Outdoor Adventure USA

I would like to explore the HF bands, but want to be sure I have a use for the (expensive) radio before I take the plunge. After a half hour at HRO listening these bands, I was able to find only one scratchy contact!

Any HF nets planned, or do you know of any that currently exist?

Or should I save my money until the solar cycle improves?

Thanks!

eubi wrote:I would like to explore the HF bands, but want to be sure I have a use for the (expensive) radio before I take the plunge. After a half hour at HRO listening these bands, I was able to find only one scratchy contact!

Any HF nets planned, or do you know of any that currently exist?

Or should I save my money until the solar cycle improves?

Thanks!

HF nets are a little more difficult as much of the communications are condition dependent. If the bounce or skip conditions are good you are in. If not, scratch. Nets are only a small portion of the possible communications possibilities that exist, whether it's VHF or HF. Your ability to reach help in the event of an emergency, especially in remote areas, greatly increases when you have HF capabilities. While it's true that many areas of the country are covered by VHF and UHF repeaters, there are still limitations and there are areas where there is no coverage. HF solves that problem.

Don't let any of this discourage you, however. There are several 6 meter (yes, I know that this is considered VHF) and 10 meter nets and some of the oldest organizations and their nets are on these and other HF frequencies. The 10-10 International organization(see http://www.ten-ten.org/ ) is a great example. There are others as well and it is the challenge which will make it worth while. If you are intrigued by the hobby, the HF bands open a whole new world, literally.

Another resource to find nets is the ARRL net directory: http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/nets/. They list nets that have registered with the directory and include all bands.

I think what I may do is build an inexpensive HF receiver kit, and just listen for a while.

If the traffic sounds good, I'll break open the piggy for a Xceiver.

Thanks!

Feed that piggy well.

Right now the sun spots are making HF DX'ing very difficult. We're coming to the end of the solar cycle. In a few years HF will come alive again.