A Quiz About Hf Comm.

[eagle737]

i just began my oceanic flight few days ago, and i have a quiz about hf comm:
1) the guy i was talking to through hf is a typist but not a atc controller,is that true?
2) any recommended article or website about HF usage---including principle,rule,regulation?

i searched this website but found few things usable.
thanks,i'm hungering for the answer :ugh:

[FunctionedSatis]

Normally the person you talk to on H.F at Shannon, Gander, Stockholm is a radio operator who will pass on your MSG to an ATC Controller, so far as i am aware. When i carry out H.F comm checks at LHR i talk to Stockholm and there radio operators.

[bookworm]

Has anyone done the sums on sat-phones as a replacement for HF?

[411A]

Several corporate North Atlantic operators use 'em (trans-Pacific too), and although expensive, works rather well.
So i'm told anyway.
HF has nearly always been somewhat of a problem...those that recall Bombay on 6624, AM (as in many years ago), have tales to tell.

Bombay, Bombay Bombay....no response.
Ugh!!!:mad: :mad: :{

[Intruder]

Bombay, Bombay Bombay...
Maybe if you called "Mumbai, Mumbai, Mumbai..." ;)

[mstram]

eagle,

This might be a good place to start, although probably not HF/airline specifc.

http://www.arrl.org/

Mike

[411A]

Intruder,

That would of course be better now, but it definately was Bombay then.

You ain't been around long, I expect.:cool:

[eagle737]

you replied so quickly, thank u so much!!!
and there're so many grand old men here, i love this forum!!
:ok:

[Old Smokey]

Have you tried Bombay, Bombay, Bombay or Mumbai, Mumbai, Mumbai on VHF from 20 miles away? - Still no response.

[cribble]

There is at least one FIR around where the people on the other end of the HF are controllers: the Tahiti Oceanic FIR.

[BEagle]

Part of a trial I once had to do on a military aeroplane was to transmit on both HF sets on nominated frequencies to check that there was no RF interference to the New Toy which had been installed...... The beardy-weirdy boffins would watch for stray wiggly amps upsetting the Thing.

All went fine - no RFI. But I did start to wonder a bit about the frequencies though, as music was playing on one of them. Finally, did the last check "One two three four five, once I caught a fish alive. Six seven eight nine ten, then I let the bug ger go again! Testing, testing, this is the voice of the Mysterons!!" To which an outraged voice immediately replied "WHO IS CALLING ***** RADIO??".

It seems that the mad scientists who had set up the trial hadn't bothered to check whether the frequencies they'd allocated were free to be used!

When BBC World Service does its Lilibulero theme tune and "This is the BBC World Service", there's just enough time to add "Hello, World!". Allegedly.

I did know of one wag who used to tape SelCal tones, then play them back on the relevant "Company" frequencies..... "Birdseed Ops, this is Birdseed (blah)" "Go ahead" "You called us!" "No we didn't!" "Yes you did, the SelCal just chimed" "NO WE DID NOT!!"

Very childish,of course.

[fireflybob]

Yes I remember the days of calling Bombay on HF too. The galling thing was that whilst you were shouting yourself hoarse trying to raise Bombay you could hear Darwin, Australia loud and clear!

We were flying across India one night and had just checked all the clocks against the time signal on the BBC World Service. A short while later I made a position report and the controller queried my ATA at the last position and then asked me what time we were showing on the aircraft clock. He then insisted that HIS time was correct and we were wrong despite telling him that we had just got a time check off the BBC!!

Then having used AM for years we got SSB - what a luxury!

[FunctionedSatis]

:D "Birdseed!", haha thats great im gonna use that call sign the next time, prolly get reported for incorredt radio conduct! but it sounds hilarious!!

:ok:

[Semaphore Sam]

I started flying N Atlantic in '69; was told that by '73 all ATC Comm would be VHF via satellite, and HF work on North Atlantic would be gone. Well. At least Ocean Stations were VHF then; to this day HF is used for ATC, but pax use satellite for personal calls; shows what the powers-that-be believe are priorities. Can someone tell me why, with ACARS substituting for most voice comm, VHF voice comm is still not available 31 years later, and HF is still a primary mode for the North Atlantic? In Africa & Indian sub-continent there are budgetary reasons...but why the North Atlantic? Should this be an ALPA/BALPA issue, or are all such members using ACARS and don't give a damn for the rest of people using this airspace? Is it possible, thru satellite, to have common ATC VHF freqs to control aircraft in this airspace?

[Angel`s Playmate]

Everybody is complaining about the once in a while poor reception of the HF stations, BUT I hear`all of them already in the pub talks "...........you remember those days when we called Mumbai-Chennai-Karachi-Lahore and the rest of the world at the same time!"


I bet my A.s that , on the day when the HF is history in the Sub and elswhere, the fun part of the leg has gone !

Cheers
Angel:{


BTW, anybody in LAX on Monday ?

1800 LT Sportsbar Marriot Hotel Airport