If you have the latest frequency load from icom america, its already stored in memory as channel 105. When it comes to purchasing a marine mfhf ssb transceiver the choice is a little limited. It is packed with features to keep users safe such as a distress call button, audio replay, gps and more. However, many skippers use a standard ham radio rig to receive and transmit on marine ssb channels. My recommendation from my many years cruising is, dont go offshore without a marine ssb radio. Digital antenna ssb marine antennas in 16 lengths, for use in yachts, commercial vessels and base stations. Hf frequencies reserved for marine use and provides voice communication over. Vertical antennas for marine ssb dx commander amateur. The target audience is foundation students and marine sailors since i discuss the positive impact of the sea as a ground, particularly those sailors with fibreglass boats who. Information for survivalist, prepper, or shtf survival communications using single sideband cb radio around 27 mhz. Whilst there are programs for your laptop designed to work with radioemail. Marine mfhf ssb single side band radio is a popular means of communication for the independent cruising yachtsmen and a must if you are planning to do bluewater cruising to the caribbean, pacific or mediterranean. Whether you are a casual boater or a seagoing professional, this article provides the marine channels you need for programming modern vhfuhf radios with the international frequencies for ships, yachts, motorboats, ferries, sailboats, cruise ships, freighters, tankers, industrial docks, skiffs, riverboats, inflatables, aquatic sports.
Icom ic718 hf all band amateur base transceiver 100 watts original icom usa. Propagation is an issue with ssb and its a general rule that you. The marine mfhfssb radio is a combined transmitter and receiver much like your vhf. If you have the latest frequency load from icom america, its already stored in. Propagation issues like the need to use different frequencies at different times of day and season, plus just the static common to longrange radio, are why some boaters have stopped using ssb, usually in favor of a satphone also set up for weather data downloading. Long distance offshore marine communication west marine.
Marine hf radios are often referred to as ssb radios, because for all marine frequencies, transmissions are always made in singlesideband mode. Marine mfhf ssb radio guide to long range communications. After all, the same weatherfaxes and navtex are available that way, plus much more. The intuitive interface of the color tft display and the similarity of the user. This workinprogress guide should get you well started with the software. Survivalist ssb cb freeband channel frequency list. Ssb radios that are capable of working ham frequencies come locked from the factory. Jul 04, 2014 yes, things can go wrong with the software to connect to the satellite phone, but solving those problems, particularly if you use uuplus instead of iridiums native drivers, pales into insignificance when compared to the complexities of putting together a really good ssb installation. Marine ssb s that are capable of having their frequency remotely set by the airmail software include the icom m710, icom m700pro, icom m710rt, icom m802, sgc sg2000, sea235, and codan9390 radios. The marine mfhf ssb radio is a combined transmitter and receiver much like your vhf. The primary difference between the two is the frequency ranges that they operate in.
Marine ssb is enabled through a dedicated marine band hf high frequency radio transceiver, such as the 150watt icm802 from icom. The m803 is the long range digital communication radio for any cruiser. Imported from usa m802 digital marine ssb radioall new digital ssb with remoteable control head offers the clearest reception ever. If you plan to go cruising you need an hf ssb radio, vhf radio, epirb, radar. Software propagation refers to the changing existing application code and spreading copies of the altered code to other users. Feb 20, 2016 radio communication is an integral part of nautical life. These services are easily set up by making use of a computer, some software. Review of propagation prediction programs voacapbased.
Click f8 on your computer and a propagation table appears. I worked some eme earthmoonearth, or moon bounce during those days back in the 70s and early 80s. This software by roger coude ve2dbe predicts the performance of vhf and uhf radio systems. Icoms latest marine ssb transceiver, the model icm802, is popular with the voyaging community, as it is legally usable without modification on both the marine hf and amateur radio hf frequencies with appropriate licenses. A sender creates an email in a software program called airmail. Icom m803 digital marine single side band radio ssb radio the m803 is the long range digital communication radio for any cruiser.
