DX - FM Vs SSB - What is a good starting point on SSB

Morning All,

I only use FM mode currently and have recently had some DX using my President Truman with a KL203 so around 40w into an inverted V dipole in the loft. 

I have had contacts into Austria and South West Germany albeit brief but strong signals. This has really got me interested in DX and naturally SSB as the most prominent mode for this purpose. 

I am not a big fan of SSB audio and think FM is excellent however I do realise to improve my chances of repeating DX I may need to consider this mode. 

How do they compare for DX would you say for every DX contact on FM you could more easily get 5-10 on SSB? Is FM DX a rarity or can it be repeated when conditions are good?

Finally, if I was to 'convert' what would be a good SSB radio? I want something that is built to last or atleast has a good reputation for reliability. I am not concerned with power as would like use my amp to prevent the radio getting hot (a common issue I have read)

Thank you for reading. 

Tony
26CT4488

Hi Tony,

It certainly is possible to make fairly good DX contacts with FM and I've had many over the years to similar locations on CB radio as you've achieved and even further.

However it doesn't hold a candle up against SSB contacts and mostly due to noise. I won't go into all the technical details of bandwidth, receiver detection, etc. (yawn!) it just does simply works better in comparison. 

With 2m (144Mhz) I can only reach a couple of friends on FM modes via a repeater over several counties (Beds, Bucks, Herts & Cambs) but with SSB I can easily reach them directly with distances up to 40-50 miles. None of this involving large amounts of power or beam antennas either. (I've used as little as 5W for contact and a beam would only be able to point to one friend at a time!) Although this is a VHF amateur band activity it goes to show the effectiveness of utilising such modes directly with mostly line of sight operation. With ionospheric 'skip' operation the effect is quite remarkable.

You're not going to be able to put absolute numbers on it but you will gain way, way more contact with sideband operation than you could ever achieve with FM. The skip or propagation conditions will appear to come in earlier and hang around for longer whilst still being possible to copy them even with QSB or fading of signals on DX activity. You'll need really good conditions for FM in comparison whereas the slightest lift will reward you with SSB.

You soon get used to the SSB sound and I can actually recognise my friends voices more readily than if I hear them on FM due to using such modes more often.

There's a very good reason for using SSB for DX contacts and why it's use is so prevalent.


Hopefully that's put that one to bed for you.  

(Plus I didn't have to bore you with technical nonsense. )



As for a 'reliable' rig I suppose it all depends on how much you want to spend and how well you look after it. Some like classic SSB CB radios but you may well pay 'classic' or 'collectible' prices for them, others like the modern day offerings with the assurance of guarantees/warranties. (Some will bemoan 'Oriental' heritage but even some 'classics' heralded from far east manufacture.) Others yet go for a typical 'Ham' radio offerings but just be aware that this isn't legal and it would have to be suitably 'opened' to operate on CB frequencies.


Really in the end it's up to you, your budget and what you like the look of for a choice in radios. You'll end up blue in the face looking at recommendations or reviews otherwise.


Excuse the 'waffle', but hopefully that helps you some.

All the best,
Victor

hi tony
i run a alinco dx10 on legal power, no amps and keep with i the power that im allowed, most the time on lower power to see how far i can get.
just got back in to radio again and looking to do my foundation ham, not for more power more bands.
ive had Brazil, northern island, nova scota,sardinia,turkey,buenos aries,italy, all on ssb, some mobile aswell, if the skip is right you dont need loads of power, fm here is a bit hit and miss local tractors and wagons but flick to ssb the dredded T5 (27.555) and you will be amazed what and where you can hear
good luck picking a radio there is that many out there, ebay/gumtree ect ect or new but as victor says some of the errrrr imports are not leagal for cb, and have to reprogram for 27mhz on most any think from £100 up and depends on budget,

Victor wrote:

Hi Tony,

It certainly is possible to make fairly good DX contacts with FM and I've had many over the years to similar locations on CB radio as you've achieved and even further.

However it doesn't hold a candle up against SSB contacts and mostly due to noise. I won't go into all the technical details of bandwidth, receiver detection, etc. (yawn!) it just does simply works better in comparison. 

