The most popular HF remote "auto tuner" I've seen hanging on the funnels of large ships, right at the base of a 22 ft fiberglass 'whip', is SGC 230 sold to hams as the "Smarttuner(TM)"
Today there are over 46,000 large ships in the International Maritime fleet, all of which carry (or soon will carry) several HF radios of the same type of interest to Hams. That's a potential market in the hundreds of thousands of radios; radios with relatively short lifetimes due to accident and changing technology. These radios operate SSB and various digital modes, similar to Ham operation, must be frequency-agile so the Global Marine Disaster and Safety System (GMDSS) operator can easily QSY to the frequencies in the HF range that promise the best path for the distance and propagation conditions, interface with LANs and personal computers, and must be very stable and (almost) idiot-proof. While GMDSS operators, like their Ham counterparts, are very savvy in operating procedures and how to make contacts with the needed stations, they, like many Hams today, are typically *not* technicians who know what goes on "under the hood" inside the radio. Their skill is in operating the radio, not fixing it, just as fewer and fewer Hams have an interest in working on their radios. (Indeed, a GMDSS operator is *not* allowed to try to fix a broken radio. They carry spares in case of failure or they carry a specially-licensed GMDSS Maintainer who is a technician with the tools and knowledge to carry out repairs. That's why most ships have several radios on board.) This service requires very reliable, flexible HF radios almost identical to what Hams use. Certainly, the needs of the GMDSS operator at sea will drive the design of modern radios from those manufacturers. That is, Ham rigs from many large manufactures will be (some already are) rigs designed for the maritime service that have been adapted for the Ham market. I find it somewhat humorous to notice a popular rig on large ships, (the Icom IC-M700Pro) offers SSB(USB) AM, CW FSK and AFSK modes. (CW? On a ship? Not today ;-) Indeed, one of the first things I expect to see is pressure on Hams to adopt USB as the "standard" sideband on all Amateur bands so the manufacturers don't have to consider sideband switching in their product offering. Ron AC7AC -------------------------------------------------- From: "Brendan Minish" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > I do! Providing it can work properly down to around 11vdc input, it > looks to be an Ideal maritime mobile radio. In MM setups the ATU is > typically an auto tuner located away from the antenna so an internal > tuner is no use. Cooling and ruggedness are big issues. > Having 'ears' to mount it securely with is a big plus. > The USB interface is a great asset here too, allowing for HF fax > reception, rig control etc over a single USB connection. > Finally the time might be nearing to replace all the ic-735's and > ic-728's that are bobbing about out there! > _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