Combine this radio with the scs pactor modem, and worldwide email is a reality. A marine ssb radio is often 150 w the max allowed, while a ham radio is often lower power. Ham radio basicswhat is ssb and how to tune in ssb youtube. In practice, most yachts will use a standard marine ssb transceiver because it. I have always had an interest in the vhfuhf weak signal segment of our ham radio hobby. One of the most important uses of marine radiotelephony has been to change ships itineraries, and to perform other business at sea. Singlesideband ssb radio is the longrange counterpart to vhf radio. Sep 28, 2017 for many cruisers, upper sideband marine ssb on 40 meters provides sufficient communication capacity beyond the vhf. Everything about cb radio, a complete guide to cb radio service. The rest of information is useless and it doesnt interest anybody. The original source of this article is the radiomaster reports blog.
While listening or planning to work a dx station, the radio amateur would like to know what are the current propagation conditions, know if the propagation is open toward a specific location at a specific time, or at what time the band will be open for a specific pointtopoint circuit. An excerpt from advanced marine electrics and electronics troubleshooting. During ocean stages of our rallies there are daily ssb hf radio nets, which are a. The end result is an icon on your desktop named its hf propagation. Sailmail is now a certified application for the iridium go.
In the main most frequencies are duplex and intended for ship to shore use. The reason for this is that marine equipment needs to meet the relevant type approval standards and marine radios both vhf and hf have to meet the gmdss requirements. Reach both marine and ham frequencies with the class e dsc mfhf certification. If you are inclined to give this a go, its a free download and i have produced training films on youtube. With over 250 store locations, 100,000 products in stock, and knowledgeable associates, trust west marine for your boating, sailing, fishing, or paddling needs. Back in my younger days i worked a lot of 50 mhz, 144 mhz, 220 mhz, and 432 mhz. Without knowing really what we were doing, but on joe nunnemakers recommendation, we replaced the ham radio that came with callipygia with an icomm710 marine ssb in september, 2001.
Marine channel frequencies vhf uhf radio programming. Apr 02, 2019 for example, approximately 190,000 of the 500,000 boatu. Marine ssb antenna vertical or horizontal the diagrams included in this article were modelled with a program called mmana. You can download and then use the software for free up to 5 times. When these conditions are outside the preset limits, the radio will revert to low power approximately 75 watts. Propagation is an issue with ssb and its a general rule that. Vertical antennas for marine ssb this article discusses in laymans terms how an antenna transmits its energy and the various factors that might affect its performance. Propview propview uses the included ioncap propagation prediction engine to forecast the minimum and maximum useable frequencies between two locations over a specified 24 hour period. Marine radiotelephony originally used am mode in the 23 mhz region before the transition to ssb and the adoption of various higher frequency bands in addition to the 2 mhz frequencies. It uses data gathered by automatic packet reporting systeminternet service aprsis from packet stations in the amateur radio service. In contrast, waves from marine singlesideband ssb radios travel up to the f layer of the ionosphere, 75 to about 250 miles above the earth. Where marine vhf is limited to lineofsight communications and a maximum of about 25 miles, ssb radio has the potential to transmit and receive over. Marine hf is used from 2 mhz to 25 mhz, so for an antenna, a random wire will work fine.
Voacap voice of america coverage analysis program is free professional highfrequency hf propagation prediction software from ntiaits, originally developed for voice of america voa. Big dials, a large dotmatrix lcd and well spaced buttons make icom. Although a computer is a challenge in the damp and vibrationridden onboard environment, it opens up many communication alternatives. Some can only be unlocked using software, while others can be unlocked. Marine ssb antenna vertical or horizontal dx commander. Aug 16, 2019 west marine is committed to outfitting your life on the water. Here, we provide some helpful guidelines, information, and fill files for various versions and feature sets to enable these radios to operate on the ham radio ale hfn and hfl nets and channels, as well as various ham and commercial selcall channels. Complete qmac hf90 manpack system with ta99 automatic antenna tuner. Richard and sue buckner teamed with joe ahlgren author of geoclock and steve biro to create a dynamic system simulation and visualization software package which uses the voacap propagation prediction engine to create animated maps and charts to help all users of hf radio choose the best times and frequencies for communications. Whilst there are programs for your laptop designed to work with radio email. I have no clue as to hf conditions in nyc, since im in l. Today, our focus is an ever higher level of hf ssb refinement and performance. Vhf propagation map this map shows realtime radio propagation from stations operated near 144 mhz.
