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SSB/Ham Information (Click Here to Enter the SSB/Ham Store at anytime) Don't let the words "single sideband" scare you. SSB is simply a type of radio transmission. The military has been using "single sideband" for years to transmit message throughout the world. Ham radio operators have been using "single sideband" for years on worldwide frequencies to talk to their buddies anywhere and everywhere. There are enormous benefits to installing a Single Sideband radio on your boat. With a Single Sideband radio you can:
At H.F. Radio we are intimately familiar with the details of our products and enjoy sharing this information with you. Please continue reading to learn much more about SSB's and the various products we offer. At every opportunity we attempt to provide you with links directly to manufacturers websites or other informational sites...Please explore them, BUT don't forget to come back to our site!!! You won't find our great service coupled with fair prices ANYWHERE else!!! Icom H.F. Marine SSB/Ham Radios The M802 is the latest offering in a long line of high quality, reliable Marine SSB equipment from Icom. The M802 retains all the quality and operational features of the M710 and more. It replaces the M710RT as the offering of a remote head radio, solving the common problem of not enough space to mount the whole radio where it is convenient. They still produce the time proven M710, and though the M802 is a bit more intuitive to operate, if you can accommodate the M710, it is certainly a good choice. The other deciding factor is Ham radio operation. While ALL radios from us are "Ham Enabled", the M802 does have VFO control over both the receive and transmit frequency, much like a ham rig. THIS IS ONLY A CONSIDERATION FOR HAM RADIO VOICE OPERATION!!! For E-mail and Marine SSB operation, there is very little difference, and the M710 sells for less then the M802. Icom also offers the M700-PRO, essentially the same receiver and transmitter as the M710, but with a different user interface and less channel capacity. The M700-PRO has three banks of 50 memories, whereas the 710 has 160 "user" programmable memories plus 976 standard marine SSB duplex and simplex channels. All the channels on the 710 have the ability to display either the frequency or the channel number and alpha-numeric label for that channel, where the M700PRO displays bank/channel number and the frequency. There are additional differences that are more important... discussed below. Why should you buy your Icom SSB from H.F. Radio On Board? Well for one reason, we go the distance to make you a satisfied customer and save you money and grief in the end! First - we program your radio with our custom program that enhances the operation of the radio. On the M802, M710 & M700PRO we have updated the weather fax frequencies from the factory program, and made the channel labels (on the 802/710) a bit more informative. We enable the ham transmit capability (at no additional charge). Additionally, vessels in international waters are no longer required to monitor 2182 kHz. Soon, they won't be required to listen to VHF channel 16 either - time to think about upgrading to a new VHF with DSC (Digital Selective Calling). Note that the M802 is the first recreation SSB with DSC available in the US. It has a built in DSC watch receiver that must use a separate antenna for the DSC functions to operate. Icom does not produce such an antenna, so we came up with a DSC watch antenna kit. It has an antenna similar to a 3 db VHF masthead antenna, only with a 49" whip, 50' of coaxial cable for that antenna to the DSC antenna input on the M802 (the connector is installed on one end, and a field installable connector is provided for the other end), clamps and hardware to mount it on a 7/8" or 1" railing (like the stern rail), and a cable to connect between your GPS-NMEA buss and the NMEA input on the M802 (all DSC radios MUST have navigation information input to be effective). Oh - we include instructions too! While we have the radio on the bench for programming, we hook it up to our state-of-the-art "service monitor" - a highly accurate piece of test equipment that cost as much as a small automobile - and do a quick check to make sure that the radio meets factory specifications for performance. We also run it through a "performance certification" where we test each component of your system to make sure it functions as it should. One well known drawback of the M710 for Ham radio operation is the lack of "VFO" control of the transmit frequency (This is NOT the case with the M802). That means when you tune someone in with the receiver, you have to enter the receive frequency, then the transmit frequency, into a memory channel before you can transmit on that frequency. To move up or down in frequency slightly, the whole process has to be repeated. Pretty much a pain! Not so with a radio from us - we found a way so that when you tune the receiver to a new frequency with the knob or keypad, a simple press of a button puts the transmitter on the same frequency. To overcome this limitation, Icom introduced the M700-PRO. The