Re: [IRCA] New CC Skywave SSB Model is Unchanged on MW Band

[d1028gary@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Hi Guy, 

Greetings from the Puyallup valley (the Mount Rainier lahar wipeout zone). 

<<< Do you think the SSB model of the C. Crane Skywave radio will be 
grandfathered into the Ultralight radio category, since its predecessor 
without SSB is considered a true Ultralight? I don't recall a previous 
situation where a ULR has gained a new reception mode that is not allowed 
under the guidelines. >>> 

This is a pretty bizarre case. Since the new model's SSB capability doesn't function on the MW frequencies, if not for the sky-high price (way over $100) a case could be made that the new model should qualify as an "approved" Ultralight model for MW-DXing. The previous CC Skywave just barely made it under the $100 price point, but this new model breaks the bank, and comes nowhere close to the price limit. 

In the 10-year history of the Ultralight DXing group (with this month being the anniversary of the original SRF-59 receptions of 594-JOAK, 747-JOIB and 972-HLCA, that kicked off the craze in 2007) the only pricey exception to the $100 limit was the Sony SRF-T615, which was originally $95 U.S. before the booming Ultralight group stampeded to buy it, raising up the price to around $165 (are you listening, Rob?). Of course I'm as guilty as anyone, buying 3 of the models, one of which was given to John Bryant as a gift. Because the original price was $95 U.S., though, it has always retained its "approved" status, despite the price going into the stratosphere (if not the ionosphere). 

Gary 


----- Original Message -----

From: "Guy Atkins" <dx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
To: "Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America" <irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
Sent: Wednesday, November 15, 2017 2:23:30 PM 
Subject: Re: [IRCA] New CC Skywave SSB Model is Unchanged on MW Band 

> 
> 
> âHi Gary, 

Greetings from across town! :^) 

Do you think the SSB model of the C. Crane Skywave radio will be 
grandfathered into the Ultralight radio category, since its predecessor 
without SSB is considered a true Ultralight? I don't recall a previous 
situation where a ULR has gained a new reception mode that âis not allowed 
under the guidelines. 

Does the addition of SSB take this radio out of the realm of "cheap 
consumer grade" receivers? Not only is this an "advanced" mode, the radio 
is also above the $100 USD price point. 

73, 

Guy Atkins 
Puyallup, WA 



> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- 
> From: d1028gary@xxxxxxxxxxx 
> To: "America, Mailing" <irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
> Cc: 
> Bcc: 
> Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2017 08:05:08 +0000 (UTC) 
> Subject: [IRCA] New CC Skywave SSB Model is Unchanged on MW Band 
> For those of you wondering if you should purchase the new CC Skywave SSB 
> Model (with the sky-high price of $169.99, temporarily being offered at 
> $149.99), please be advised that the new SSB capability is for the SW bands 
> only. Anyone purchasing this model hoping to use it to check transoceanic 
> DX carrier strength on the MW bands is going to be disappointed. 
> 
> During ocean cliff MW-DXpeditions an SSB spotting receiver is a very 
> effective tool to keep track of emerging DU-DX targets for Ultralight radio 
> and FSL antenna reception, and until now "Supercharged" ICF-2010 portables 
> have been used for this purpose. I was curious whether the new CC Skywave 
> SSB model might be able to perform this function, but upon reviewing 
> C.Crane's operating manual for the model it was clear that the SSB function 
> is only for the SW band https://www.ccrane.com/files/ 
> manual/RAD_CCRADIO_SKYWSSB/CC%20Skywave%20SSB%20Instruction%20Manual.pdf 
> 
> Because of the high price of the new model C.Crane may find it a challenge 
> to sell these radios at the $169.99 list price, and until someone writes a 
> review I'm kind of curious how effective the SSB function will be on SW 
> without greater frequency resolution than the 1 kHz steps provided my the 
> main tuning control (although not curious enough to pay $149.99 plus 
> shipping to find out). 
> 
> 73 and Good DX, 
> Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA) 
> 
> 
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