HF transceiver as permanent install to light aeroplane?

[Sam Rutherford]

This is what I am trying to achieve, but it seems particularly difficult to find any information about it at all. It's for a Maule MX7 (5 seat SEP).

Does anyone have any advice (at any level)?

Type of unit
Legislation
Installation advice

Thanks, Sam.


PS Planning to spend a lot of time flying around Africa over next few years, and would like a fitted (so reliable?!) system.

[A and C]

I know a guy who has a Bendix/King HF unit on the shelf at the moment, it is not cheap but it is probably the best GA HF box on the market and would be worth considering.

PM me for further details.

[Whiskey Kilo Wanderer]

I don't know much about HF Radio in light aircraft, the only time I carried any was taking so old 'Ham' radio gear to a friend in Holland.

Flyingfemme is involved with ferry flights and may be able to help. Keef is in to the 'Ham' radio side of things as well as light aviation. They can both be found on the other place (a.k.a. Flyer Forum), if not on here.

http://forums.flyer.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=18194&highlight=radio

A lady called CarolAnn Garratt flew a Mooney around the world. She had some sort of HF Radio hooked up to e-mail. She wrote the trip up in a book titled 'Upon Silver Wings' - Global Adventure in a Small Plane.

http://www.kerrlake.com/mgarratt/book.htm

I guess another option is satellite phone, more expensive but probably more reliable unless you have a specific HF Radio application in mind.

I hope some of this helps.

Safe Flying,
Richard W.

[L-Band]

Look on the net for a used King KHF 950 these were about the best HF unit and will tune ok to a short antenna.

[papa oscar]

You'll also need an RT licence for HF radio telephony which includes a written test.

[Keef]

There are very nice HF sets available, at very "nice" prices. You'll be unlikely to find one that fits your panel, so mounting could be challenging. It will also probably need a separate antenna matching unit, which mounts where the wire enters the aircraft. That will take up another chunk of space.

You need to learn to drive it - not difficult, but plan on some time to learn that and the theory that goes with it. You'll need a separate licence to operate it, plus the usual major mod approval from the CAA for the installation.

I've never had anything to do with HF in G-reg aircraft, but have done with N-reg. That was a lot simpler (and it was a large twin, so had plenty of room for all the stuff). Talk to the folks who ferry aircraft!

[FerrypilotDK]

You'll also need an RT licence for HF radio telephony which includes a written test.

Not correct, as this is aero-mobile HF and is covered on the pilots radio license. You really think that everyone flying over the ocean or Africa for that matter has a different radio license??????

To the matter of the thread, I have used a Yaesa HF with a tuner and a trailing wire antenna...alternatively a fixed antenna. I got better results being able to get more length from the trailing, but the actual best wire type is now difficult to find. This unit was only about 800USD!!!!! Easy to install and use. The "fixed" installations (I assume you mean dedicated aircraft units) will set you back a lot more and with the fixed antenna length limited by the Maule...not as good a result. I have flown a lot of Maules and the nifty little vent windows allow an easy out for the antenna. A sat phone is usable a lot of places, but depending on where you are going in Africa, the ground telephone system might not be available and so it won´t help you. If you choose to try sat phone, make certain that you get an extended antenna and a headset adapter.Especially in the Maule, you cannot hear! Have fun and good luck! PS The mentioned HF or indeed any non-aviation unit, needs the aviation band unlocked.

[Tinstaafl]

Contact some of the avionics maintenance places in Austalia. HF is very common in light aircraft flying in the bush so just about any of them will be able to give you advice on types, installation & costs (in Oz $ but it should give you some idea of what to expect).

If you can, choose something that synthesises all the frequencies rather than the older 'one crystal per freq.' Saves having to change crystals if you need a different HF frequency.

[Sam Rutherford]

One correction for UK CAA issued licences (I don't know for the rest). You DO need an additional licence for HF work, following an additional exam...

Sam.

