Sir, thank you for taking the time to explain this. As a new ham I wanted to better understand what SSB was.

Studying for my Technicians at age 66 :) (Need a new hobby - just retired) The book I have is good but is more test prep than in-depth and I want to understand the terms being used rather than just parroting answers for the test. Great vid - enjoy the history aspect!

I already had a good general understanding of SSB, yet, I did not know about its history and origins. Thankyou for your time, cheers :-)

Wow. Thanks Jim . I'm a 62 yr old newbie, but I actually understood that. Thanks for all the great vids I'm a fan. Hope to go for the Tech in March.

You have a easy, relaxed presentation style which makes the topic more enjoyable.

Jim, thank you for this superb explanation on SSB and AM. Hope you have completely recuperated from the life-threatning pulmonary attack. From my childhood RF communication by the men in badge always amazed me. I was aware about Ham from my college days but sadly, there was lack of information since it was only for a niche crowd coupled with the prohibitive price of Ham radios. Your excellent channel with unmatched information about the world of Ham has only rekindled my latent desire in amateur radio. I am now 50+ and preparing for the General test in Delhi to qualify for a Ham licence. Your videos have inspired me so much that I have now almost ditched all other social media platforms with a focused mind to join the world of PTT. Please keep the flow of such brilliant videos and do take care of yourself too. Until then, 73

Another great video with an excellent illustration. Thinking of a carrier itself like an AM carrier… It’s almost like a sandwich; say it’s Bologna, you have the bologna in the middle and a pieces of bread on each side. The bread is each side band and the Bologna is the carrier. Your illustration with the lightbulb was again wonderfully thought up! Jim, thanks for everything you’ve taught me.

Sideband is a fairly complex concept, and I've rarely heard a good explanation of how SSB works that wasn't meandering and touched on areas that weren't really related or relevant. The first thing to know is that in any analog communication you need two characteristics to transmit an audio signal: 1. A way to modulate in transmitting, and demodulate in receiving, the complex wave form(s) produced by the FREQUENCIES of voice and music. And 2. A way to represent the VOLUME or relative loudness (POWER) of that wave form. So , in A.M. the VOLUME of the sounds is produced by the difference between the minimum and maximum amplitude of the carrier which is related to the POWER output of the transmitter; and the FREQUENCIES of the audio transmitted, drive the speed at which the amplitude (POWER) of the carried is changed. So with regard to VOLUME, when you hear a faint A.M. station, or maybe a strong A.M. station with low audio VOLUME, it is because of the relative small difference between amplitude (or POWER level changes) to the RF wave discerned by the receiver. And the audio FREQUENCIES you hear are the result of the audio wave form driving the speed at which the changes in amplitude (POWER) occur. This is why you don't have to be perfectly tuned into an A.M. broadcast, the FREQUENCIES you are hearing are being discerned from the amplitude (POWER) of the carrier frequency, NOT THE frequencies of the sidebands that are created during the audio-RF mixing. On the other hand, with sideband, whether single or double, the amplitude (POWER) of the transmitted wave is what the receiver discerns as VOLUME, and the audio FREQUENCIES ultimately discerned by the receiver are of the actual frequencies created by the mixing of the audio FREQUENCIES and the carrier (the carrier is suppressed in transmission). This is how and why sideband is not like A.M., with sideband, you are actually hearing the changes in the FREQUENCIES produced by the transmitter during the mixing of audio and RF; and this is why you can actually change the pitch of the audio you're hearing by making slight changes to the frequency your receiver is on; that doesn't happen on A.M. This is also why you cannot understand sideband if listening on A.M., your A.M. receiver is discerning amplitude (POWER) changes, but the audio form in the sideband signal is changing frequencies. The reason you can listen to an A.M. signal on sideband, is that A.M. transmitters produce sideband as a natural result of the audio/RF mixing process, but A.M. receivers don't use or need them.

Awesome video! Thank you Jim. I now have better understanding of SSB and its relation to AM.

Jim, I have no idea what you're talking about but I find you voice very relaxing and I like to put your videos on in the background while I'm doing other things.

