I hve never used ssb. I would like to try it. Is ther much action on
this? What do the two different antennas look like?


For SSB/CW work around 144.2mhz, all antennas should be horizontal, otherwise
you throw away 20db in signal strength due to you being vertical and everyone
else being horizontal. Because of this, omni directional antennas are usually
horiz. loops or 'squalos', not verticals, and beams are usually 4 elements or
more.

Note that there are no repeaters for SSB/
CW, it's all simplex so the distance you cover is dependent on the equipment
you use. Even with 10watts and a homebrew 7 element yagi (and not that good of
one) I worked about 8 states on 2m which was a lot of fun. You can work guys
with a vertical, but it's tougher than even with a little 4 element beam. Most
activity is either in the mornings when band conditions are best, or in the
evenings between 5pm and 11pm. Just park your radio on 144.200mhz and let it
run for awile. Eventually you'll hear somebody calling CQ and you'll get a feel
for it. Both SSB and CW are focused on 144.200 regardless what the ARRL
publishes for a CW calling frequency, then it's +/- from there depeneding on
QRM. I've NEVER heard anyone on 144.100 which the ARRL still calls the CW
calling freq.

Of course when the band opens up ... WHOO HOOO, the sky's the limit and you
could find yourself talking to Texas or Florida even with only a couple watts
out of your radio!

John Wilke
K9RZZ
Milwaukee, WI
EN62