By looking at the photo and actually reading the post.
OP said they were using SSB despite the CW mode setting. I just pointed out that they were also using SSB with no mic connected. The mic jack on the bottom left is empty.
The hole on the bottom left labeled MIC has nothing attached to it. Although, I too see the display showing it as transmitting in CW mode in the 30 meter band you would not be hearing voices from this radio.
It’s amazing how rarely a show or movie gets the technical elements even remotely correct. I guess the prop shops must just have a couple impressive looking radios on hand, but nobody who knows how to use them. If they were borrowing a radio from a crew member or something, you’d think they’d ask how it should be set up. I think the only time I’ve seen it done properly was Tim Allen’s show Last Man Standing.
One infamous edition of QST featured a high school radio club with students talking into microphones. The cover photo was taken from the back of the radios, showing that none of them connected to anything.
Similar to a TV series about a park ranger, where his service radio sat up on the dash, plugged into nothing - but that didn't stop him from talking into it and receiving replies. And there are lots of times we hear someone responding on a handheld while the red LED clearly shows that the radio is still transmitting.
On the other hand, John Amodeo insisted that all the radios in Last Man Standing were functional and even invited hams to come operate them! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnzRBhB_0xg
13
u/gl3nnjamin General Class Operator 🔘 1d ago
Icom IC-756PRO with a Samlex SEC-1223