Hi Jim. I found your videos by accident but so glad I did. Informative and thoroughly enjoyable with a really relaxed delivery. Thank you for making them. 73 from the UK, de G8NQK.

I am incredibly glad to see you're doing well. I was going to check up on you last night, but figured I didn't want to bother you non-stop with well being checks. :) Now I'm going to watch the video and learn more from your wealth of knowledge! 73 de K8GLX (formerly KE8FDD)

Good first time explanation of SSB!

Another great video. Always learn something new! Glad to see you with a new one and keep up the great work!

Excellent presentation and representation of the efficiency of AM compared to CW - great visual aid 💡👍

Very informative video, thanks for producing the great content Elmer.

Great video Jim. Look forward to many more in the new year! 73

A very good explanation. I used CB here in England in the 1980's. I could get about a quarter of a mile on a car turn signal 4 Watt bulb soldered into a PL259 plug. When the government legalized CB on FM, there were a million or more still using their illegal AM CB sets, replicating the battle you describe of AM verses SSB.

Hi Jim love your video the last piece of the video was the best talking about the old-time days thank you

Very clear and easy to understand 73's W6LG.

Clear as mud. W6LG explains it fine - it's just a bit complicated. Good video.

Thank you Jim. This clarified a few things. It’seasier These days tuning in SSB. When I was a young SWL, you hide to tune with a beat frequency oscillator.

Thanks for another informative video! Learning everyday, I want to get my T license but just feel I need to know more about HAM before I plunge. You are a great help!

Nice video Jim. Enjoy the history part. It’s truly a great story because out of those early crystal sets like what you showed came the “AM” Radio broadcasts that we know today. just modified. Truly a great video.

Nice history on the modes of operation. Thanks for the explanation on why lower side band is used on 40 and 80 and upper is used on 20 and 10. I knew it wasn't an FCC reg, but I was baffled as to why there was a difference. In the video you talked about reinserting the carrier at the receiving end; and of course you did in order to make the signal intelligible, but there was not much fan fare about it. I had hoped that you were going to use an external BFO with a Standard Broadcast band AM/FM radio that happens to also includes some HF frequencies but is not designed for SSB listening. On you Elecraft Tranceiver, the Mode button and the VFO take the place of a BFO knob so there was not much to do about inserting the missing carrier in this demonstration.. Many yrs ago I built a simple BFO in order to listen to SSB with a standard broadcast radio. Hand impedance was a problem when tuning the BFO, and I never resolved the issue. Anyway, I love your videos. Jim, considering all the help you are to people, I hope that you have someone local to help you with any physical activities that have become challenging . Thanks for all you do. 73 Joe KF7POQ

Jim, so nice to see you in a good shape. Happy New Year to you. Wish you good health.

Love the light bulb. Thanks.

Thank you for sharing the history, always interesting and great to know for when I get my license. Have my Foundation License in UK in January. Cannot wait the push the PTT. 73 from London.

Amazing demonstrations. Thank you!

Thank you Jim...and I will not use qsl or ? Personals...and now I will know ssb...and my ham radio will be here tomorrow. Looks like There's quite a Lot to learn. I was going to search for what letters to use for my identification, and ran across your tutorial. Thank you for explaining. Subscribed.

Excellent ! Informative video . Greetings from India .

Thanks for the live demo of SSB!

you are awesome in your presentations Jim 😀

Great Videos im new on ham radios and anytime i see your videos and see everything you know i like it more and more

Great explanation of what SSB is, I had it all wrong. Just started studying and it’s the same old thing: the more I know, the more I know how much I don’t know.

At 10:45 'After all I am transmitting into a lightbulb.' - Now there is a sentence that has never been uttered in the history of mankind.

Well done! Be happy, be safe, stay grounded.....

Great explanation and I added this as a resource to my latest video as well as to my playlist on HF and SSB.

Hi Jim, Nice trip down the HF memory lane. Always wondered why voice signals were phone. Your reference to the telephone companies solved that. Have a safe and Happy New Year. 73 WB3BJU

I knew the tech but it was made much clearer by this video, thank you. 73

Nice explanation and demonstration. That helped me quite a bit to understand the mode.

