BeavX wrote:

I have a Sangean 505, anyone know how I use the SSB feature? Thanks again.

Think of the inside of a pipe. The station frequencty signal is like a
beam of light coming straight down the center of the pipe toward you.
SSB is a signal 'way over at the edge of the pipe. Still "in" or "on"
that frequency, but a kilohertz or part of a kilohertz "off to the
side". Hence it sounds garbled, though if you can tune to that "off"
frequency you can hear it fine. SSB also has the neat ability to travel
very long distances - around the world, as any ham operator wiht a good
setup will testify.

The SSB feature in the 505 is fairly simplistic, and that's good
when you are starting out, as you grasp the basic principal without a
lot of other gingerbread features you'd need to learn to use it at it's
best. Don't get me wrong, the "gingerbread" is delicious - but
confusing at first.

If you're browsing in the 75 or 20 meter bands, and hear a "Donald
Duck" sounding voice, it is likely a ham operator, virtually all of whom
broadcast in SSB. Slide the lower switch on the left hand side of the
radio up - this moves you into single side band. The sound of the voice
may change little at first, but then use the rotary control on the upper
left-hand side to bring the voice into "focus" as it were. A flyspeck
of movement makes a big difference - take it slow. If it gets worse,
return to the center detent, and rotate it slowly in the opposite
direction. With patience, you can almost always get the voice clearly.
This is single side band decoding at it's simplest. Marine and aircraft
broadcasts will also be in SSB. The website that was listed for you
will have more info on where to find those.

Down the road, SSB can be useful for isolating or fine-tuning (in a
rough way) ordinary broadcast stations not actually broadcasting in SSB
- thought the 505 is not the best radio for this. What I've described
here is a very, very basic description of listening to SSB on that
radio. If your skill or patience level is already beyond what I have
written, others here on the group can give you mroe advanced techniques,
and the equipment you'd need to purse them with.

Tony


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