*I would think that your NT-42 would not be crossing oceans and used exclusively for coastal cruising. And limited forays off-shore. Accessing weather information would be far easier using cell based internet or a Starlink system than attempting to download GRIB files through your SSB.* *I doubt very much that anyone (apart from ham radio enthusiasts) would see a need for an SSB radio on a coastal cruiser.* *-Evan* ------------------------------------------------ *Had a 802 with pacnor modem on last boat. Excellent rig. But coastal not necessary imho. Would spend the money on Starlink.* *Lee* *Hippocampus* *NT42* ------------------------------------------------ *Do any NT owners here have a HF/SSB rig on their boat? If so... - Did you add it or was it there when you bought the boat? We added the SSB when we bought our boat approximately 12 years ago - What role does it serve on your boat... Fun (e.g. amateur use)? Operational? In case of emergency? Or never use it (i.e. came with the boat)? We use it less now than 12 years ago when we first installed it because cell phone service has greatly expanded since then, however, cell phone service is still grossly inadequate for any type of communication or emergency beyond 10 or 15 miles from a populated land mass. SSB is still very useful for sending free email if you have an attached Pactor modem as well as receiving GIBB weather maps, emergency communication, joining localized Ham nets and pleasure DX contacts. We use our NT for cruising everything from inland lakes and rivers, Gulf of Mexico, Chesapeake Bay and the Bahamas and if you like to stay in contact with family members sending and receiving daily emails in areas such as the Dry Tortugas this can only be accomplished with an SSB or if you can afford the monthly rates of satellite internet connections via Starlink or SAT phone. Once the SS is set up its use is absolutely free if you have a HAM license and use Winlink. - If operational or emergency, how does it serve you beyond what your VHF or cell do? See above. The question you didn't ask, Would we install an SSB again if we were starting over? Yes, if for no other reason than, to fix the cost of communications in a very volatile, escalating market.* ------------------------------------------------ *I agree with the prior posts. In a prior boating life we spent 4 years in* *the southern Caribbean on a big sailboat which came with the same Icom SSB* *and a pactor modem. I tried and tried to get it to work properly, but salt* *water is hell on connectors, grounding systems, etc., and I never had much* *luck. I had some cruising friends who enjoyed the various Caribbean* *cruising nets on SSB, but frankly the local VHF nets were of more interest* *to me. Cell phones worked almost everywhere in the islands. We carried an* *InReach device which could send short text messages via satellite when we* *were well offshore.* *>From our experience, SSB was not used even in international cruising, so I* *never have thought that I needed or wanted one for US coastal cruising.* *ROB SCHENDEL* *"Astra", 42 Nordic Tug* ----------------------------------------------------- Guys.. thank you sincerely for taking the time on this. From the replies, I don't feel terrible for sticking to my initial position, BUT... then I also see multiple people doing things with their NT's that I just did not expect to hear, so clearly some do that too but not many on the whole. I have used cell phone hot-spot for email/checking in while away from the marina over the years which I don't think ever let me down. After I check off the CW box, I plan to jump into exploring digital modes/services so winlink is squarely on that list. Starlink seems like an excellent resource though as a businessman, I don't get their pricing. I've borrowed Iridium cell phones and InReach "thingies" for off-road dirtbike vacations in remote places, the latter seeming hardcore essential (two of them in the group for fault tolerance) at least offroad on a dirtbike, and the former working surprisingly well if you don't mind the weight. It sounds as though at least a couple of you both have a 710 and amateur licenses... any thought on how it might do as a portable reliable high-power emergency HF rig? Any quirks that make life as an amateur harder? I'm guessing there's something like a MARS/CAP mod to open up the bands if there are any built-in obstacles in as-delivered box. As I said in the OP, it won't be my primary HF rig.. adding a 6W all-band Yaesu for mobile and initially for my base, and later probably something ridiculous like an ancient Heathkit SB-102 or that box I used to go in and drool on in the Lafayette Radio store:) I enjoy restoring machines and electronics. I looked at the manual for the 710 last night and it clearly advises to not mount it overhead due to it'd weight (built ruggedly for commercial use I assume) which is where its mounted. So, coming out no matter what. Rob.. I became unhappy early on with the design choices for my bonding network. Constant corroded resistive connections. If I checked three bonding points I'd put my money on the fact that 2 would be resistive. My conclusion was dissimilar metal corrosion at the commonly failing points. I don't know if those were factory hardware on it when I got it or from the prior owner but once I replaced them reliability increased markedly. Initially I was encasing the connections in silicone/tefgel or dielectric grease but I believe (not sure now) I ended up using a spray on anticorrosive for electrical connections. Reliability remained high. I'd tell you what it was if I remembered or go check the can but the all my industrial chemical storage is now focused on a terrestrial life. Again, appreciate the replies. Thank you. Miguel -- MV Clockwork

