Also known as: single sideband, SSB

Single sideband (SSB) is a refined form of amplitude modulation that removes the carrier and one of the two redundant sidebands, transmitting only one sideband — upper (USB) or lower (LSB).¹

SSB removes the carrier and one redundant sideband — half the bandwidth, all the power on the information.

How it works

With the carrier and one sideband gone, SSB uses about half the bandwidth and puts all power into the information, so modest transmitters reach across continents on HF. The cost is that the receiver must tune precisely or voices sound distorted.

Relevance to SDR

SSB is the backbone of long-distance HF voice; receiving it needs an HF-capable SDR and accurate tuning to reinsert the missing carrier.

Sources

1. Single-sideband modulation — Wikipedia, for the suppressed-carrier definition and bandwidth/power efficiency. ↩

See also

• Amplitude modulation (AM)
• Modulation
• Frequency bands (HF/VHF/UHF)
• Ionospheric propagation

Learn it step by step

• Analog modulation — AM, FM, SSB