Mike: I refer to my treatise to Georgs re advise #3. The SSB and Ham take a
good amount of training. Remember back then you needed to do 30 words. You
also  maintained the SSB and connections as if your life depended on it which it
did  if you (and your boat) were to come through the cruise safe and sound.
Unfortunately many sailors today purchase a SSB and never use it after
installation. I suppose it is because they seldom leave the dock or cruise out
beyond VHF range.  Regards. Leonard Stern,  Indifference.

I think your conversation about SSB and it virtues is correct, but it is hard to learn and time consuming to learn and to operate. Since ever important piece of equipment should have a minimum of two competent operators on any long passage, I question the wisdom of trying to learn something of that type of equipment and trying to find and or teach a backup operator.

Yes, I have a SSB radio, I have used it well beyond VHF range but it is not a dependable communication by my standards at least in my hands.

It seems a little like going back to a crystal set and spark coil, but harder to fix.

Good boating, John Harris

The 1985 Willard that I purchased came with an SEA 322 SSB which appears to be poorly installed vice the ground plane and tuner location. Right now it is not important to me, but it will be if I participate in the West Marine trip to Bermuda. In Special Forces we used to use a 15W radio and could communicate from Laos to Okinawa and from locations in South America to Fort Bragg, NC with regularity. The reason is understanding radio wave propagation and selecting the correct frequency on which to communicate. Propagation depends upon the location of the ionosphere, except for low frequency like 2180, which will likely get through to someone within its circumscribed range. The ionosphere's altitude varies by time of year and your location. If you select the right frequency, you can communicate from Arizona to Jordon just like Barry Goldwater did. This selection, your ground plane, and antenna are more important than the wattage of your transmitter. If you have a HAM license, based upon the grade of that license, you will have more and more frequencies to choose from.

Bob Austin can explain all this better, but it is wrong to blame the equipment or technology per se. It gives you a lot of bang for the buck compared to more exotic satellite technologies.

I'll do my intro next time, promise.

Ron Rogers
Willard 40 AIRBORNE
Lying Annapolis

----- Original Message -----
From: John Harris

Yes, I have a SSB radio, I have used it well beyond VHF range but it is not a dependable communication by my standards at least in my hands.

It seems a little like going back to a crystal set and spark coil, but harder to fix.