With 2m (144Mhz) I can only reach a couple of friends on FM modes via a repeater over several counties (Beds, Bucks, Herts & Cambs) but with SSB I can easily reach them directly with distances up to 40-50 miles. None of this involving large amounts of power or beam antennas either. (I've used as little as 5W for contact and a beam would only be able to point to one friend at a time!) Although this is a VHF amateur band activity it goes to show the effectiveness of utilising such modes directly with mostly line of sight operation. With ionospheric 'skip' operation the effect is quite remarkable.

You're not going to be able to put absolute numbers on it but you will gain way, way more contact with sideband operation than you could ever achieve with FM. The skip or propagation conditions will appear to come in earlier and hang around for longer whilst still being possible to copy them even with QSB or fading of signals on DX activity. You'll need really good conditions for FM in comparison whereas the slightest lift will reward you with SSB.

You soon get used to the SSB sound and I can actually recognise my friends voices more readily than if I hear them on FM due to using such modes more often.

There's a very good reason for using SSB for DX contacts and why it's use is so prevalent.


Hopefully that's put that one to bed for you.  

(Plus I didn't have to bore you with technical nonsense. )



As for a 'reliable' rig I suppose it all depends on how much you want to spend and how well you look after it. Some like classic SSB CB radios but you may well pay 'classic' or 'collectible' prices for them, others like the modern day offerings with the assurance of guarantees/warranties. (Some will bemoan 'Oriental' heritage but even some 'classics' heralded from far east manufacture.) Others yet go for a typical 'Ham' radio offerings but just be aware that this isn't legal and it would have to be suitably 'opened' to operate on CB frequencies.


Really in the end it's up to you, your budget and what you like the look of for a choice in radios. You'll end up blue in the face looking at recommendations or reviews otherwise.


Excuse the 'waffle', but hopefully that helps you some.

All the best,
Victor

Hi Victor,

Thank you for taking the time to respond and for your wisdom and advice. I think you are right and I have probably been kidding myself thinking I will just do it with FM. There are the odd locals I can still QSO with on FM when conditions / noise is low enough but I am starting to realise to continue my interest in CB/11m SSB will certainly help. 

Very interesting results you have had on 2m and as you say the principles will apply to 11m. Noise is the killer and SSB is much more efficient.

Also many of the nets are USB and so to get involved in them would also be good  

Thank you again and have a good weekend. 

Hopefully there will be some.good radio for us all!

Kind regards,

Tony 
26CT4488

No worries at all there Tony, just glad to be able to help out where and if I can.  

Have fun shopping for radios, enjoy any radio conditions Mother Nature rewards us with and I wish you a splendid bank holiday weekend.

73's

peewee norfolk wrote:

hi tony
i run a alinco dx10 on legal power, no amps and keep with i the power that im allowed, most the time on lower power to see how far i can get.
just got back in to radio again and looking to do my foundation ham, not for more power more bands.
ive had Brazil, northern island, nova scota,sardinia,turkey,buenos aries,italy, all on ssb, some mobile aswell, if the skip is right you dont need loads of power, fm here is a bit hit and miss local tractors and wagons but flick to ssb the dredded T5 (27.555) and you will be amazed what and where you can hear
good luck picking a radio there is that many out there, ebay/gumtree ect ect or new but as victor says some of the errrrr imports are not leagal for cb, and have to reprogram for 27mhz on most any think from £100 up and depends on budget,

Hi Peewee Norfolk,

Thank you for your reply. I have been shopping this morning and have decided to take the plunge I have bought a 6900n from Radioworld. It was a used one but looks to be in very good (like new condition).  Not too dissimilar to your DX10 - I intend to use just the radio power but not run it flat out.

 I can't wait to try it out!

Kind regards,

Tony 
26CT4488

And so it begins......

Germany booming in this morning when I was testing my magmount repair, and that was just on FM. Given the sideband interference I was getting on UKFM Ch1-5 I suspect 27.555 is busy.

not a thing here this morning, having said that the sky dont look to good, real black clouds every where and wind come back sun and skip

peewee norfolk wrote:

not a thing here this morning, having said that the sky dont look to good, real black clouds every where and wind come back sun and skip

Skip has nothing to do with the weather, it's how much the sun radiation affects the ionosphere as that's where the signals bounce off and that's 50-400 miles up well above the clouds. 

High pressure does affect VHF and UHF though so a high pressure area covering the UK and Western Europe will have you hearing stations, repeaters and APRS squawks on the 2m band from the continent.

For me it's the other way around. I can not stand the harsh noise of FM, SSB is the way to go for DX'ing.