Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: KISS SSB Counterpoise

Category: Antenna parts, accessories, incl. baluns, hardware, etc.

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : KISS SSB Counterpoise
Reviews: 2MSRP: 145
Description:
The KISS-SSB is a patent pending marine SSB ground plane
system. This Icom endorsed principle is the one and only
complete counterpoise system. It does not require any holes
under the water-line in the hull for a bronze plate, copper
foil or copper mesh. The system has over 600 feet of exact
length wire radials built in it. Designed for all the Marine
SSB frequencies, Winlink & Sailmail frequencies, Emergency
Coast Guard HF frequencies and NOAA Weather Fax frequencies
plus the 2mhz through 29mhz Ham bands of 10 thru 80 meters.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.kiss-ssb.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0022.5
KC0TPG Rating: 2017-01-22
Works great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I used to have a dyna plate that was constantly being covered with barnacles and other sea creatures which prevented a good contact with the sea water. I removed the dyna plate and installed a KISS SSB Counterpoise and have never had a problem since. It is very important that all the radio gear, tuner, power etc. be grounded to the boat ground. The KISS SSB Counterpoise is connected to the ground terminal on the tuner and provides the counterpoise required of ICOM SSB HF radios, which is stated in their literature. I took out all the copper foil that kept getting corroded by the sea water that seems to find its way into boats that spend a lot of time at sea. No more copper foil to replace and no more dyna plate to clean. Just a great system that works very well on my Challenger 35 Ketch. It has been installed over 4 years now and works great with the morning nets, Sailmail, and Winlink.
AE6OP Rating: 2016-01-18
Scam or Miracle Counterpoise? Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
In scouring the web for credible reports on the KISS-SSB marine counterpoise, I found a lot of folks that claim it worked beautifully and one that claims its a pure scam. So, at only $150 dollars I thought I best try it on my 40' fiberglass trawler. My set up was a brand new Icom AT-40, brand new 23' Shakespeare whip and a Icom Pro III. According to the product hype, it's supposed to save me hundreds of dollars in unnecessary seawater grounding visa vis dynaplates, copper mesh, and other material and labor intensive investment. So, I installed this thing exactly as instructed and determined it to be no more effective than having virtually no ground connection at all on the AT-140. Ultimately, I located an insightful article by Gordon West that called for $50 worth of 3"x3mil copper foil that I ran from the tuner to a few through hull fittings and my transceiver sprung to life. All the bands immediately tuned with no onboard RFI and both reception and transmit performance is outstanding. When I recounted this to KISS-SSB, suddenly they said oh, but yes...you must establish a solid ground for our product to work properly. Interesting that their product hype leads buyers to believe they don't need to go to the trouble and expense to achieve the very counterpoise their product is supposed to deliver! Then, they tell me that Gordon West endorses their product and the US Navy buys it. I'd like to see some evidence of that. The Gordon West article I read on marine counterpoises explicitly states that with the new generation antenna tuners, a supplemental resonant wire counterpoise is no longer required. Just a solid seawater ground be it direct or capacitive coupled or both. For the real truth, the science and techniques to establish a "real" counterpoise on your fiberglass or wood boat, go to these two articles and don't waste your money on the KISS-SSB. On a final note, I did get them to take the KISS-SSB back even after their warranty period, but I had to call them to get them to post the refund long after they received it back. I don't trust these folks at all.
Here's what ICOM says: http://www.lereseauducapitaine.qc.ca/PDF/HF_Radio_marine.pdf
Here's what Gordon West says: http://sfbaysss.org/resource/doc/SeawaterGroundingFor_HF_Radios_byGordonWest.pdf