Rob and if anyone else is interested.. in my earlier reply I was unable to recall the name of the anti-corrosive spray product I used on Clock Work's bonding network but just stumbled upon the can of the first spray yesterday... it's CRC Marine Heavy Duty Corrosion Inhibitor. It worked but one thing I wasn't in love with was the yellow/brown color it left. I like an almost sterile engine room (though that's a fine color for working tractors:) And where I found the can was the tractor barn. I managed to bust thru my cobwebs and recall the successor spray I moved to after the CRC.... CorrosionX. That was enthusiastically recommended by a friend who was a machinist mate on a not-small naval vessel. Unfortunately, that too also produces a sloppy look if sprayed which can be mostly managed by applying it with an acid brush. I happily use a small pile of CRC products made for electrical machinery and connectors in my shop and garage (to which I must also add D5 products for high end electronic restoration) and the only reason I bailed was the sloppy look... not its performance. If I were going to keep the boat, I'd have remained with CorrosionX given the strong enthusiasm of that recommender based on his credibility/reliability over the years. Once I've finished using the CRC product on my outdoor equipment (if I live that long), I'll switch over to CorrosionX there too. To fill in some final detail, I was also not dissatisfied with the performance of either the tefgel or dielectric grease but logic (or something) causes me to rate those third for reasons it'd take too long to type in. Miguel On Wed, Feb 1, 2023 at 6:40 PM P MVKW <public.mv.clockwork@gmail.com> wrote: > > > ------------------------------------------------ > > > *I agree with the prior posts. In a prior boating life we spent 4 years > in* > > *the southern Caribbean on a big sailboat which came with the same Icom > SSB* > > *and a pactor modem. I tried and tried to get it to work properly, but > salt* > > *water is hell on connectors, grounding systems, etc., and I never had > much* > > *luck. I had some cruising friends who enjoyed the various Caribbean* > > *cruising nets on SSB, but frankly the local VHF nets were of more > interest* > > *to me. Cell phones worked almost everywhere in the islands. We carried > an* > > *InReach device which could send short text messages via satellite when we* > > *were well offshore.* > > > *>From our experience, SSB was not used even in international cruising, so > I* > > *never have thought that I needed or wanted one for US coastal cruising.* > > > *ROB SCHENDEL* > > *"Astra", 42 Nordic Tug* > > > ----------------------------------------------------- > > > > > Rob.. I became unhappy early on with the design choices for my bonding > network. Constant corroded resistive connections. If I checked three > bonding points I'd put my money on the fact that 2 would be resistive. My > conclusion was dissimilar metal corrosion at the commonly failing points. I > don't know if those were factory hardware on it when I got it or from the > prior owner but once I replaced them reliability increased markedly. > Initially I was encasing the connections in silicone/tefgel or dielectric > grease but I believe (not sure now) I ended up using a spray on > anticorrosive for electrical connections. Reliability remained high. I'd > tell you what it was if I remembered or go check the can but the all my > industrial chemical storage is now focused on a terrestrial life. > > Again, appreciate the replies. Thank you. > > Miguel > > > -- MV Clockwork www.clockwork-usa.com

Can I call you later? Sent from my Apple Watch

Sure Lee Sent from my iPhone > On Mar 10, 2023, at 9:43 AM, Paul Bulk via Sentoa <sentoa@lists.sentoa.org> wrote: > > Can I call you later? > > Sent from my Apple Watch_______________________________________________ > Sentoa mailing list -- sentoa@lists.sentoa.org > To unsubscribe send an email to sentoa-leave@lists.sentoa.org