[Elecraft] Dayton Discovery [OT]

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

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" <ei6iz.brendan at gmail.com>
> 
> 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! 
>