I’ve had such a big response to my “Minimalist marine electronics” series of blogs I feel I need to expand.
I will be compiling all of the “Minimalist marine electronics” blogs into a video, and incorporating with another series of blogs and video I’m working on, “The marine SSB”. I’m forging the two together because the marine SSB is so much more than just a a radio. It will need to be integrated into my onboard 12v ships computer, not to mention being part of my NMEA network, hence it’s all part of the same system.
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The marine SSB radio is not only used for keeping up with friends, participating in informative cruising nets, receiving crucial weather information, and emergency voice communications. It is also used to send and receive email, and can even be used to call standard telephone numbers.
The marine SSB radio is low, old, stable, and proven technology which is not only affordable to use (free), but is here to stay.
I’ve been using an old SEA 225 SSB and tuner for voice communications and weatherfax for years. When I crossed the Pacific back in 2007 I had an Iridium satellite phone which I used _2.jpg "images-(4)")
for email and blog updates which worked great. However the big downside was having to buy more minutes all the time (very expensive for me), not to mention the initial expense of getting into the phone, data kits, antennas, and forever emerging technologies.
Once you have your marine SSB properly installed and add a Pactor modem to the mix HF email can be free, however most sailors choose sailmail which only costs $250.00 a year for email and weather services, and seems to be the most viable option.
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Carla is coming back from the states in a week with my new Icom M802 and AT-140 antenna tuner, I’m excited to get it installed. I’ll certainly be blogging during the installation, as the instillation is very important to the quality of radio signal one receives and transmits.
The Icom M-802 represents the latest in marine SSB technology and is a tool I will be using multiple times a day, especially during our 2015 Pacific crossing.
For those of you just starting to voyage past the convenience of VHF weather service, cell phone signals, and internet, there is a very affordable option to get weather information.
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I used a $120 Grundig HF receiver which you can find at radio shack. I bought an audio cable that plugged into the headphone out of the radio and into the mic in of my laptop. If you search there are a ton of windows, mac, and Linux weatherfax programs out there. You can also plug into your iPhone or android device and download the black cat HF fax app and get weaterfax anywhere in the world regardless of cell phone coverage which is pretty damn cool in my book!
I’ve been trying to get my HAM license for years and finally found a guy in Panama who can license me. It’s on my short list of things to do before Carla and I venture into the sea.
My charter (Pete) left a few days ago and I really had a great time. Pete is also a director/producer type and we were able to talk a lot of shop. He is planning to go cruising soon so we had a lot to talk about.
Hope everyone had a great weekend.
Jim, thanks for everything 
Peace
Sail far and live slowly.
– alex
Published in Alex Dorsey
I might pick up one of those cheap SSB receivers and try to listen in on you on occasion if the ole’ ionosphere cooperates. Maybe post the cruising net frequencies you will be on when the time comes. Hope the install goes well.
I sent your post about building your own electronics suite around a few websites and a lot of people seemed pretty interested.
I would love to see a waterproof tablet be used as a touch-screen interface. Do you know if this is viable yet, or are we still waiting on someone to write the code?
The HAM license is a good thing. I like the Seafarer idea of using tablets for the touchscreen interface. The only issue with that is that many capacitive touchscreens go to hell when they get droplets of water on them, and the IR ones are insensitive when you have cold hands. I like the idea of DIY screens, but it can still get expensive to get enough brightness. Perhaps if we got a pixel Qi transflective and packaged it right?
I have been building boat-PCs for a while. Started with an Mini ITX (monitor used lots of power), a FitPC 1 (low power, but monitor again sucked power), fitPC 2 (great, but no monitor), and finally a netbook. The netbook ended up the best solution. They are relatively cheap – and with a USB serial adapter hidden away in the wiring closet, could talk to everything on the boat.
Our main challenge was to run on just solar, as the wind genny was loud, and the bulk of the solar went into chilling water bottles to keep food cold, or the netbook. I am looking at a beaglebone black next time for a core always-on boat comp, and a tablet/netbook as the access unit for outside/inside cabin work.
I dont like touch screens in a cockpit as the water is a real issure as is the cold hand issue with IR.I have a nice waterproof keyboard & mouse coming in a few days. Im not so worried about running on solar as I believe in a yacht that runs on a well balanced alternative energy system. Splendid is almkst as green as she can be. I do need a wind genny.
As far as the monoter a proper sun shade is key. I’m putting a 10.1″ 1080 monitor at the helm, for only the helmsman to see. Super bright monitors draw a lot of power but im certainly open to ideas.
Processing power is also something that is important to me. I like running open CPN and using the climatology plugin which requires some processing power.
Im also looking at running Nobeltec again which does require some power as well.
I’m sure there is no perfect system as there is no perfect boat :)
Thanks for the input guys..
Fletch, for sure. The net that I check into sometimes is on 8107 @ 13:30 zulu.
Also regarding touch screens gloves are an issue az well. Just not very practical.
My helm monoter is 90% reserved for viewing. If I need to do some work I sit in front of another monitor at my nav station.
I dont like touch screens in a cockpit as the water is a real issure as is the cold hand issue with IR.I have a nice waterproof keyboard & mouse coming in a few days. Im not so worried about running on solar as I believe in a yacht that runs on a well balanced alternative energy system. Splendid is almkst as green as she can be. I do need a wind genny.
As far as the monoter a proper sun shade is key. I’m putting a 10.1″ 1080 monitor at the helm, for only the helmsman to see. Super bright monitors draw a lot of power but im certainly open to ideas.
Processing power is also something that is important to me. I like running open CPN and using the climatology plugin which requires some processing power.
Im also looking at running Nobeltec again which does require some power as well.
I’m sure there is no perfect system as there is no perfect boat :)
Thanks for the input guys..