Jim that was an excellent video. I learned in brief a lot on how those modes got their names an origins of the same. Happy New Year to you and family. Un abrazo from El Salvador, YS Country. 73! Roberto, YS1RS.

I once read a book on these types of waves and tried to do a mental exercise in my head visualizing the waves. Your video was better than my mental exercise and didn't turn me into a vegetable for a few hours.

4 years old and still being used. thanks finally got it.

Thanks for making a potentially difficult topic easier to understand. 73's, Bill AA8VA

Thanks, that made things much more clear.

Thanks I was just trying to learn a little for the test but now I have a grasp of theory.

FINALLY! I get it. Thank you!

Many thanks for the excellent and interesting video. I'm a new ham and enjoy all your posts.

Awesome demo video. Thanks.

Thank you! Finally, I get it!

Great video mate, thanks very much for sharing.

Thank you so much for this video. I have had some very simple questions that never got answered before this video, such as AM vrs CW. I should have know that one with my back ground.

Great video, thanks for sharing.

Jim - Thank you for your excellent videos, as a former radio DJ I also like your great voice! George w0xs

What can i say....your my teacher ;). i learn a lot of your information jim, good to know more detailed stories about our hobby...great video. Another thing Jim.....your looking so great again on this video. good to see that!. Well...for my last couple of hours in this year....73s and HNY 2017 Sascha de PD9Z

Sidebands never made sense to me until I learned about mixing/hetereodyning. The am modulator behaves like a simple mixer in that it mixes the baseband signal with the rf generated from the pll or oscillator. When you mix two AC waveforms you end up with multiple new frequencies in the output and the undesired is filtered out. You end up with freq1 + freq2 and freq1 - freq2 primarily as well as the originals and all permutations of the fundamentals. This is why AM has sidebands, its a result of the baseband mixing with the RF carrier.

I am used to think about SSB different way. Voice feed to double mixer with phase shift of 90 degrees. After the mixer, there is sum that should be cut with low pass filter. To get 90 degrees, I am using logic gates and four times the frequency. By dividing by 2 and again by 2 + XOR gate, getting the right frequency that can be switched between 90 degrees lead or 90 degrees lag (USB vs. LSB). Prior to mixing, it is always good to use 300 Hz high pass filter and after mixing 3 kHz low pass filter. Carrier is automatically subtracted by nature of mixing with double balanced mixers. One sideband is automatically subtracted by nature of double mixers (two mixers in parallel). SDR receivers use the same principle to get IQ (In phase/Quadrature) signals. IQ signal, for example 1 MHz, to channels (~stereo), each is shifted 90 degrees. By reversing process with dual mixer and another 90 degrees oscillator, one can get 2 MHz bandwidth with two 1 MHz feedlines. Just make good filtering to avoid IQ spike (where two signals overlaps in the center). If you swap IQ channels, you may get the same frequency range, but this time higher frequency is to the left, lower to the right. 73

Great video and nice information

Thanks for your explanation. I am thinking of an even more visual to explain the concept, through a real time fast fourier transform. I wonder whether modulating the amplitude (i.e. multiplying for a sinusoid in the time domain) can be easily grasped as a shift in the frequency domain. I will do some experiment for a kind of interactive presentation.

Fascinating, thanks Jim.

This was very cool. Great for us thick heads!

Love the video buddy!

Thank you JIm, this is a very helpful video.73, KD0TOT.

your demonstration of the difference between AM and SSB with the light bulb was illuminating (no pun). thanks to you I now have a working understanding of the differences between AM and SSB. kind regards,

Thank you! This video was very informative and I appreciated and enjoyed the history lesson as well!

You are looking good Jim. Happy New Year to all. Hope to 20 meter with you soon. 73

you’ve blown my mind.

