Tuning in SSB Signal for Newbies

[@dawn4833]

Ya know I wish years ago someone one have demonstrated this when I first started. In didn't know what I was hearing. These are the simple videos that are so wonderful. I love that you do these!!

[@DXCommanderHQ]

You're very welcome!

[@dewindoethdwl2798]

Definitely useful. I’ve a lot of SWL in my history and tuning to my ear, not the frequency reading, was key.

[@RobB_VK6ES]

Modern synthesised rigs being so frequency stable combined with the natural urge to have integer frequencies means if you set the VFO to all trailing zeroes as a starting point you can pretty much tune around in 500Hz or 1kHz increments even times of high ̶Q̶R̶M̶ contests :)

[@Stephen_Orion]

Thanks Callum, now studying for my Foundation exam..These videos are very helpful. many many thanks..

[@altypeRR]

Fantastically simple explanation. In fact it’s exactly how I’ve explained it to others starting out in HF. Years at sea listening to marine MF and HF I can near enough do the same as you. When I’m scrolling around a band I very rarely look at the VFO. One tip I give is if it’s lower side band then it is conventional (if it sounds low turn it up) if it’s upper side band then it’s mirrored

[@BigPinkJohn]

A lovely explanation for all of us whatever our level of competency. Thank you sir

[@Roddy1965]

I'm mostly a S&P (search and pounce) operator during contests. I often force myself to NOT look at the waterfall when trying to tune weaker stations. The ear/brain is incredibly good at tuning to language when the messy waterfall visual isn't stimulating your brain.

[@l.a.2646]

I started my shortwave SSB career with a dial , no digital readout. Had to get good zero beating a signal. So,sooo much easier today, not only because of the digital display on the VFO, but my modern rigs have wonderful roofing filters, adjustable IF , adjustable DSP filters. And now waterfalls! To an old goat like me , it's like going from driving a tractor to a Cadillac! Modern radios are amazing. I still like my old fashioned rigs, but if I'd have my druthers, I'd take one of today's HF rigs any day !

[@fazejohncenachristogamerfaze]

I bought an old trio reciver and it takes a good 30s to tune to the fking ssb signal lol. I got the pain, but I saved money

[@m7trsradio]

Thank you Callum. I know about the LSB sounding like that but i didn't know or even realise USB was the other way around. As you can tell i am still new to all this even though ive had my license 2/3 years now. Thank you 🙏🏽🤙🏽 73

[@stargazer7644]

If you have a waterfall and look at it while tuning, you'll notice the tuning line goes just below the USB signal, and just above the LSB signal. It goes in the middle of an AM signal, because that signal has both USB and LSB components.

[@m7trsradio]

@@stargazer7644 thank you for the info. Unfortunately I don't have the honour of having a waterfall. Only have the ft817. Hopefully will save up for a Ft991a and a DX commander expedition for QTH and SOTA. 🤙🏽

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Very welcome

[@G7LJL-Steve_Murton]

@@m7trsradioif you can afford the extra £’s. Go for the ftdx10. You will hear the difference. Unless you really need the 2m, 70cm bands the ftdx10 is a far better receiver than ft991a. Enjoy your radio in what ever mode you choose.

[@dan18326]

Love this Cal, please make more of this type of content for beginners. You are a credit to our wonderful hobby ❤

[@DXCommanderHQ]

More to come!

[@dave6501]

Thank-you Callum. I really appreciate your insights and advice. Great work and mentoring.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

I appreciate that!

[@acestudioscouk-Ace-G0ACE]

A good piece of edu-tainment, thanks Callum! For me, a good bit of revision; I re-learnt a few things I had forgotten over the years. Best 73, Ace G0ACE

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Ah nice.. Bit of fun on this rainy day here in UK!!

[@dondonaldson1684]

Excellent topic and delivery. The way I "think" about it is that I am trying to put the carrier back to where it is missing. In sideband ALL of the energy transmitted is on one side of the modulation IF the carrier was included. Your VFO is putting back what is missing...the carrier.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Good comment!

[@markramsay6399]

A great video Cal. I like the bit about not looking at the screen - but using the ears. I think this is a bit like tuning a guitar. When I do this I tend to use the method where I tune one string on the 5th fret against the next open sting (or 4th fret on the third sting) - going from thinner strings to thicker strings (i.e. High E to low E). The major point here is that when you are nearly in tune, but not quite, you hear a beat. AS you tune a little more the beat gets slower and slower and then BANG on the money. All done by the ear and not looking at any dials. Mark. 2E0MSR.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

That's it!

[@ericthielking262]

Instructional Video. Perfect for new hams using modern rigs.

[@robseastrom1636]

The way I learned it is that the sideband selector tells you which way to turn if the audio is too high (pitched). USB - tune up the band. LSB - go lower down the band. And those of us who do mobile HF get good at tuning without looking. 73 de AI4UC

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Oh yes!