M700-PRO has VFO control of the radio for Ham operation by pressing and holding a couple of buttons while turning on the radio. But that has to be done EACH TIME you turn on the radio. But at H.F. Radio On Board we offer the M700-PRO reprogrammed with a custom file that permanently enables ham VFO operation. That file contains essentially the same channels as the 160 user memories of the 710 - all the common marine SSB and Weather FAX channels, in addition to several of the Ham net frequencies and one channel for each of the ham bands. We include a laminated card showing which memory has which frequency, what the channel is used for, and basic operating instructions for the radio. But, we sell about 100-150 of the M802/M710 to one M700PRO. Why? Well, our modification to the M710 makes it nearly as easy as a M700PRO to use on ham (but not quite as easy as a M802). In addition, the M700PRO lacks some features present in the M802/M710. The M802 & M710 have the ability to reduce the transmitter output power from a nominal 150 watts to 75 and 15 watts. The change from 150 to 75 watts is just about the threshold the human ear can detect at the receiving end, yet the transmitter will draw half the power from your precious battery bank. Frequently, 15 watts will do - a whole sub-set of Ham Radio enthusiast regularly communicate all over the world using what they call QRP - 5 watts or less! The M710/M802 also have control over the receiver RF gain that the M700pro lacks - handy in a anchorage where another station is on the same band and overloading you radio with their signal, making it difficult to listen to your desired station. The memory channels of the M802 & M710 can be recalled from the keypad by channel number and have alpha-numeric labels to help in identifying the use of that channel. Finally, the amber display of the M802 & M710 is much more readable than the green of the M700PRO. The M700PRO is not available in the remote head version like the M802. So why not just use a Ham radio in the first place? After all, they can be modified to transmit on marine frequencies! Well, that is true. First of all, that would be a violation of FCC rules. (More on the FCC and SSB's) But more importantly, a Ham radio is a different animal in terms of the user interface than a Marine SSB, sort of like the 32 speed blender that we only need 2 of the speeds to do what we need on a boat. There are a lot of controls on the ham rig that if not set right, we don't make contact. Not a big deal when we're at home in a comfy ham shack. There are even a lot of buttons, etc., on the M710 & M802 that are unlikely you will use, so don't let them intimidate you. But it could be a really big deal, especially if the ham on the boat that knows how to run the radio is incapacitated due to getting whacked on the noggin during that accidental jibe, and we are trying to get medical advice to help him or her!!! Too many times we had had service calls on boats that had a ham rig that wasn't working, only to find the problem to be one control that wasn't set right causing the problem. The owner of H.F. Radio On Board was first licensed in 1962, and seldom needs a manual to run a radio. But he has made mistakes like this himself - fortunately while in the comfort of his ham shack, and after a good nights sleep. We would rather put up with difficult operation on ham radio to obtain the simplicity of a true Marine SSB. There usually are no cost savings. Currently the cost of an M700PRO & AT130 is less than an IC706MKII with high stability option (see the section on H.F. E-mail) & the AH4 tuner. Even with the 718 & AH4, you only save about $400 - is it really worth it when looking at the big picture? To make either of these radios work on board, you will most likely use a tuner like the AT140 for the M802 or the M710/M700PRO. When coupled to a fiberglass marine SSB whip or an insulated backstay, it will optimize the system for maximum transmission and reception. We also offer the service of constructing and installing the cables in the AT140 & AT130 tuners. Using the highest quality materials available, we have developed a process for maintaining the waterproof integrity of the AT140 & AT130, and making it a reliable plug and play solution for your SSB installation. While the AT130 is the tuner listed by Icom for the M710, the AT140 is functionally equivalent. The AT140 is more expensive, but it requires less labor for us to install cables. So a system with the AT140 is provided at no additional charge over one with an AT130. The cables come in a 10 meter length - this includes the control AND the coaxial cables. All the interference fighting components recommended for e-mail operation are included. These are shipped installed in the tuner with the radio end of the cables terminated in the connectors for your particular radio. H.F. Radio On Board ships radio systems such as this all over the world, and they have been successfully installed by the user with little or no experience in radio installation. This is because we do all the specialized work here in the shop before we ship your system. We have sold over 1200of the Icom M710 family of