SSB History: Selling SSB in 1954

 

K9YA Telegraph ran (on Facebook) this ad from 1954.  It provides an interesting view of where phone operations were in that year.  Note that Dale was so intent on selling SSB gear that they were willing to make on-the-air schedules to demonstrate SSB superiority.  

Dale claims that with SSB you could have TWO roundtable QSOs on the same frequency, with one group on USB and the other on LSB.  I think this assumes really great opposite sideband rejection in the transmitters, and excellent selectivity in the receivers. That might have been a bit of a stretch.  But the assumption here was that hams could use USB or LSB -- no rigid adherence to the USB/LSB convention.  And the ad seems to focus on the 75 meter band which was seen as the most important phone band at that time. 

Dale was selling Collins mechanical filters for 55 dollars.  That is the 1954 equivalent of $566 dollars today.  No wonder the phasing method was so popular.  Note that they were selling Central Electronics phasing rigs right next to the ad for the Collins filters. 

I like the graph showing opposite sideband rejection with the Sideband Slicer.  Note that the selected sideband was referred to as the "exalted" sideband.  All Hail the Single Sideband!