Shipboard Communications

[CapnK]

Grog, Grampian. Thank you for your service, and for a neat story. :D

And BTW, you aren't the only jarhead here. I won't reveal who exactly it is, but will have 'faith' that you can figure it out, or that he'll tell you... lol ;D

[Auspicious]

Check out Skip Gundlach's set up for wifi on board on the SSCA board: http://64.70.221.24/DiscBoard/viewtopic.php?t=1505 . He's still working bugs out, but I think he is on the right track.

[svosprey]

It's about time ;)

XM and Bushnell get busy, create first GPS device with XM Radio and Satellite Weather

http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/09/xm-and-bushnell-get-busy-create-first-gps-device-with-xm-radio/

[CharlieJ]

Sorry, but not me. I've been bit to often with "combined" electronics or electrical gear. When one goes bad, while it's being fixed, you lose the other(s)

On board my boat anyway, I want individual, stand alone gear I can power several ways.

[AdriftAtSea]

I'm with charlie... I like to keep things simple as possible.  I also don't like to lose something, just because something else went south. Besides, Garmin already does make GPS chartplotters that will display XM weather radio data on them.  The 376, 378, 478 and a bunch of others will do it. 

I also don't believe in anything that has ongoing monthly costs, if I can avoid it at all.  XM weather Radio is a subscription service, that only really covers the Continental USA and is fairly expensive from what I remember.  Once, I'm out cruising long-term...I want as few ongoing costs as possible.  GRIB and WX files are free via SSB or shortwave radio.

[Frank]

Simple is good. ALL my items onboard take the same batteries.Hand held,flashlights,gps and CD player.....but then again...I confuse easily ;D

[AdriftAtSea]

Frank-

That also means you can buy batteries in bulk.  :D  I like the Energizer PhotoLithium AA batteries.  They're not rechargable, but they have a great shelf life (about 10 years) and last about four times as long as the alkaline batteries do.  They're also a bit lighter, which is nice, when weight is an issue.

[SolarSailor]

Based on 2 years with a Pacific Seacraft Flicka in Florida:

I used  handheld VHF in the cockpit - easy to talk to bridge tenders that way when requesting openings or staying aware of local happenings.  The batteries for the handheld were NiMH and recharged fast from the house 12 volt supply as necessary.  A masthead antenna and a built-in VHF was also installed for more general communication purposes.

For long range communication and email, I used a Ham radio with the SCS Pactor interface to a laptop computer.

I can only say good things about having this mode of communication aboard.   With only a Five Watt Ham transceiver (Elecraft Model K2), I was always able to maintain email communication with the folks at home.  From the Florida Keys, I generally passed the email through a land based portal located in Memphis, TN.  Yes, this is limited to text based non-commercial email, and if you are always in range of a cell phone tower, you have other options - but even sailing down the west coast of Florida, there are significant areas with no cell phone coverage - however, SSB email always worked when I wanted to report my location.  Once you get out of range of the Key West cell phone towers (like the Marquesas Keys), SSB email is the ONLY way to go!

Also, don't let the "professionals" give you a song and dance about needing to change your rigging to install a backstay antenna with the very expensive (and failure prone) insulators.  A simple Ham Stick antenna attached to the stern rail is more than sufficient for SSB email communication (I did prefer the 30 meter band - but 20 and 40 meter bands may be better depending on locations and boat installations)

Just my experience

Jobst

[Lynx]

I am going to the Bahamas and was looking at an SSB. The more I read about it the more it seams like an extra expense where a Sat phone would be better for a 3 to 5 year cruise.

Sat Phones have come a long way with text messaging and email.

For those who have been there. How far can you be get weather on the VHF?
Exumas and Georgetown are my destinations.

Can you get weather text on the Sat phone? email OK?

For those of you who have SSB, would you do it again?

Is it really a toss up?

Thanks, Lynx

[Frank]

Most ereas have weather on 'cruisers net' at a designated time on VHF. In the Abacos it is ch68@8.15am. With WIFI being more and more attainable you will have nooa and 'barometer bob.com'..plus local fm radio at 8.30 on ch 1350 (abacos). I have a sony SSB reciever.Reception is much better with the clip-on ariel attached to a shroud. I rarely used SSB as the others were so attainable and clearer to hear...again mine was a reciever only. Some cell phones seemed to work well too.Talk to your USA providers as to what company works best/cheapest.My Canadian phone didn't work and I understand that if not set-up correctly is VERY expensive.  As always....get a bigger anchor ;-)       http://barometerbob.com/

[AdriftAtSea]

As Frank has pointed out, the islands have fairly decent wifi, VHF and cellular phone coverage.  Provided you get a local "SIM" card for your cellular phone, making phone calls via it should be relatively reasonable in price.  Weather data can always be gotten via a good SSB-reciever, when not in Wifi or cellular range of the internet.

If you're going to stay relatively close to the islands, I don't necessarily see either SSB or Satphone being a necessity.  However, if you need to get one or the other, I would recommend getting an SSB setup.

While you can get e-mail and weather, primarily via e-mail, over a sat phone, I would highly recommend that you get an SSB instead.  I don't believe that there are any weather services that are free that transmit over the sat phone... From what I understand the only real way to get weather data over the sat phone is via e-mail, but I could be wrong.  If that is indeed the case, you are risking getting timely weather information, as internet e-mail is not exactly bulletproof—a recent case study said that about 40% of all e-mails are never delivered.

Another reason I say go with SSB, is that it doesn't incur a large monthly expense, like a sat phone does, nor does it require you to pay for every minute of usage or megabyte of data downloaded, as a satellite phone does.

