On Jun 18, 8:30 am, Bob wrote:
Hello,

I am new to SW and have recently purchased a ka1103 radio. It seems
to work very well, but I have trouble with SSB. I live in NY and I
don't seem to be able to pick up SSB. I am trying some of the The
SSB USB (AFRTS) frequencies listed in the SW schedule from a
magazine. I tune to the frequency, switch to SSB and then try to fine
tune into a broadcast. I just can't seem to pick anything up. Could
it be the radio or isn't there a strong enough signal? How can I
determoine the reason?

Thanks
It's always good to get a feel for the SSB feature of your radio by
"driving it around" a bit on an easy signal before you try to use it
on a very weak signal like AFRTS can be sometimes.

For practice, you can always tune a local AM broadcast with your SSB
feature turned on. If you have a USB/LSB switch or mode button, try
both. If you have a dial that's marked "BFO" or "clarifier" or
similar, twiddle that. If you can get an intelligible signal in that
mode, you know your receiver works OK in SSB mode and will get a feel
for how to work the controls. You will probably hear a horrible
screaming whine which changes pitch as you tune which won't happen
with a "true" SSB only signal, so turning the volume down low isn't a
bad idea. When it's tuned so the pitch of the whine is so low you
can't hear it anymore, you're just about perfectly tuned. Tune for
maximum natural sound.


In SSB mode, when you run by an SSB signal, instead of an annoying
high pitched whine that drops as you get closer and closer to the
signal (and rises again if you continue past it), instead you'll hear
a gibberishy sound that changes pitch as you change frequencies or
rotate the clarifier/BFO knob. Start slow, and see if you can get
clear and natural sound. If the voices or music still don't make
sense [insert commercial radio-bashing joke here] , try the alternate
sideband if your radio has a USB/LSB mode switch. (If it has a BFO
knob, it should make sense when you have the knob set right without
any other adjustments.)

Using a regular AM radio station works because a standard AM broadcast
band signal is both a USB transmission, an LSB transmission, and a
carrier transmission, all in one. The USB and LSB parts carry
identical information (in mirror image), and the carrier is there to
keep the receivers simple. You can throw out the carrier and one of
the sidebands and lose basically nothing. That's how SSB works. (The
carrier is what makes the whine.)

One DXing trick is to leave your radio in SSB mode as you tune even
for AM signals. Even VERY weak signals that are barely discernable,
will cause an audible squeal as you tune past them, so it's a good way
to ensure you don't miss a weak signal.

Another neat trick for radios with a selectable USB or LSB mode, is to
tune an AM signal very carefully, and then listen to only the USB or
LSB side, whichever has less interference. Sometimes this can really
save your ears.

A last trick in "fun with SSB" is if you can't tell exactly what
frequency a station is on. In AM mode, you can be tuned off a bit and
not really hear any difference. But if you turn on SSB you have to be
pretty close to exactly on the carrier frequency for the whine to
disappear. This ONLY works on radios that don't have a knob for BFO
or clarifier, though.

Hope this helps a little.
-- ross