radios since it's introduction, and over 500 of the M802, and almost all of those have been installed by the owner. Out of those systems, only four or five have had any problems. This is as close to a bullet proof, plug and play SSB radio there is. NOTE: WE NOW TEST EACH AND EVERY RADIO, TUNER/CABLE ASSEMBLY, MODEM AND CABLE KIT AS PART OF OUR PROCESS IN PREPARING THE RADIOS, TUNERS AND MODEMS FOR OUR PLUG & PLAY PACKAGES - AT NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE! We know of no other dealer ANYWHERE that does this. In preparation for our radio e-mail packages, when a radio is received from the manufacturer, we take it and do a quick check to make sure it appears to operate correctly. Then we reprogram it for all frequency transmit and do our other enhancements we discussed above - but it is worth repeating again because it is asked by almost every customer - YES! We reprogram the radio for Ham/all frequency coverage - it will transmit from 1.8 - 30 MHz and with our custom frequency file (Icom M802/M710/700PRO only) that enhances operation both on Marine SSB and ham radio. We do that to EACH AND EVERY RADIO WE SELL AS PART OF OUR PLUG & PLAY PACKAGES - YES - YOURS TOO! AT NO CHARGE!!! Once that is done, we hook it up to a piece of test equipment called a service monitor (an IFR COM-120B for those who want know about these things - an all-in-one state-of-the-art radio tester that cost more then a new compact car) and thoroughly check out ALL functions of the radio. We hook it up to a tuner we have dedicated for testing the tuner function of the radio. We hook it up to a Pactor-IIusb modem to make sure that all works as it should. We mark the jacks that you connect the cables from the Pactor-IIusb modem into with color dots to match the color bands on the cables. We do the same thing to the tuner. After we have installed our cable kit, we hook it up to a radio that we have dedicated to testing tuners and an antenna simulator that mimics a 23' whip. If you (foolishly) insist on ordering it WITHOUT our cables, we can't test the tuner - and chances are if there is a problem, it will be in the cables you or your installer insisted in providing. Same thing with the modem and the cables for it - test, dots, etc. The point here is that between the service monitor and the radios, tuner, modems (we need 2 modems and a second radio to do our testing ) and the service monitor, etc., necessary to do the testing, we have invested well over $20,000 in equipment and at least an hour of our technicians time on each system ( our labor rate is $115/hour ) in making sure that the system we ship to you works the way it should when it leaves our store. This is the way we do it. It is the ONLY way we do it and it is the only way we WILL do it. We have sold a LOT of SSB radios and e-mail systems (over 1700 and counting) and we know how to deliver a system that is reliable and easy to install - even by someone who has NO previous experience. Don't take our word for it - see what our customers say! We DON'T charge extra for this service - please - check Defender, Consumers Marine Electronics, West Marine and Boat US pricing - we have! Our package pricing breaks down to our pricing on an Icom M802 for $1769, M710-01 (YES! Reprogrammed for ham radio, etc.) for $1389.00 -most sell them for more! The sell the AT130 for the same or more then we do - $399 as part of our package price. We sell the AT140 for $439 in our packages. They DON'T check out the radio and tuner, they DON'T build custom cables from the tuner to the radio, they DON'T sell Pactor-IIusb modems. They likely can't answer any questions beyond how you turn it on, if that. Most of them DON'T stock the radios - they drop ship them from Icom. We typically have 3 - 4 units minimum of each in stock at any given time - usually more. We try to have them available for immediate shipment and there is a good chance we have it on the shelf. If we don't have it ready to be shipped, chances are they are in the process of being tested, assembled and will be ready within a week or less. So here is a case where you can have your cake and eat it too! We give the service and added product value of a "boutique" with pricing the same or less then the major discount stores. It isn't only on SSB's either. Check their pricing on VHF's, Furuno Radar, etc. Then look at ours - we think you'll be pleasantly surprised. If you don't want to take our advice and want the cheapest price you can get on an Icom M-802, M-710, M-700pro, AT-130 or AT-140 - we have that too - just understand that NO technical support, NO testing and NO special programming is included - if you have a question about how to install or use it and you brought one of those radios that are sold that way from us - and you need our services, we will charge $115/hour with a 1/2 hour minimum. So is it REALLY worth it? Oh - and if you are unfortunate enough to be reading this after you purchased your radio and tuner from somewhere else - don't cry! We will be happy to make your radio just like one we sold - for a charge, of course - just give us a call to arrange it.
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