2 meter SSB?

[byteheed]

Anyone know if there's much 2m or 70cm single sideband activity in Southern California/Western Arizona? I don't have the time to study for the general (it's a long-term goal) and I'm renting, so can't put up a mast over 25 feet anyway. My Yaesu 857 will work all modes and thought this might be something cool to try out. If there's not much going on in my area though, I'd rather not spend the cash on a beam and rotator.

[OLLIE]

I'm not aware of any SSB in the San Diego area.

I don't think you told me you had an 857. Is it in your Jeep or do you use it as a base station in your house?

[byteheed]

Hey Ollie,

I remember someone saying that there's an SSB net on 2 meters out of Santa Barbara, but I haven't been able to find more info about that. I'm not even sure that I would be able to hit Santa Barbara with the 50W that the 857 puts out on 2m.

I don't recall if we rapped about my 857 or not, but it's my home rig right now. When I upgrade to general, I'll likely mount it up in the Jeep for trips. I can't see using it around town the one or two days a week I drive the Jeep to work.

You're running an 857 in your FJ, no? Have you ever tried SSB with it?

Cheers

[OLLIE]

That is correct. The FJ has an 857 in it. Cruiserlarry has one in his too. We have them set up with the ATAS-120's. Great radios. I haven't gotten the chance to mess with it other than 2M/70 cm and monitor the 28 MHz range on occasion.

[hmfigueroa]

Here is a list of some local 2m SSB nets

SUN 8:30A TUCSON AZ ARIZONA 144.250 N7SQN AL
SUN 8:00P SOUTHERN CA. 144.240 WB6NOA GORDON
THU 8:00P CA SO CTYS NORCAL 144.250 KC6CHJ PAUL

Dont forget most ssb is horizontally polarized, the cross polarization can seriously degrade performance, but it is fun to at least give it a try.

There is nothing to say we cannot make our own schedule for a SSB net.

[byteheed]

Thanks for the information on SSB nets. I was thinking about getting Cushcraft's 3-element dual-band beam and mounting horizontally on a TV antenna rotator. I should be able to get the antenna up about 23 feet or so... think that'll get my signal out very far?

[hmfigueroa]

That should do nicely,

the important part is gettting horizontally polarized, that will greatly decrease the noise you hear and help bring out the signal.

[byteheed]

I ended up getting a small rotor and a vhf/uhf yaggi mounted in my backyard. Want to sked something to see if I can get my signal up there?

Chris

[hmfigueroa]

I am usually busy Tuesday Nights but I can arrange something on some of the other nights, or weekend days.

My location in Covina, Ca[DM14] is somewhat shielded from San Diego so I may need to move to a mountaintop somewhere.

[DaveK]

Here is a list of some local 2m SSB nets

SUN 8:30A TUCSON AZ ARIZONA 144.250 N7SQN AL
SUN 8:00P SOUTHERN CA. 144.240 WB6NOA GORDON
THU 8:00P CA SO CTYS NORCAL 144.250 KC6CHJ PAUL

Dont forget most ssb is horizontally polarized, the cross polarization can seriously degrade performance, but it is fun to at least give it a try.

There is nothing to say we cannot make our own schedule for a SSB net.

Hector:

Thanks for volunteering to coordinate this net. All we need to make it complete is a repeater that works with 2m ssb.