How does ssb on a 2 meter work? I am new to ham. SOmeone told me you
can talk for 100's of miles on ssb on 2 meters. Can I get one of these
radio's used very cheap?

Other than some RARE propagation openings on 2M such as ducting (some others
too) , the range for 2M is essentially line of sight and depends on height
of the receiving antenna and the transmitting antenna, antenna gains, power,
noise firgure and some other considerations.

Essentially line of sight LOS -- just like FM.

With good antennas and some altitude -- everyday contacts of up to 100 miles
can be made.

Regarding the RARE propagation openings -- you can wait months (years) for
these.

A rough idea of LOS transmitter range can be found at URL:

http://www.artscipub.com/simpleton/simp.range.html

Search e-bay for an all mde 2M transceiver for an idea of price.

And you must have the proper class of Ham license to transmit on any Ham
band.

To see the principles of Single Side Band -- see URL:
http://www.williamson-labs.com/480_ssb.htm
But be aware of their description of long range communications applies to
HF -- not 2M

--
ruido de icógnito



wrote in message
oups.com...
How does ssb on a 2 meter work? I am new to ham. SOmeone told me you
can talk for 100's of miles on ssb on 2 meters. Can I get one of these
radio's used very cheap?

Noise From Afar wrote:
Other than some RARE propagation openings on 2M such as ducting (some others
too) , the range for 2M is essentially line of sight and depends on height
of the receiving antenna and the transmitting antenna, antenna gains, power,
noise firgure and some other considerations.

Generally true, but this past summer, in July, I was talking all over
the East/Central US on 2m and 6m, via some kind of bizarre propagation.
SSB will get you more bang for the buck than FM will, every time. And
CW will do even better.

If I remember right, if you have 100W FM, you will do as well as 25W
SSB, which will do as well as 4W CW.

http://www.vhfdx.net/esmaps/esmap050704_2.html

Someone wrote Generally true, but this past summer, in July, I was talking
all over the East/Central US on 2m and 6m, via some kind of bizarre
propagation.

Yep --- some of the rare propagation modes mentioned by the original
poster -- Yours was probably sporadic E
But as the original poster said -- it can be months before it may occur.

Here is the drill for sporadic propagation seasons.

Studies over many years for sporadic E propagation have shown peak activity
in the summer months with another smaller peak in the winter. Nearly 80% of
the yearly totals of Es propagation take place from May through August, with
maximums occurring in June or July with June being the more common. Some Es
can take place in late April and early September.
A lower but significant occurrence takes place in the month of December.
March usually exhibits a definite minimum of Es. However, Es can occur on
ANY DAY OF THE YEAR and these are termed off-peak openings.

However sporadic E propagation can produce very strong signals on the first
hop and I have worked many 6M stations several hundred miles away on FM,
when asked they sed they only had FM capability. So when you can work
sporadic E with SSB -- also try the FM segment -- I have worked some rare
states this way. Ditto of course with CW usually down band from the SSB
segment.

When multi-hop Sporadic E occurs -- one can work all over the USA

But SSB will do better and CW will get thru when the others failed. Your
power figures are about right.
--
The Modulator -- RF Gotta Go Somewhere

Worked 48 of the 50 States on 6M -- mostly SSB, Some FM and Some CW


------------------------------------

"Dave Bushong" wrote in message
news
Noise From Afar wrote:
Other than some RARE propagation openings on 2M such as ducting (some
others too) , the range for 2M is essentially line of sight and depends
on height of the receiving antenna and the transmitting antenna, antenna
gains, power, noise firgure and some other considerations.

Generally true, but this past summer, in July, I was talking all over the
East/Central US on 2m and 6m, via some kind of bizarre propagation. SSB
will get you more bang for the buck than FM will, every time. And CW will
do even better.

If I remember right, if you have 100W FM, you will do as well as 25W SSB,
which will do as well as 4W CW.

http://www.vhfdx.net/esmaps/esmap050704_2.html

With 100w and an old 19 element beam on the roof of the house (up 35 ft), I
can work 150 mile circle pretty regularly with ssb and cw.

I had lots of fun with 10 watts and a homebrew 7 element yagi for years though.

Sure beats repeaters IMHO!

JW
K9RZZ
MILWAUKEE EN62

Why, recently when Verizon switched my cellphone with
another subscriber who was adding calls to my bill from strange
destinations 100s of miles away, the Verizon technician
assured me that my 600 milliwat phone 1.9Ghz was just connecting up
over hills and valleys to a tower at that far away destination. And you
Hams are using 100 watts...Geez

As a Ham I can very easily talk thru a 2M Ham repeater (5600 feet altitude)
with a half watt of power and a rubber duck antenna.
The repeater has a solid local coverage of 2000 square miles and out to 150
mile range in some cases.
The repeater power is about 10 Watts.

Also many Ham repeaters are linked and can cover several states. Several
hundred miles via long range linking. No wires or satellites involved

Also I can invoke IRLP or Echolink thru a local repeater and talk from the
repeater to the internet to anywhere in the world with other Hams. Again 500
milliwatts and a rubber duck antenna. Yes I know you can do that with your
computer, but Hams can be just about anywhere and accomplish that with a 1/2
Watt transceiver

A recent incident in California found a hiker in dire distress and in need
of rescue -- the cell phone was useless -- couldn't find a nearbt tower. But
a Ham in the hiking party raised a Ham repeater 90 miles away and a
helicopter arrived and saved the hikers life.

During dire emergencies -- hurricanes, earthquakes -- the cell phones are
overloaded or out of service, but many Ham repeaters resort to battery power
and stay operational. Both cell phones and Ham radio has its place.

I use 100 Watts when I am on the HF bands using voice, morse code, or data
to make contacts word wide direct (not a hilltop repeater or satellite). I
have also made world wide HF contacts with low power - 5 watts -- longest
was from Califonia to South Africa about 10,000 miles. Yes I have a good
antenna and had superb propagation.

If that helps you -- so inform your Verizon technician

Hams have had repeaters for decades -- easily 35 years plus.
And with very low power HF since the early 1900's

Perhaps now you are intereted in an Amateur Radio License -- see URL:
http://www.arrl.org/hamradio.html

I post, therefore I am



"Spike" wrote in message
...
Why, recently when Verizon switched my cellphone with
another subscriber who was adding calls to my bill from strange
destinations 100s of miles away, the Verizon technician
assured me that my 600 milliwat phone 1.9Ghz was just connecting up
over hills and valleys to a tower at that far away destination. And you
Hams are using 100 watts...Geez