Marine SSB Radio for "Idi-Yachts" [Spiral-bound]

Captain Marti Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2002

A simple easy to read guide to help you learn how to use your SSB radio.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Captain Marti lives aboard and solos her 31' Allmand sailboat, "The Other Women." She has been sailing the Bahamas and Florida waters since 1990 and has been a HAM radio operator since 1998.

Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 56 pages
• Publisher: Cruising Companion Pubns; 1 edition (January 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971564000
• ISBN-13: 978-0971564008
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,174,301 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Overpriced brochure, November 13, 2003

By 

Heads up (New Hampshire) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Marine SSB Radio for "Idi-Yachts" (Spiral-bound)

There are a few tidbits of information and a few tables in this book that are informative, but overall the book is worth about $6.95 not $20. The title idi-yachts -presumeably a spin on the "for dummies" series- is really a leap this book is really for idiots.

Let me quote from the opening paragraph. "Very simply put, the SSB radio receives and transmits energy in the form of radio waves. When you transmit, these 'waves' move out of the radio, up through the antenna and out through space at the speed of light (300 million meters per second) which is pretty darned fast! Up in space these waves interact with layers of ionized gas. Like a mirror, the charged or ionized gas reflects the waves back at different angles.....You've experienced ocean waves under the keel...Now your getting into radio waves that travel through speace. Isn't cruising the most interesting thing? Never a dull moment."

She later 'explains' simplex and duplex frequencies where after 3 rather uninformative sentences she reassures the reader with "Don't get too hung up on this part. You'll rarely if ever use half duplex frequencies....You could amaze your friends in a trivia game with this knowledge but thats about it."

With regard to choosing frequencies she writes "All SSB frequencies are Upper Sideband (USB). USB is a mode of High Frequency (HF) radio reception that demodulates AM signals by processing that portion of the recieved signal above the transmitters carrier frequency. Whew! How about that? I think the only folks that will know what that means are electrical engineers." Well clearly the author doesn't understand it enough to do anything but quote back someone elses one-liner.

Not much help with explaining concepts though there is a nice reference card in the back of the book - so if you want to toss out $20 for a reference card thats your choice. But if you are looking for a book that explains shortwave radio in laymens terms you should look elsewhere.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid information, very useful, March 13, 2003

By 

"n0lsk" (Islamorada, Florida USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Marine SSB Radio for "Idi-Yachts" (Spiral-bound)

This is an excellent book and those are hard to find on this subject. I write for several magazines and I've never seen a better book on the subject.
Dave Wheeler

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good stuff!, March 12, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Marine SSB Radio for "Idi-Yachts" (Spiral-bound)

Marti has written a straightforward succinct book on a subject that many people find difficult. She makes it simple and covers the subject thoroughly.
Dave Wheeler
Contributing Editor for Southern Boating, also published in The Cruising Guide to Abaco, Motor Boating, Power & Motoryacht, The Best of Sail, Sea, and Yachting.