some overhang that is not objectionable to me. I am stuck on antennas and ground systems, but the tuner is mounted, the power run, etc.