Great video Jim...enjoyed qso couple weeks ago.....Happy New Year....73 de N8NTX

Always very informative. I just need to get off my donkey and buy a HF radio. Thank you.

it's rob from Australia like video it great

Excellent job W5GKY

Jim w6lg I like your utube videos are awesome

Hi Jim I enjoyed your video and the demostration of it. 73's Don KC9DFK

Is this where the name 'phone' came from in the HAM bands? I always assumed it was due to it being a voice transmission, but I never knew the phone company used it for voice transmissions in the early days.

What would be a good receiver -radio setup to keep in touch with family members for emergency situations? Looking at about a 70 miles max range. Something that would be easy and perhaps portable if needed. Any recommendations of units would be appreciated.

You were transmitting into a house light bulb? Then Rx into a unit w/ an antenna? is this not to hit the receiver so hard? I use to "Peak n Tweak" Cobra 148's and 29's , but I used a daisy chain of 12v push and twist automobile lights to absorb the wattage . Any help on this would be great! Oh and BTW your bench is awesome! Oh, so is So. Lake Tahoe where I use to live. Keep key'n up and stay treetop tall my friend... M. Collins, Out.

Amazing work. So clear now. You are really good at explaining simply. Subscribed.

Red Leader, standing by!

It's much easier to see what these modes look like when you're using an SDR radio with the spectrum scope. When you transmit on the IC-7300, you can see the carrier the modulation. 73 de KE0STO

What power supply would you suggest for my galaxy dx98vhp without breaking the bank. Thanks

Just asmsll question about removing the Carrier to geht more Space in the band. I thought the Carrier was abcolutlely necessary in Order to Transmitter a für distances . How can the only ssb be alle to Carry the Signal at a Long distance. FOR A SHORT ANSWER I ‚d be grateful.t.u.

What if the radio only has 5khz step's? Would it miss a lot of stations out. I'm getting a Sony icf-7600 and there's only 5khz incremental step's.

Hi Jim and All. Great explanation of SSB; always enjoy your videos. But, I do have a question to everyone and, excuse my ignorance. But, if one removes the main carrier and, one of the side bands, while in SSB mode, how is the signal transmitted? If there is no carrier, how is the information sent into well, space? What is the vehicle for sending the information? I'm aware that the carrier is produced at the receiver for demodulating but, how is the signal carried to the receiver. Thanks! Jim

If you are trying to setup a base station but live in an apartment (second floor) with no balcony or anything....anyone have any good recommendations for setting up an antenna to get out a good distance on SSB?

Thanks Jim. Good video. Does SSB work on CW FM and SW apart from AM ? I'm a bit confused....

Thank you sir

What is the makeup of amateurs broadcasting LSB, USB, and AM? Is one so much more favored that I should only buy receivers geared to that method? (Such as eschewing AM?) Thanks.

Thank you.

Good video, thanks! 73

Interesting, Informative. KK7T.

Since WW2 surplus equipment was mentioned, here's a question: Why was modulated CW (MCW, A2) popular at that time? I've been watching American WW2 training videos and a lot of the equipment at the time had CW, MCW and Phone settings. Was the possibility to receive MCW without a BFO the only reason? 73 de YU1NKA

Can an “SSB” circuit be created to be used for pitch shifting for voice effects? I’m new to ham but I tinker with electronics and sound effects just for fun and wonder if that’s possible. Would something like a low power transmitter being fed into a receiver or what you did, into a dummy load be sufficient? Or is there a way to use the same principle without using Transmitter/receiver circuits?

Which portable antennas are suggested for CB with SSB (Skip mode)?

Lunga frequenza radio😊

Jim can a general class operator use usb on 20 and 40 meters or are we just restricted to the LSB mode

Can amateur radio signals (ham) come through on a SW full spectrum radio such as radiwow or tecsun pl-310 without SSB or BFO due to an overload of signal . Can it be filtered through even without 455 mhrtz? Does ham radio pass through the signals that are not using it?

Now I understand.

JIM - How can I build "Old School " radios, Like from the 20s 30s and crystal sets

Jim, (others), as a new HAM Tech. How can I start using SSB. I want to be more exposure and more OSO's on Satellites and further than a few miles from my QTH, (not including repeaters).