Ofcom intention to legalise SSB CB in 2013

[Lightspeed]

Following on from the New to CB thread on this forum, it is great news that from July 2014 AM and SSB CB radio transmitters will be able to be used legally in the UK for the very first time. And they will be able to be used on a license free basis.

See: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consult...statement/

Increased range over that of existing FM CB equipment:
The SSB allowance is good news as the new licence-free permission for 12w Single Side Band (SSB) will effectively double the range of communication. It will also make for more reliable contacts between Southern England and Scotland /Ireland during special atmospheric conditions that occur during the summer months.

Worldwide communications:
Currently we are just past the peak of the 11 year solar cycle. At this time 12w SSB is capable of global communications. As the cycle progresses, for the next 5 1/2 years, global communication will become less and less viable, after which time it will start to improve again. It will not be until 2024 before conditions will be as favourable for global communications as they are at this time.

Compatibility with existing FM CB equipment:
Newly purchased radios that are SSB capable are for the most part also able to transmit and receive on the existing UK and EU FM channels, so current legal FM radios are not being rendered obsolete. In fact there is reason to hope that the new allowance will increase the number of operational CB stations in the country, thus increasing the number of potential contacts available at any given location.

Equipment complexity:
SSB capable radios meeting the standard will be considerably more complicated to operate than the current license free channelized radios. This is because, although identically channelized, 40 of those channels will be selectable to operate in the existing FM mode, AM ( Amplitude Modulation), Upper side Band ( USB) or Lower Side Band (LSB). In order for stations to hear one another, they both have to be set to exactly the same mode. So there are 200 configuration possibilities (40 base FM channels + 40 channels that can be AM/FM/USB/LSB) compared to the 80 channel (40 +40 channels) configurations of the currently legal radios. On LSB and USB this is complicated further as, in order for the receiving station to clearly hear a transmission, delicate fine tuning (also called clarifying) must be made. For this reason LSB and USB although bringing the benefits of extended range, are less easy to use, especially in a mobile vehicle.

Self-Training ( good news)
For any non-licensed Radio Amateurs looking to keep SSB capable Ham radio equipment in their preps, the new License free CB radios will be an excellent and legal platform of self-training. They are very similar in complexity to Ham gear,and require similar operating skill-sets. In addition to gaining experience of how to operate SSB equipment, operation of SWR Meters and Antenna Matching units (also called ATUs) should also be considered.