I am using a GAMM split lead antenna slipped up my backstay. The backstay is only 30 ft and the antenna ~34 ft. I clamped a piece of 6 ' x 1" square aluminum tube at the top of the backstay to gain the extra few feet. On the other side of the antenna tuner I attached a KTSS Counterpoise. I added an RF Isolator at the antenna cable from the ICOM m802 and everything works perfectly with no stray RF bounding around the boat.

The best news is that I will be on the hard stand for a couple of weeks to replace a rudder that decided it did not want to go with the boat (and only a fifteen hour tow to get back to do the repair -- if the rudder did not want to go, you would think it would have said something. Very inconsiderate.)

Before you spend too much on copper foil, sand paper, epoxy... drop $150 into the KTSS, put it where it fits and is out of the way. If it does not work bor you, you can always spend the time, energy, and money to go the old fashioned way. However, my experience is that it works perfectly.

Note: I lost close to $12K to a lightening strike that did not even hit the boat. Had it come through the rigging, I would have lost more. Think about grounding the rig to sea. I am towing zinc fish on 8 AWG that is clamped to main and mizzen shrouds and can be readily deployed in threat.

Kelly
S/V Patience

Hi Kelly,
Thanks for the field report.
Practical Sailor (a US publication I think well of) did a review of these products a while back and, if memory serves, thought well of them.
My best, Dick Stevenson, KC2HKW, s/v Alchemy

Interesting comments from a variety of backgrounds; technical and users. From my perspective:

1. I have recommended the KISS-SSB counterpoise/earth to about ten yachts and I 've not have one complaint.

2. I get comments about HF/SSB radio performance from many yachts. People with the KISS-SSB seem to be happy. Reports about their performance are consistent and positive. Perhaps not the top performer, but always performing.

3. I think other factors mentioned here in posts are very relevant, especially the quality of the installation. And backstay spacers.

4. I commonly hear of people who say their radio worked a lot better when it was just installed. Routine maintenance seems important to clean off corrosion at connection points - on the ATU, each end of the copper strap between the ATU and the earth plate, where the antenna cable connects onto the backstay, through deck insulators etc.

5. Which brings me to the earth plate. The earth plate I see commonly fitted to yachts is that small unit which I understand claims to have excellent surface area contact with the water because it has thousands of small holes. That 's a characteristic which I 'm sure works well when new, but disappears rather quickly because of marine growth. And especially because of an unintended brush with antifoul; which is easily removed at the visible surface but cannot be removed inside the thousands of tiny holes.

6. My yacht has for many years used a Moonraker earth plate. Certainly not small and compact as the above mentioned unit. It is about 5 x 10 inches and has vertical fins across it to create more surface area. It is easily cleaned of marine growth with a wire brush on a snorkel and goggle dive, and even a coating of antifoul can be totally removed; no microscopic holes. Used by commercial and military vessels as well as recreation. See http://media.wix.com/ugd/ee8b7f_833d5ab376384d109d1402c8ac2c7596.pdf

I 've watched a rather desperate crew (of a newly purchased yacht where the previous owner said he never needed an earth plate for his HF/SSB) fit one of these in the water by preparing the earth plate bolts with sealant, drilling the holes from inside and quickly pushing the bolts in from outside, tightening up and pumping the bilge. Not for the feint hearted.

7. My conclusion - based largely on comments from owners - is that when the external earth plate is functioning properly the result can be superior to the KISS-SSB. But over time, that earth plate effectiveness deteriorates, in particular, the type that is small but claims to have lots of surface area via thousands of tiny holes. Then the yacht with the KISS-SSB has the best radio performance in the fleet.

8. When I fit a new HF/SSB radio to my yacht I will try a KISS-SSB.

Best wishes

Allan

Hi Allen,
I think yours is an accurate and nicely balanced report.
I am a little out of the loop as I have been in Europe for a decade now and, on the water, the east side of the North Atlantic uses SSB far less than the American side. Casual reports from friends supports the use of the KISS set up for participating in the Caribbean nets and using Sailmail, but suggest the more traditional installation designs for work in areas likely to have more marginal conditions.
Your admonition on continuing maintenance and quality of initial installation is wise. Electrical connections are the first place to look when deteriorating communication is noticed. Please also note that, in my view, many professional SSB installers do not do good jobs. A handy amateur who has done good research will likely do as good a job, with maybe a hire of a local expert to review the installation. At least the owner should have educated him/herself enough to look over the installer’s shoulder.
If there continues to be trouble look into toroidal coils/chokes and line isolators: easy to install and, sometimes, make a huge difference.
Backstay spacers are the most common error I see. Of course it is the most visually easy to see, but I wonder, if something so fundamental is in error, what other installation problems lie in the less visible areas.
My best, Dick (KC2HKW) Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

Hi Dick,

I completely agree with you that some apparently professional installations can be problematic. I also agree that this important communications devise is an equipment item which owners/crew would be prudent to ensure they have sufficient knowledge about the key installation elements and routine maintenance tasks to make informed decisions about problem solving. Otherwise it 's easy for something simple like dirty contacts to stop it working, or to cause an expensive repair.

In my experience there are destinations where maintenance people have limited skills or problem solving abilities. If you don 't have some reasonable knowledge to help the problem solving process it 's easy to become a victim of "just buy a new one" maintenance people. Inside the radio box is some intimidating rocket science, but linking the radio components together is just wiring and connections and these are the most likely places to have a problem. They are also very user serviceable, sometimes simply by unplugging and re-plugging, to scrape off corrosion. Installing spacers between the backstay and antenna cable is an owner-service task. An old cutting board is a good source of these spacers.

Chokes and isolators can be essential to prevent RFI problems in some yachts. And so is running HF radio cables (eg from radio box to ATU and ATU to antenna) away from other equipment to minimise the opportunity to create RFI problems. I recall a few yachts with serious autopilot problems when the HF/SSB radio transmitted, resulting in some comical scrambling around the boat.

The other issue that creates problems in some brands of notebook is low quality USB ports. A SailMail user can suddenly see an error message about lost contact with Pactor the moment they try to connect. Ferrite chokes etc can often fix this, but an easier and convenient option is to buy a Pactor Controller with bluetooth, so there is no cable between the Pactor Controller and the PC/notebook. Apart from eliminating the RFI problem with the USB port, it gives far more flexibility about placement of equipment and where you sit/stand to write emails, look at the received GRIB files, etc.

Regards

Allan