Clipping and SSB???????

[wrong way]

Hello I have a 98 vhp and know if I got it clipped it it would be a LOUD RADIO!!! But someone said clipping is great for AM but if your gonna use SSB dont do it just turn up your modulation a little. Any thoughts on weather clipping would be okay for SSB would be appreciated Thanks Wrong Way

[silverstreak]

Take it to a shop that will open the AM modulation and not open the ALC so it runs wide open on SSB.

[Circuit Breaker]

It depends on the radio. Some will sound fine on all modes when you clip the limiter...others will sound good on AM but not on SSB. Most good techs will recommend making adjustments to the AM circuit. SSB is a rather efficient mode as it is...all your voice and power is concentrated on one sideband instead of two sidebands and a carrier as with AM. So, with SSB, all you really need is a good microphone to make sure you're hitting the peaks. With AM, you have to be careful not to go beyond 100% modulation because then you'll just be splattering over on to other channels.

[De_Wildfire]

You don't want to mess with the SSB. Do you know how hard and irritating it is to hear someone's signal that has a warble, full of static or trying to find out what someone is trying to say because he is over driving the radio? If you want the power, get a clean amp to go with it. I only come back to people I understand even if their signal is weaker than the guy over driving his radio. Hey, but that's me and I may be the minority. Different strokes for different folks.

[TheCBDoctor]

Hi wrong way,

Cutting the limiter out of a radio will cause the AM to over modulate. On SSB there is no carrier to over modulate. I have the ALC (SSB Limiter) disabled on my 2510. The radio Transmit sounds fine. If I did that to the AM (AMC) then the radio will sound louder, but you are distorting the carrier envelope.

There is no limit to output power on SSB that will hurt the quality of the transmission. If a radio does sound poorly on SSB it is because of the radio's design not the nature of sideband. With AM you must balance the carrier power with the audio power to make sure you are not over modulating.

You can use a watt meter to determine the percentage of modulation if you understand the math. At 4 watts carrier you must have no more than 12 watts peak power to keep from over modulating. A modulation meter is the proper tool but a watt meter can be used in a pinch if you know the math.

I have a complete CB test setup that includes a 1040 and a 2040 Dyanascan test center, a scope, a very good frequency counter, a TV on channel 2, and a test bench radio. I can monitor all the functions of a radio at the same time and see the signal on the scope. Open the SSB ALC all of the way and see if the radio sounds good. You not screw up the quality of SSB by doing so. Keep in mind that you will draw twice the current on SSB. I have benched well over 10,000 radios in the past 22 years using my bench equipment and It has not let me down yet.

If you enjoy SSB, and you are using a good radio, then I say Crank it up , and watch the finals because they will get warm. That is the only thing I would use caution on SSB.

Respectfully,