Correct radio call for HF radio check?
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Correct radio call for HF radio check?
What is it!?
I've been told:
"Brisbane radio, <callsign>, <frequency>, radio check"
Yeah Brisbane radio regardless of where you are in the country. Even if you're overhead the Margaret River. I've always called them Flightwatch, not Brisbane Radio, but someone tried to correct me the other day.
Thoughts from someone in ATC would be awesome.
I've been told:
"Brisbane radio, <callsign>, <frequency>, radio check"
Yeah Brisbane radio regardless of where you are in the country. Even if you're overhead the Margaret River. I've always called them Flightwatch, not Brisbane Radio, but someone tried to correct me the other day.
Thoughts from someone in ATC would be awesome.
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According to Messers Jeppesen, JeppFD-Pro:
If you call on freq's:
3470 3476 5634 5643 6556 8867 8879 11396 13261 13306 13318 17904 17907 17961 kHz.
the correct CallSign is "Brisbane Center"
If you call on
3452 3461 6541 6565 6610 8822 8831 8843 kHz
The correct CallSign is "FlightWatch"
As also indicated on the Planning Chart Australia (PCA), except they call it Brisbane and FlightWatch.
(I am not an ATC'er, just a driver.)
If you call on freq's:
3470 3476 5634 5643 6556 8867 8879 11396 13261 13306 13318 17904 17907 17961 kHz.
the correct CallSign is "Brisbane Center"
If you call on
3452 3461 6541 6565 6610 8822 8831 8843 kHz
The correct CallSign is "FlightWatch"
As also indicated on the Planning Chart Australia (PCA), except they call it Brisbane and FlightWatch.
(I am not an ATC'er, just a driver.)
Last edited by Trent 972; 17th Apr 2014 at 12:44. Reason: freq order
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All HF (Dom and Int) is operated from Brisbane. The domestic networks (have a look at a PCA..) are called 'Flightwatch', the International networks are called 'Brisbane'. 'Centre' is VHF.
Historically with Oceanic Control the person you talked to was just a radio operator. You passed the message to them they passed it to the ATC controller of the area. The ATC passed the clearance to the radio operator and they contacted the aircraft.
Hence the call sign on oceanic HF was usually Auckland Radio, Brisbane Radio etc. An when you received a clearance it was in the form of "Auckland Control clears QF6 climb to FLxx.
Hence the call sign on oceanic HF was usually Auckland Radio, Brisbane Radio etc. An when you received a clearance it was in the form of "Auckland Control clears QF6 climb to FLxx.
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Whatever happened to saying the callsign twice when using HF? Shows how long it's been since I cranked the old HF up! 
Their call sign is BRISBANE without the radio. Also plain SAN FRANCISCO and AUCKLAND. I suspect this all comes from US Flight Service Stations long ago having a RADIO call sign as in AMARILLO RADIO and Jeppesen propagating this worldwide to flight service call signs. Its incorrect. Have you ever heard SAN FRANCISCO or BRISBANE answer with RADIO in their call sign? No you haven't.
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Waay back in the late 1980s I visited the ADL AACC and met the Flight Service guys and the ATC area guys.
Good to see who you are talking to and what helps them.
Twenty years and 14,000hr later I took another visit to AsA BNE and did 'the tour'.
Also very illuminating.
Something I learned from that visit -- my company required a check of the HF unit in the jet, every Monday morning.
If I said "Brisbane, ABC, radio check" I got a pleasant answer --- and unbeknownst to me, the guy I was talking to then had to do some work and log where I might have been, when I made that check call.
After my visit, at BNE HF recommendation, I changed my call to "Brisbane, brisbane, ABC, 3452, maintenance check."
Reasons?
1. Auto switching in signal processing at AsA sometimes clips the first syllable of the transmission. Saying the station called name, twice, at the beginning helps overcome the station called name being clipped by the switching.
2. Stating the frequency I am calling on, saves the ATCO from scanning his panel to see which HF frequency I am calling on, makes his life easier.
3. If he/she knows it is a maintenance check only, he/she will just reply with signal strength. If he/she is responding to your request for a radio check, it will be treated as a check to maybe meet a requirement, and the ATCO will have to log your call sign, time called, and if I recall correctly, work out where the hell you are and where you are going. Why make a busy HF operator work any harder than required?
None of this in the AIP, all up for criticism, but I appreciate good service from ATC, may as well help them out when I can.
