New / Second Hand HF in, But is it working

If you don't mind me asking,how much did you spend?
I the process of getting one myself

Shane

What time did you call C/T base?? Was it their sched time??
You could have called me at Adelaide from 1900hrs NSW time tonite- or Darian last nite..

Vince,

Generally speaking, if you have a good signal from a base, they have a good chance of hearing you. Atmospheric conditions dictate how well long distance hf comms work - sometimes bad, sometimes good. I haven't been listening lately, but at other times I've had excellent contact with Charters Towers from ACT and Victoria. Mornings I find usually better than evenings, though interference out of Asia and from OTH radar can sometimes be pretty overpowering.

If you can hear CT base and a Brisbane mobile from the Blue Mountains, your installation is probably OK, though this doesn't vouch for your transmissions. Ensure all connections, epsecially earth connections, are good - these have much more effect when transmitting than when receiving. Around sked times you should be able to talk to someone (anyone) to check your transmissions.

HTH

John

very slow time of the year for VKS I did a radiocheck from Kal just so the poor operator had ANYONE to talk to. Just coz you hear the base doesnt mean they can hear you Adelaide is a good example they boom through 5 by 5 but can barely hear you from Perth. HF is a bit fickle from Kal i can easily hear people doing the CSR but the Alice sked is barely a whisper.

As others have said Vince, lots of things introduce variation to the performance - mainly "natural conditions" - solar activity , weather etc. The thing is, wherever you are , under any conditions, you should be able to get at least one base, if the chips are down - once into the network, all sorts of good things can start happening. Re radio checks generally, early and late in the day are best - you might get good comms as far as Derby and Perth - Charters you would normally expect to be good for you. From Brisbane, you should normally expect to get into the Alice - also the same for Adelaide - time permitting, keep trying - it'll happen. I think it is fair to say that once travelling in the interior, the base options you have increase markedly, as compared to the coast.

You will need to experiment a bit. The base stations tend to be clear as they have big units and good antenna set ups. If you can hear them easily and clearly you should have a good chance of being picked up. Pick one of the stations (not in a sked time slot) and send it a becon call. If you get the answering chirps you know your signal got there. You need to be aware that the "best" frequency varies by how far away you are from the base station, what frequency and what time of day it is. The situation can change very rapiodly as the sun is setting or rising. The distance is not an issue as long as the frequency, conditions, time of day etc are correct. I have spoken to Adelaide from Cape York and the northern end of CSR when the same day it was difficult or impossible to raise Alice. The very next day the situation could be the other way around. Some times position can be important, moving 10 feet can make the world of difference. Get out from under trees etc, make sure there are no power lines close by. If you are in a gorge this tends to cause some issues. I tend to get interference from the engine electrics so I always call parked somewhere with the engine off. Hope this helps.

Steve

Thanks for the reply.
I will try again tonight depending on what time I can get away from work.
I have a great spot to test from with no tree cover & no power lines within 800 mt. It is also great for UHF as I can see from Gosford to Goulburn...
Thanks everyone, hope to hear you on the air.
regards
Vince Remeo 1776

Hi,

First take a look at www2.ips.gov.au/HF_Systems to see there are no warnings, then ensure no one is using the VKS frequency and Beacon Call say Alice Springs on 8,11 or 14 MHz

You should get a return beacon on at least one frequency.

You could also try other bases. Remember Beacon calls can be annoying and refrain during sched times.

Cheers