Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Hawkins, who writes:
Air traffic bands on VHF is well-known.
Not so well-known are the shortwave (HF) communications networks that must be operated by transoceanic flights.
This is an ARINC station for San Francisco, California. I am located about 70 miles inland from this station. I assume ARINC is using a directional antenna system beamed westward toward the Pacific Ocean.
I recorded this video of an ARINC station late last night for my YouTube channel.
Click here to view on YouTube.
Many thanks, Dan!
I enjoy monitoring air traffic on VHF and often forget that when I’m outside the range of an airport’s tower, I can still hop on HF and often hear international traffic. Thanks again!
Great post Dan, and very inspirational to ute fanciers. Transoceanic HF aero comms have been around for decades and provide interesting listening. Also, if you have MultiPSK, you can try decoding those SELCAL tones, a bit of a challenge but still fun. And don’t forget all the VOLMET broadcasts that are pretty much available 24/7.
Check out http://www.skyvector.com for interesting info on airports, and look at those TAFS (Terminal Aerodrome Forecasts) and METARS ( surface weather obs), which make up the verbiage of the VOLMETS.
Also the FAA has chart supplements that have info of interest: https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/flight_info/aeronav/digital_products/dafd/search/
Have fun all and thanks Thomas for posting Dan’s great article.
Speaking of VOLMETs, one of them has been airing “no report” from each location over and over for what seems like a week or two. I can’t remember if it’s NY or Gander but someone has been broken for a while.
These are useful pages…
http://www.hamuniverse.com/aerofreq.html
…this one has frequencies on a map of the MWARA regions…
https://www.hfunderground.com/wiki/MWARA
… this is good…
http://monitor-post.blogspot.com/p/this-international-hf-aero-frequency.html
I heard a flight just out of the Philippines a few minutes ago calling San Francisco on 5547 kHz.
Although the page isn’t updated anymore, I’ve found the list at http://www.canairradio.com/hf.html to be pretty useful. From coastal Alabama I’ve heard bits and pieces from the North Atlantic, North Pacific, Caribbean and one of the South American groups. It just seems to be a matter of being on the right frequency at the right time. The only ones that I really hear both the ground and air are the ones coming from New York, though.
Yes, Pacific side dxers were getting, when on a hill, HF from Singapore.
I think this also results on hits from Diego Garcia, a rare catch.