Why is SSB so good?

[LocomtvBreth]

Is SSB better for DX solely because the extra wattage? Or is it because of something about the wave form?
Would 100W AM reach out just as well as 100W SSB?

[Circuit Breaker]

Is SSB better for DX solely because the extra wattage? Or is it because of something about the wave form?
Would 100W AM reach out just as well as 100W SSB?

No, it isn't because of the power because, on the grand scale of things, the difference between 4 watts and 12 watts isn't that much...about half an s-unit. It's probably mostly a matter of efficiency. SSB takes up half the bandwidth of an AM signal. So, instead of having 4 watts (plus modulation) spread out over 5 KHz, you have 12 watts in just a 2.4 to 2.5 KHz bandwidth. And, because of the narrower bandwidth, there's less noise than on AM.

[silvereagle1]

Maybe circuit breaker can answer this for me. I'm happy with my radio and don't have any intentions of sending it off to be worked on. It's brand new. On my sideband the noise level is worse than on AM. It's louder. If there is no skip and no local traffic just static. The static level is higher on sideband than on AM.. It aggravates me but I can live with it. My uniden 980 is just the opposite. When I switch from AM to sideband on the 980 the static almost goes away altogether. I don't know if it's a galaxy thing or what the deal is. Or if the uniden is just a better receiver.

[LocomtvBreth]

OK, more watts and focused into a narrower bandwidth. That makes sense.

[Circuit Breaker]

Maybe circuit breaker can answer this for me. I'm happy with my radio and don't have any intentions of sending it off to be worked on. It's brand new. On my sideband the noise level is worse than on AM. It's louder. If there is no skip and no local traffic just static. The static level is higher on sideband than on AM.. It aggravates me but I can live with it. My uniden 980 is just the opposite. When I switch from AM to sideband on the 980 the static almost goes away altogether. I don't know if it's a galaxy thing or what the deal is. Or if the uniden is just a better receiver.

That's an interesting one because it really should be the opposite. I'd have to research that one.

[jessejamesdallas]

You don't need much watts on SSB at all to make DX contacts...I've been talking all over the Country, plus Canada, and Australia last few days barefoot with my Cobra 2000 GTL, with my ground plane antenna sitting out in the back yard on a 4' fence post! Just a 4w radio swinging around 18w's!

Channels 38 and 39 LSB has been booming last few days.

[231]

I run pretty much exclusively SSB these days. Sideband just carries better than AM I think because you are transmitting strictly modulation. On AM the modulation travels on the carrier which as mentioned is allot less efficient. The fact you can hear several guys talking on sideband all at the same time just doesn't happen on AM without one covering up the other (typically). The noise level on AM is what sort of pushed more toward SSB actually. Where I was living at the time was so noisy it got really old. I eventually got plugged in with the local SSB operators and found it to be more to my liking.

Silvereagle1, I will try and help answer this for you as well. Your Galaxy probably has something mis-aligned. As Circuitbreaker mentioned, it actually should be quieter unless the NB has been disabled or something else. Generally speaking Galaxy's do very well on SSB both transmit and receive. But it's not uncommon for them to come mis-aligned out of the box. So if it's allot worse than the 980, I'd probably consider having it looked at or at least discuss it with knowledgeable Galaxy folks here.

Just my thoughts.
231

[bluemeanie]

I read this in a magazine a million years ago. Imagine that the channel you're on is an isle in a grocery store. When you're on AM you are pushing two big carts that just fill the isle. Now switch to SSB and you push just one cart and think how much easier it is to push just the one cart. Over simplification but easiest explanation with out getting all Mr. Wizard. Just what a knuckle dragger throws in.