[PCentR]

The KHF-950 is a three part unit, control head, tuner and amplifier. I have the rack unit (vs round ATI control head) in the panel and the tuner and amp in the tail compartment of my 210 on vibration isolated racks. The antenna is 33', exiting top of tail compartment to top of vert stab and then to wing tip. Weight is about 30 lbs and a factory refurbed unit cost about 24k USD with warranty 5 years ago. Requires 25 amps to transmit but is very reliable (more so than the other half of the HF system in Africa at least). I have an Iridium phone with external antenna, reliable for the most part, less so in S hemisphere/S Pacific. Expensive (1.50-7.00 USD/minute depending on plan). It won't get you past an HF check for oceanic, though, but as an emergency back-up is quite useful.
The HFs I saw in Australia were limited channel units, but appropriate for the set number of frequencies used there. Don't know the price but much less than Bendix King unit.
Most ferry and RTW pilots use a modified ground based unit, far cheaper, but the KHF 950 is comm 3 on my audio panel and no funky wires or boxes in cabin. CarolAnn Garratt's unit's ability to send emails was pretty nifty, though.

[flyingfemme]

Installation and paperwork will depend upon your state of registry. Consult your usual avionics man.

There are panel mount HF units available - they tend not to be cheap - and people typically fit them into anything from a Kingair upwards. Intercontinental bizjets use them frequently.

You will either need a trailing antenna that unwinds from the aircraft (and the skill/knowledge to manually tune it in anger) or a fixed antenna (generally strung between wingtip and tail) and a box of tricks to do the tuning for you.

Depending how often you wish/need to use it, a satfone is the modern, popular alternative. You can feed it into your intercom and use it in flight. Many ATC centers now accept it as a viable HF alternative. Buy one for around US$1,000 and a block of minutes work out at around $1 per minute. Should the worst happen you can also take it with you on the long walk home :ok:

[172driver]

Depending on the parts of Africa you'll be flying in, one of the most useful pieces of kit is - wait for it - a cell phone. Yes, really, a humble mobile with a local SIM card. Cell phone coverage is rapidly increasing in Africa, in many places outstripping fixed-line coverage. Another very handy piece of equipment is a standard ICOM - but with a timetable of scheduled flights passing overhead your area. If the worst comes to the worst, don't waste your batteries, wait for the transit times of the big boys and transmit on 121.5 then. :ok:

In any case, why don't you post your query to the African and Oz forums?

[IO540]

I have noticed that NATS have published several Iridium satphone numbers for pilots to use, but can one really use a phone instead of an HF radio for ATC purposes in practice?

I am looking at getting a Thuraya phone, mainly for low speed data i.e. tafs/metars and maybe stuff like meteox.com. Can anyone offer views on how well sat phones generally and perhaps this one specifically work in the cockpit in flight? PM/email if you prefer.


Thuraya (.com) have only a European coverage but are far cheaper than the other networks. They also do a second level PAYG package which is non expiring. Most of the PAYG packages on the other networks confiscate the outstanding balance after 3/6/12 months, making them no cheaper than a full contract.

[flyingfemme]

I have noticed that NATS have published several Iridium satphone numbers for pilots to use, but can one really use a phone instead of an HF radio for ATC purposes in practice?

Yes - not quite everywhere but their use is spreading fast. Once you have made initial contact they will even call you back!

My beloved has a dongle to use his Iridium phone with a headset and that has made it far better in practice. He calls me enroute to make "ops normal" reports........very useful when nobody else is tracking the flight.

Iridium PAYG is much cheaper if you buy from the US or Australia. We have a 500 mins for US$500 that lasts for a year. The cost is the same as our previous contract with no minutes used.

[englishal]

$1 per minute is less than I'd pay on my Orange mobile in the USA (about £1 per minute!). The thing that has always put me off them in the past is the expiring balance of minutes.

Do any have Bluetooth? I've just bought a headset with Bluetooth capability, which could be quite useful....

[IO540]

I have not seen any sat phones with bluetooth; it would be a slick way to use one as a modem (no data cable) with a PDA to get basic weather etc.

IMHO for Europe, Thuraya is the one to go for. Much cheaper than the others.

[Whopity]

One correction for UK CAA issued licences (I don't know for the rest). You DO need an additional licence for HF work, following an additional exam...

No its the same licence just make sure that it is not Limited to VHF only; only PPL holders have the limitation, professional licence holders are not limited.

[PCentR]

I used my Iridium for oceanic ATC when I had an HF failure between the Seychelles and Colombo. As a back up, it was acceptable in places an HF couldn't be fixed.

Iridium phones are ancient technology, on par with a cassette walkman.
Better than nothing, though.