Single Sideband ( SSB ) 101

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Single Sideband (SSB)
Since so much power is wasted in AM, radio engineers devised a method to transmit just one sideband and put all of the transmitter's power into sending useful intelligence. This method is known as single sideband (SSB). In SSB transmitters, the carrier and one sideband are removed before the signal is amplified. Either the upper sideband (USB) or lower sideband (LSB) of the original AM signal can be transmitted.

SSB is a much more efficient mode than AM since all of the transmitter's power goes into transmitting useful intelligence. A SSB signal also occupies only about half the frequency space of a comparable AM signal. However, SSB transmitters and receivers are far more complicated than those for AM. In fact, a SSB signal cannot be received intelligibly on an AM receiver; the SSB signal will have a badly distorted "Donald Duck" sound. This is because the carrier of an AM signal does play a major role in demodulating (that is, recovering the transmitted audio) the sidebands of an AM signal. To successfully demodulate a SSB signal, you need a "substitute carrier."

A substitute carrier can be supplied by the beat frequency oscillator (BFO) circuit used when receiving CW signals. However, this means that a SSB signal must be carefully tuned to precise "beat" it against the replacement carrier from the BFO. For best performance, a SSB receiver needs more precise tuning and stability than an AM receiver, and it must be tuned more carefully than an AM receiver. Even when precisely tuned, the audio quality of a SSB signal is less than that of an AM signal.

SSB is used mainly by ham radio operators, military services, maritime and aeronautical radio services, and other situations where skilled operators and quality receiving equipment are common. There have been a few experiments in using SSB for shortwave broadcasting, but AM remains the preferred mode for broadcasting because of its simplicity.