HAM’S LIFE

In 1960 Single Side Band (SSB) signals could be heard on the ham bands but standard Amplitude Modulation (AM) was still the most popular mode of voice transmission. There were arguments as to the value of SSB over AM (SSB is a modified standard AM signal). Quality of the sound was one major objection to SSB while cost and complexity of equipment for transmission and reception was another. But change was, and still is, inevitable thus SSB quickly grew to the point where it became the normal and AM (sometimes called Ancient Modulation) became the rare mode of communications.

SSB was first introduced by John Renshaw Carson when he applied for paten on 1 December 1915. The first recorded used of SSB was by the telephone companies starting in the 1930’s as a means of multiplexing (using a single carrier or in this case single pair of wires to carry multiple information channels simultaneously) telephone lines. Using a pilot frequency a carrier was established for each channel and the Upper Side Band was used to transmit the communications in one direction while the Lower Side Band was used to transmit the information in the other direction.

After WWII amateur radio operators began to experiment with SSB on the air.

Up to 1950 the United States Air Force bombers carried a radio operator to maintain communications. This meant an extra person, thus that much less payload could be carried and extra fuel was needed. It also required the operator to receive a message and passing that information on to the pilot or other crew member for whom it was intended. The reverse was also true; the radio operator took the message and passed it on to its intended recipient’s operator. With the advent of the B52 jet bomber communication speed needed to increase to accommodate the increased speed of the aircraft’s movement. The middle man, the radio operator, became the target for elimination.

Two Generals in the United States Air Force, General Curtis E. LeMay W6EZV and Lt. General Francis H. Griswold K0DWC, addressed this problem by placing SSB amateur radio stations in two B52 bombers. By this they were able to prove the improved quality of long-range voice communications. High quality long distance voice communications allowed the crew to communicate directly without a radioman.