[@stargazer7644]

Back in the day it was harder because nobody had digital readouts and everyone was slightly off frequency and you had to tune every signal this way. Then we got digital readouts but everyone was still slightly off frequency. Today, with all the PLL based radios with TCXO oscillators everyone is pretty much right on frequency. Typically if you just jump to the nearest kHz when you hear someone, you'll tune them straight away. Set your radio to step in 1kHz steps, and just step around and you'll nail it. 7170.000, 7171.000, 7172.000 etc. Once in a blue moon you'll find someone on .5 kHz, but it's rare. Of course if you run across someone using an old rig, they'll be somewhere random because those radios were not accurately on frequency like modern digital rigs are.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Yes, the random boys.. Heck, I was one of those once!

[@NovemberOneOscarGrouch]

Often times DX stations are at odd frequencies and need to be "tuned in" by ear. I'll have my VFO step at 1kHz and then go to 1Hz to fine tune. I've found stations on all sorts of strange number combinations 14.358.72 or something similar. It's really only a pain when there are very loud stations over driving their gear 1-3kHz off from where you are trying to work and their overdriving is splattering all over. Great info Callum.

[@Flagrazi]

Wrong, back then people would tune SSB by ear not by frequency, it does not matter what the dial says. Today people tend to channelize SSB, my radio shows 14.000.00, someone else's radio shows the same thing, it doesn't mean we are in tune with each other. Unless we have GPS disciplined reference on each radio to tame the differences. Everybody is off frequency today

[@stargazer7644]

@@Flagrazi Back then it didn't matter what the dial said because the dial was never right. But today, if your modern radio is within manufacturers specs you'll be in tune with each other if you're both on 14,000.000. It doesn't require GPS disciplined references on HF. The normal stability of a modern synthesized rig's tcxo will typically get you within a few 10's of Hz, which is as good as your ear can tune. It doesn't require high dollar equipment for this kind of frequency stability today. Pretty much all radios are this good now. I don't know what frequencies you listen to, but if you think everyone is off frequency on HF these days, then you're the one who is off frequency. Most people are sitting dead on 1 kHz frequency boundaries. Calibrate your radio to WWV. It isn't hard.

[@HamRadioCrusader]

Thanks for the Video Lord Callum!

[@FromthehamshackwithNJ4Z]

that was a great explanation for the new folks!

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Ah! Hiya John.. Yeah - nice and simple :) (rendered 3 now - 4 to go!)

[@BillO964]

Wow...big help for me as a new SWL with my new radio.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Ah cool!

[@robpinter5431]

Thanks Calum, a bit like working out the metric system with mm, cm, meters, kilometres, all where the decimal point is.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Absolutely! LOL

[@ricksshop]

Back in my CB days, one of the first modifications we would make is to 'lock' the clarifier so xmit and receive were on the same frequency. If you didn't those old rigs were seldom on the same xmit frequency and a qso between four or five operators was a mess. Modern radios are great in that regard.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Yes.. OK with two of you but with 3 or more, it becomes a bit of fun!

[@richarde735]

so much information, it hertz!

[@DXCommanderHQ]

It Hertz! Funny :)

[@mattstosh6960]

Good video. Helps to Listen and listen and listen again.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@mu0chn]

Having a large knobe helps. 😊 my Eddystone s640 was great for tuning

[@Drpepper99uk]

"The grunchy grunchy sound" 😂😂😂 love your way with words Callum!

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Doingy Doingy!

[@robertvandervelde60]

​@@DXCommanderHQha ha ha😂

[@viarnay]

My XHDATA D-808 taught me this...😊

[@RandallRash]

Thank you Cal for the tutorial.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

No worries!

[@peterking299]

50+ years ago I used to listen to SSB using an old No 19 set and an external osc acting as a BFO to resolve the speech, not like to-day being so easy. But SSB then was not as favourable then as it is now.

[@ActinOut]

Man... I've never seen a waterfall screen so clear & where the only areas of activity are where people are talking. Wow.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Oh really? Yes OK..

[@Thomas-ZET]

Love the dalek analogy, yes I’m a Dr Who fan

[@vwonhigh]

Is it standard practice to use the the lower half of a frequency that another operator is using upper ssb. For example another operator is operating at 7.123 upper side band. Can I operate at 7.120 upper side band? Or would there be interference?

[@DXCommanderHQ]

About 3kHz is probably fine. So your example would be OK - but nothing to do with "lower half" or anything, just 3kHz because your TX bandwidth will be *about* 2.7kHz.

[@vwonhigh]

@@DXCommanderHQ Thank you for the confirmation. Keep up the excellent work!

[@richardtwyning]

Hi Cal, I've not yet got an HF transceiver. What fascinates me, is how do you decide whether to use LSB or USB, and do you have issues receiving someone if you're set to the other one? 🤔 73s M7GTX

[@ianharling9569]

Generally frequencies upto the 7Mhz band(40mtrs) use LSB and then from 14Mhz(20mts) and above use USB. 73.G7HFS/PA3IKH

[@DXCommanderHQ]

OK Richard, there are basically "standards" so 40m and below (on SSB), you would almost always be on LSB. And visa versa. (Thanks Ian for also pointing this out).