SSB is also a multipoint broadcast technology—not point-to-point like a sat phone, which means that you're not limited in an emergency to being heard by just the one person you've called.  If you have a serious medical problem, it is often possible to get medical advice over SSB, which is far less likely to be the case over sat phone.  If you have to broadcast a mayday over ssb, your chance of getting a response from someone physically near you is much higher than if you use a satellite phone, as the satellite phone has to go to a landstation, unless you know and call another boat. 

Also, in the case of piracy, which is not an unheard of thing unfortunately, the use of an SSB has resulted in the alleged pirates sheering off to hunt other prey, as the boat was in contact with the authorities and they pirates knew it.  In the case of a satellite phone, that would not be the case, even if you knew the correct phone number to call to speak to the proper authorities.

Finally, one of the satellite providers that had the best rates and coverage for the Caribbean, Globalstar, is currently having serious financial and technical difficulties... and I would recommend not doing business with them until they straighten things out—if they survive.

[Pixie Dust]

The boat down here from Panama City, Naked Lady has a SSB and they swear it is the way to go.  I have to agree totally with them.  They get weather faxes, communicate with family, participate in nets, stay in contact with other sailors including a friend who was sailing to Guatamala.  They would do a regular timed updates with them.   They can send emails etc through it.   Expense is up front, but then no minutes to contend with and pay extra for.  They can communicate with folks all over the world.   I have talked with numerous folks regarding Sat phones and they communicated that (esp in the Bahamas) connection issues, staying connected and very expensive to operate, if you can even get connected.   SSB seems to be the best choice all around IMHO

[Frank]

Connie...you are totally correct in all you say. I met an English couple (really nice folks) and Graham LOVED their SSB for all the reasons you mentioned. If I was doing the Carribean a SSB would be given very serious thought. My 'comfort level' in the Bahamas would make it a 'luxury' to me in those waters. Plus 1-I love simplicity  2-I'm a techno phobe and HATE electronics  3-I'm thrifty (OK..cheap)   I should note that a HUGE part of my fear of electronics is just plain hating to learn  ??? how to use them!!   Having said all that..on a extended cruise with lots of offshore passages to different ports and countries,I think a SSB would be great.

[Frank]

Quick thought before getting back to work here (gotta hate reality at times)  With wifi SO available now in so many islands you not only have access to weather etc but many cruisers I met are set up with 'Skype' so they can call home for next to zip !! If you both have built in cameras you can even see each other as you talk. Judy and I are doing that for next year. Sure beats cell phone bills and expensive payphones.

[Lynx]

2 other questions about the SSB

Amp draw, I have 2 wet cell small series 97 batteries. I think that they are 90 amps each. What is transmitting going to do to them?

How close can you transmit? Can I talk to someone 25 miles away?

[AdriftAtSea]

Lynx-

On standby or receive, the SSB radio is relatively conservative in its power use.  In transmit... it's a huge power hog—25-30 amps during transmission, and this doesn't include the antenna tuner's power draw.

As for distance, Generally, SSB radios work better over a very long distance or a very short distance.  There's a range in-between that gets skipped, due to the way the radio waves from an SSB radio propagate.  I am going to guess that 25 miles is probably on the very far end of the short distances...

The short distances are covered by SSB-ground wave, and is basically line of sight, like VHF.  This is where the signal goes from the transmitter directly to the receiver.  The outside range is going to be about the same as VHF... and 25 miles is pretty close to it.  The SSB radio signal can be attenuated (weakened) by heavy folilage, fog, cloud cover, and things like that.

The longer distances are covered by the sky-wave transmission...which travels upwards and then "bounces" off the ionosphere and is reflected down to the receiving antenna.  The distance this sky-wave can travel is dependent on many conditions, including solar activity, and the frequency used—in general, the higher the frequency, the further it will travel.  Also, you generally need to use higher frequencies in the daytime, as the sun causes interference in the atmosphere, and the lower frequency are affected most heaviliy.   Electrical storms and other forms of electrical interference can also create radio noise that can drown out an SSB transmission. SSB signal propagation is much better at night as a general rule.

In-between is an area that is too far for the ground wave to reach, and too close by for the sky-wave to bounce down to. 

[Lynx]

Frank - What type of antenna do you use for your Sony SSB rreceiver?

What do you think of the Sony SSB Antenna?

[Frank]

It is a portable Sony..much like the typical 'Grundig' models. The antenna is an extendable one that folds flat on top of the radio.There is also a long wire antenna that plugs in and clips to a shroud for more range.The sony was 'best buy' the year I got it but 'techno phobe' here finds the controls are very complicated and not very 'intuitive'.Before buying one...play with a few models out there to see which one you 'get along best with'

[s/v Faith]

I had read that my cingular cell phone would work here in the Bahamas.  The word was that BTC had worked out a deal with Cingualr / ATT that allowed roaming on thier network for $1.00 a minute.  No such luck, get a signal, but all calls end in a busy signal (local, to USA, or 1800 numbers).

  Downloaded Skype, and have had some luck with it.  Made a couple of necessary business calls on it today... kinda sketchy but at .21c a minute it works better then the alternative.



 

[Frank]

I am looking at a 'sat phone' to call home and get internet while away this year.Globalstar has a $75 mth unlimited minute plan and phones on sale for $550. Expensive getting 'in', but cheaper than a cell along with internet as a bonus.I'm told internet is VERY slow but the thought of phoning from anywhere appeals to me....especially from the outislands.Anyone have thoughts/ideas? Remember....keep replies simple..I'm not a techie  ;)