Acehf system simulation and visualization software, v2. Reach both marine and ham frequencies with the class e. As last year, which we found to work out very well, we start the net in concert with the longstanding doo dah net, hosted by dick giddings, call sign knc, on ssb frequency 8. When the bands are open and propagation is good, youll find that youre limited by local noise, not what city youre in. Overview the icom icf series of commercial hf ssb ale selcall radios can be used in amateur radio service. Acehf professional propagation software for hf radio operators. Types of propagation ssbcw vhf giampietro, iv3gbo tropo scatter from 100 km until 500 km this propagation mode is available all the time and is the main one for longer contacts, particularly at 144 mhz on ssb within the uk or to mainland europe. Slow fading of signals often apparent and reasonable signal strengths. Icom marine mfhf ssb transceiver icom produce the m801e and m802 marine mfhf ssb transceivers.
For many cruisers, upper sideband marine ssb on 40 meters provides sufficient communication capacity beyond the vhf. Typically marine mfhf ssb radios operate in the frequency range of 1. Wefax programs for weather fax decoding category is a curation of 18 web resources on, wxwarn weather software, meteofax32, apt decoder. Worldwide communications via mfhf marine ssb radio. Sep 19, 2017 in contrast, waves from marine singlesideband ssb radios travel up to the f layer of the ionosphere, 75 to about 250 miles above the earth. Both ssb amateur radio equipment and ssb marine radio receivers operate on frequencies between 3 and 30 mhz amateur radio users are relatively free to choose a frequency in the ranges 1. Marine hf ssb radio marine communications yachtcom.
For ssb marine radios, we recommend our aa35 activedsc antenna to use the dsc function. Send formated dx spots indicating clearly both locators and the type or propagation. This site is dedicated to voacap voice of america coverage analysis program for hf propagation prediction and ionospheric communications analysis, an. Actually, sgc was the first company to perfect and mass produce solidstate hf ssb radios, more than 20 years ago. It is called hf, or high frequency, because of the frequency range used, 3 to 30 megahertz mhz. In contrast, waves from marine singlesideband ssb radios travel up to.
Marine single side band ssb radio, also referred to as hf radio, is an old standby of voyaging vessels both small and large. Ssb hf radio applications in modern sailing vessels. Icom m802 marine ssb radio buy online in united arab. Jun 04, 2007 marine hf is used from 2 mhz to 25 mhz, so for an antenna, a random wire will work fine. Ssb marine antennas 16 ft lengths single side band for. The rest of the expensive gadgetry is nice if you can afford it. Marti brown, author of marine ssb for idiyachts and the icom m802 manual for idiyachts, a radio is a networking tool that connects people. Pactor modems are designed to maximise the data throughput via the ssb transceivers very limited bandwidth of just 2. Marine ssb frequencies the frequencies used for marine communications are internationally agreed by the international telecommunication union itu. Highly charged particles and gases there reflect the waves back to the earths surface a process called skywave propagation hundreds and even thousands of miles from their source. Hf ssb radios allow you to communicate from 75 miles to 3,000 miles offshore and beyond, depending on propagation, so you can stay in contact worldwide. West marine is committed to outfitting your life on the water. Where marine vhf is limited to lineofsight communications and a maximum of about 25 miles, ssb radio has the potential to transmit and receive over hundreds or even thousands of miles.
Marti brown, author of marine ssb for idiyachts and the icom m802 manual. With a pactor modem and a highfrequency singlesideband radio, connecting to. A marine ssb radio is often more expensive than a similar ham radio because. In the early days pactor only achieved a data speed of a few hundred bit per second, but as technology progressed so did the development of the p actor modem into the few. A typecertified marine ssb radio must have more accurate frequency tracking than most ham radios, although some newer ham radios may be just as good.