[@stargazer7644]

The split is actually at 10 MHz. The convention is LSB below 10 MHz, USB above. However, there are exceptions. If you run digital modes, they are usually always on USB, even below 10 MHz. If someone is on LSB when you're on USB (or vice versa), they will be unintelligible. You'll hear them, but you won't be able to tune them to make them understandable. This is because all their voice frequencies will be inverted - all their lows will be high and highs will be lows. They used to actually make analog voice scramblers for land line telephones that worked by swapping the sidebands this way.

[@StratmanII]

Back in 1980 when I first watched The Empire Strikes Back, there's a scene where the Rebel base crew on the ice planet Hoth were monitoring the Imperial Droid probe's transmissions. It sounded very robotic and creepy to me and I had never heard anything like it before. It was years later when I figured that the sound effects people just used an SSB voice transmission with the receiving frequency purposely dialed up slightly high to sound like an alien robot! 🤖 BTW, I have two serious questions as someone who has never seen a HF ham rig in real life. 1. Do HF transceivers automatically select LSB when the transmit frequency is below 10 MHz and USB if it's above? Can USB be selected for transmitting on the 40m band or LSB on 20 meters? 2. Do ham operators choose frequencies with a 5 kHz spacing like broadcast stations or can they transmit on an arbitrary frequency, like 7012.4 kHz instead of 7015 kHz? Great video sir. I finally learned the proper way to tune into SSB conversations! 📻👍🏼

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Good question.. And welcome to the channel.. 1. So you COULD transmit on either side-band but once set, the radio will generally remember and sit you on lower 40m, 80m etc or upper (20m and above). 2. You can transmit ANYWHERE you like (inside the allocated spectrum) however, most folks like to have the zeros showing.. Unless it's a rammed contest where if you can find a slot, go there and it might vbe extremely random!

[@StratmanII]

@@DXCommanderHQ Thank you so much for the concise reply, Callum...appreciate it! 🙂 I have been searching for the answers to these questions for a long time to no avail. There's nothing on Quora about the choice of frequencies. Several months ago, when I asked the same questions to a British content creator on YT who is a ham, he provided me a link to some U.K. amateur radio society website and implicitly asked me to scour the entire website. I didn't like his condescending tone and unsubscribed from his channel. 😐 While I am familiar with the use of repeaters on VHF and UHF ham radio (I have a few 2m/70cm walkie talkies myself), I am aware that repeaters use round numbers. e.g. 143.900 MHz, 148.650 MHz and so forth. HF is a different ballgame to me as I only have shortwave receivers and SDRs but not HF transceivers. I've noted some licensed and unlicensed users in Southeast Asia transmit at 6995 kHz, 7000 kHz, 7015 kHz and even 10000 kHz, which I understand is reserved for time signal stations. It took me a long time before I learned that hams transmit on lower sideband if the frequency is lower than 10 MHz and upper sideband if it's higher. Utility signals like Volmet always broadcast in USB regardless of the frequency while the Bangkok Meteorological Radio transmits on a rather odd frequency of 6765.1 kHz. I wish I knew why they chose that frequency, right down to the nearest 100 Hz. 🤔

[@Scotscan]

That's a good one. Having a go blindfolded to see how close you are to being on frequency. Drinking game idea?

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Nooooo! LOL

[@1958johndeere620]

When I call CQ I move the dial up and down while I am keyed down. Why doesn't anyone ever get back to me?

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Not sure if you are serious..! Leave the dial where it is, choose a day and call!

[@1958johndeere620]

@@DXCommanderHQ I figured if my signal was drifting like a drunk sailor I would get a CB'er to come back to me. LOL I am just kidding, cheers from this side.

[@newsles2]

Yes, very useful. Thanks. (Yes, me again. Promise I'm not stalking. 😁) I remember listening to the side bands on (other people's illegal) CB's back in the '80s, which is where I started really, and it was all about ear when it came to zeroing in, albeit the tuning was not as accurate and fine then (I assume?) as on modern rigs.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Good point.

[@DonzLockz]

Its a shame, because "Dalek Commander" is such a great name!😂 Exterminate...Exterminate...😄

[@DXCommanderHQ]

HAHAHA!!!

[@KH07734]

Sometimes its easier to think of it as mega cycles....

[@louisblock1006]

I just heard about your antenna on 3975.00

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Ah cool!!

[@brianfields4479]

I think I always tune too low, simply because my ears do not hear high notes anymore. I cannot hear birds ect anymore hi. Bloody nuisance on cw hi.

[@HamRadioCrusader]

I am loving that little red bird on his perch there. Is that a sparrow hawk?

[@DXCommanderHQ]

I don't know.. We call him Peter the Parrot! :)

[@HamRadioCrusader]

@@DXCommanderHQ That's a Great Name!

[@alecsimages1]

If your a bit hard up I'll give you twenty quid for that radio? Happy new year.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

I'll have a think about it..! LOL

[@JustinRuth-km4wz]

To fast on vfo

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Too. Not To.