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Radio Resources Marine SSB Radios Do More Than Boat Talk by Gordon West, WB6NOA |
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The Kenwood TKM 707 marine SSB transceiver (marked with arrow) works great on ham frequencies too!
Many boaters may pull their marine SSB transceiver before selling the boat. Or maybe they buy a boat, and pull the SSB radio off because they’re just going to be cruising locally within VHF range. VHF at 156 MHz offers 55 channels for boaters, and high-frequency SSB covering 2 MHz to 26 MHz offers hundreds of channels for long-distance sailors. During the winter season, I see a lot of these marine SSB radios showing up at garage sales, swap meets, or offered online. If they’re extremely old, they are crystal-controlled and will have no value to us as radio experimenters. But if they are within 10 years “young,” they’re probably completely synthesized and offer general coverage capabilities well beyond just the boat yak-yak channels. The majority of 10-year and younger marine SSB transceivers all feature general coverage SSB, AM, and data-signal receive. The general coverage receiver is usually double-conversion and may offer automatic internal narrow-filter operation. Most are extremely sensitive down to a fraction of a microvolt. These marine SSB rigs typically run on 12 volts with a common SO-239 antenna connection. Just add 12 volts, string up a dipole, and see what it takes to get the tuning into variable frequency oscillator mode, and then lock in on your favorite shortwave frequency.
If you’re a ham radio operator, almost all of
these new marine SSB transceivers will transmit up to 150 watts output on
ham frequencies. Almost all have a lower sideband filter for 40 meters, 75
meters, and 160 meters. Most will have capabilities for sending and
receiving data, too, making them great for ham radio high-frequency
automatic position reporting system operation. |
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