Good to see who you are talking to and what helps them.
Twenty years and 14,000hr later I took another visit to AsA BNE and did 'the tour'.
Also very illuminating.
Something I learned from that visit -- my company required a check of the HF unit in the jet, every Monday morning.
If I said "Brisbane, ABC, radio check" I got a pleasant answer --- and unbeknownst to me, the guy I was talking to then had to do some work and log where I might have been, when I made that check call.
After my visit, at BNE HF recommendation, I changed my call to "Brisbane, brisbane, ABC, 3452, maintenance check."
Reasons?
1. Auto switching in signal processing at AsA sometimes clips the first syllable of the transmission. Saying the station called name, twice, at the beginning helps overcome the station called name being clipped by the switching.
2. Stating the frequency I am calling on, saves the ATCO from scanning his panel to see which HF frequency I am calling on, makes his life easier.
3. If he/she knows it is a maintenance check only, he/she will just reply with signal strength. If he/she is responding to your request for a radio check, it will be treated as a check to maybe meet a requirement, and the ATCO will have to log your call sign, time called, and if I recall correctly, work out where the hell you are and where you are going. Why make a busy HF operator work any harder than required?
None of this in the AIP, all up for criticism, but I appreciate good service from ATC, may as well help them out when I can.
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After my visit, at BNE HF recommendation, I changed my call to "Brisbane, brisbane, ABC, 3452, maintenance check."
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NAT
Here in the North Atlantic, "Iceland Radio" serves Reykjavik OACC and "Gander Radio" serves Gander OACC.
Their call signs are with the suffix "RADIO", to destinct them as radioes, and they only relay messages between aircrafts and their respective OACC's (or others if requested).
I used to be at Sondrestrom Information, and we had our own HF frequencies, thereby having the call sign "Sondrestrom Information", serving uncontrolled airspace below FL195 in Sondrestrom FIR. Could be a little tricky if airctafts didn't state the frequency they were calling on, since we monitored 5, later 4, but easily solvable by "state frequency". After a few years, experience and a trained ear helped a great deal.
There's no specific HF procedures in DOC's as I recall, so the old "go ahead", "over" and "out" should be long gone, but were/are often used anyway to ease communication, since squelch doesn't work well in an HF enviroment.
How to check if an aircraft is monitoring your HF..... use SELCAL, love that invention
Their call signs are with the suffix "RADIO", to destinct them as radioes, and they only relay messages between aircrafts and their respective OACC's (or others if requested).
I used to be at Sondrestrom Information, and we had our own HF frequencies, thereby having the call sign "Sondrestrom Information", serving uncontrolled airspace below FL195 in Sondrestrom FIR. Could be a little tricky if airctafts didn't state the frequency they were calling on, since we monitored 5, later 4, but easily solvable by "state frequency". After a few years, experience and a trained ear helped a great deal.
There's no specific HF procedures in DOC's as I recall, so the old "go ahead", "over" and "out" should be long gone, but were/are often used anyway to ease communication, since squelch doesn't work well in an HF enviroment.
How to check if an aircraft is monitoring your HF..... use SELCAL, love that invention
It needs to be borne in mind that HF comms is a network with many players using the same frequency.
SP net for example often has BNE, NAN, AKL, SFO and PPT all working the same frequency hence it is smart to say the intended contact name twice and vital to say the frequency - just look at Jepp manuals to see how many are potentially monitored by a station. Asian nets are often worse, much worse with a heap of stations all merrily over transmitting each other.
So, when I do a preflight check in the USA as per SOPs I transmit, after listening out, "SFO, SFO, Rubber Ducky 7 preflight check on 5574 (usually a good bet) request primary and secondary, selcal XXXX". That's the script I got from ARINC many, many moons ago and it generally works.
SP net for example often has BNE, NAN, AKL, SFO and PPT all working the same frequency hence it is smart to say the intended contact name twice and vital to say the frequency - just look at Jepp manuals to see how many are potentially monitored by a station. Asian nets are often worse, much worse with a heap of stations all merrily over transmitting each other.
So, when I do a preflight check in the USA as per SOPs I transmit, after listening out, "SFO, SFO, Rubber Ducky 7 preflight check on 5574 (usually a good bet) request primary and secondary, selcal XXXX". That's the script I got from ARINC many, many moons ago and it generally works.
