Telephone Calls from HF Radio
Another use of the
HF radio is a direct dial service, where the
HF radio is used to access the Australian LAN for regular voice calls. This service is available from the VKS-737 network. You will need to subscribe to a network that provides the direct dialling facilities. Many travellers enjoy the benefits of both types of
services and take out subscriptions with each.
We have been using
HF Radio Telephone networks since 1998 and have seen a massive improvement to these
services in ease of use, functionality and low costs. Most
services include a free emergency selcall direct to Police and RFDS and also offer a flat call rate to all phone lines including mobile (unlike the expense of Satellite Phone systems). Some
services also offer free vehicle position logging (taken verbally as a message from you to the operator as it is with the VKS737 network).
There is actually no incoming voice call service, when you use an
HF Radio Telephone service however a Message Service provides a facility where family, friends or work associates can simply phone the base operators on a regular phone line and give the operator the message which will then be passed on to the radio.
There are currently a few
services throughout Australia that can provide the telephone service from your
HF radio. The ExplorOz Team have used the Telstra RDD service (that is no longer available), RadioData, and in more recent years we've used RadTel.
Services and charges are quite different so
shop around to find the service that best suits you.
More information on these types of radios are available in our
HF Radio article.
You'll also find the following book invaluable!