SSB Radio Check - Sunday, April 25th (Opening Day)

[Paul Elliott]

On Sunday, April 25th, Pac Cup Communications Boat VALIS will be conducting a radio check for all Pac Cuppers interested in trying out their SSB transceiver or receiver installation. Singlehanded Transpac folks are also welcome to participate. Here's the plan:

Starting at 14:00PDT (2:00 PM) VALIS will begin radio operations from somewhere on San Francisco Bay on SSB channel 4A (4146 KHz, Upper Sideband). Our callsign is WDB2898, and will start with a short announcement so you receive-only Pac Cup doublehanders will be able to adjust your tuning.

We will also be monitoring VHF channels 16 and 68 -- give us a call if you need help or we can't connect on SSB.

Radio operations will continue until 14:30, or later if necessary. We will also be able to switch to channels 4C (4417 KHz) and 8A (8294 KHz) on request.

I plan to conduct at least one more radio check prior to July.

 

[Culebra]

Thank you for the invite. Culebra will gladly participate in the test.

Paul

 

[glythcott]

I am thinking of buying an ICOM 710 SSB on eBay. Does anyone know this unit? Will it do the trick (assuming it is in good working condition)?

 

[Alchera]

I have the Icom 710-RT version, which has the controls separate from the main body of the unit, so you can mount it out of the way and fit the controls easily at the nav station. It's done 4 SSS transpacs and a year and a half in mexico with no problems. I run Sailmail frequently too, so it handles the heavy duty cycle OK.

- Mark/Alchera

 

[Paul Elliott]

The Radio-Check keeps getting better!

California Girl has volunteered to co-anchor the radio-check net from Oregon, so we have an opportunity to try some longer-distance communications. The propagation forecasts indicate that SSB channel 8A should provide a good connection between San Francisco and Oregon / Washington. Here is the updated schedule:

Sunday, April 25th

2:00 PM : VALIS begins operations from San Francisco on channel 4A, California Girl opens on 8A. Give us a call. Try both channels.

2:10 PM : VALIS switches to 8A, California Girl switches to 4A. If you couldn't connect before, try again.

2:20 – 2:30 : Free-for-all, depending on who is on the air. We can spend time with anyone having equipment problems, etc.

VALIS will be monitoring 4A, 8A, and VHF channels 16 and 68. If there is interference, we may switch operations to 4B, 4C, or 8B.

Does anyone in Hawaii want to give this a try? It looks like we might be able to communicate on 12A/B/C/D. Let me know and we can attempt it.

Here are the channels and frequencies (all channels are Upper Side Band):

4A - 4146 KHz USB
4B - 4149
4C - 4417

8A - 8294
8B - 8297

12A - 12353
12B - 12356

 

[cafemontaigne]

Idefix will attempt contact from Seattle.

 

[Culebra]

Thanks to all who helped put this together and carry out the tests. It was great fun and a confidence builder, too. Also a relief to know all the installation effort was successful.

Paul
Culebra, Olson 34

 

[cafemontaigne]

Idefix could hear some very faint chatter coming from Portland or the bay area, but I think early afternoon was probably not a good time for going that far on those bands...

We did hear Fri loud and clear, but they didn't respond to my signal check, so I assumed they weren't receiving us. I set up a spare transceiver on another boat, and found Idefix was putting out a decent signal. Maybe local topography was in the way (I'm sitting in fresh water behind a hill and a stadium), but it seems weird I could hear them but not the other way around.

 

[evdr-fri]

I didn't hear anything other than static that afternoon, so it would be nice to try again.