HF Radio general usage in remote Australia

G'day johnjdh

I use a Codan HF for work purposes and find it very useful - sometimes as clear as talking to the person sitting next to me in the 4x4.
If you look at the top of this page at the tool bar click on "TOPICS" and then on "Communication" and then on "HF Radio". This will give you a good insight into the workings of HF and will probably answer most of the questions you may have.
The EO family has a number of resident "experts" on HF so hopefully 1 of them may be able to answer any queries after you have checked out the HF radio bit

Cheers

Hi mate,

I went through the same turmoil before I purchased my Codan a few years ago. It is a topic that has differing opinions like Nissan Vs Toyota.

All I can say is that if all you want is clear comms, then go a Sat phone. They offer a good service and a falling in price.

If you are after something more than talking to someone at home, then the HF and its community has something to offer. Whilst HF range and clarity can be affected by weather conditions, it offers more than a line of communication. The HF community can provide feed back and conditions for areas in which you are travelling. VKS-737 is a great service and I enjoy it immensely. Plus there is nothing better than being able to listen to the cricket in the middle of the CSR after a big days drive. (HF enables you to listen to BBC world service, ABC etc.). There are many threads covering this topic and they might be able to help some more.

Good luck with your choice

Cheers

Dave

Hi,
I have just gone through the same process and finally decided on a sat phone. It does depend on what you want to use it for; to keep in touch with all sorts of info and other people, then HF seems like the way to go. But for me it was a matter of emergency only with the odd special occassion to talk to someone if my mobile was out of range.
I bought an excellent handset off a forumite here, and am hooked up with Iridium; fairly painless procedure and everything works and was delivered on time by all parties.
An interesting point I noted was that when I spoke to the Flying Doctors, they told me they were also slowly changing to sat phones as they were able to use them whilst in the air.
Hope that helps!

There is a basic article on the VKS-737 website re satphones -v- HF (I wrote it about 2 years back, when I was the webmaster there) - the content may be useful re your query - a genuine attempt for balance on the question - there are links to other articles too.....main site view - tab link top right.

It is a complex choise and there is no clear answer. To answer your question about reception: It can be very good and very bad. Much relies on your knowledge about using HF though there are some rule of thumb guides. Each has a different ethos. If you are a part of a HF network then you can find that help is just around the corner. Most people using VKS listen to the skeds. The operators are very helpful. With your sat phone the calls are private so you need to know who to call. If you are trying to link HF to the phone network, this can be a bit hit and miss and finding a suitable free channel is not always easy at peak times of year. Some people just love getting radio phone calls. Don't really understand why. Some sat phone networks are less than ideal also. Satphones are usually clear though some suffer from drop outs. There is then cost. HF is expensive to set up but operating costs are low. Satphones are cheaper to buy but expensive to run. I was looking at the Iridium network a while back and a one month prepaid access fee with 50 minutes of calls was over $500. The ideal situation is both. Both can fail after long periods of rough roads so if by your self and out of the way some backup is not a bad idea. If you don't want to be pestered all the time then HF is good as the person contacting you has to go to some effort to do so. With the phone you just need to tell them how much the call is costing them to keep things short!

So in short, you need to work out your real reasons for having the communications and that will help answer your question. In reality if you are off the beaten track it may take a week to get home so there is not much point being an emergency contact. If it is a safety thing it does not matter, you just need to know who and how to contact some one.

One other point, make sure everyone knows how to work whatever you get. Sure as the sun rises the only person who can operate the equipment will be the one injured/requiring attention.

Steve

Gday Johnjdh

This is indeed a very interesting question that has been talk about many times on this forum. One thing that has not been mentioned (to the best of my knowledge) is that the transmission and reception on HF is very closely linked to the sun spot cycle. We are coming out of the bottom of the cycle and the next three to four years will see an improving service. This will make the HF solution a much more reliable one.

The one thing that really does swing me to HF over any sort of phone is that while the communication is happening, others are also listening in. This allows the car that is only a few kilometres away to come to your assistance in the case of an emergency where as a phone is a single link that is not heard by any others. You also have the option of making phone calls via the HF so you can still keep in touch with friends etc at much the same rate as a mobile call.

The other very satisfying part of the HF world is the great people that are involved. Normally a great bunch of people who are willing to help where they can with such things as road conditions etc.

Hope this helps in making your decision.

John,
Totally agree with Lewis above. We have a Codan NGT and would feel underequipped without it when we are in remote areas. We rarely chat to people when travelling and so a phone is not the best fit for us but it is far more portable for other uses which I think is a major advantage.

Also consider an EPIRB if you go into remote regions.

cheers
alastair

Hi

We have just come back from two weeks camping in the Victorian high country near the Murray river, and had an HF radio (second hand Codan 9323) for the first time. and it was brilliant, we were able to get weather reports and stay in contact with people. we even used radtel to book a couple of nights in Omeo from a long way of (no GSM or CDMA reception). Can't praise the VKS guys enough.

So for us HF was the best choice and worked really well. As for reception, some days incredibly bad, other days great - but ALWAYS got through.

Andrew

We use HF radio (Icom IC-F7000) and a sat phone (NEC S2), the two are very different to each other and both have strong advantages.

What you will find if you have an emergency situation on HF the radio operator will repeat what you have just said back to you, the two reasons for this is firstly to make sure the information was correct and secondly letting other radio users hear what is going on as there may be someone close who can help you...try that with a sat phone.

The other advantage with HF is the operator are very knowledgeable and they can help you out with most things and are trained for emergancy situations.......who are you going to call on a sat phone the Police who wont know where you are or a friend in shear panic who is going to cock it all up.

Then you have the scheds that are great for information and human contact.

The advantages of a sat phone are direct dialing in and out...ideal for friends and family to keep in contact with you.

Great for ordering parts, making bookings and finding out travel information....if you have the phone numbers.

My choice is get both because what price do you put on a humane life.

Regards Richard

I would not be without my 9323. I was a bit lost earlier in the year when the auto tune died, but I now have a spare, as well as the one on the car.

I firmly believe that it should be MANDATORY to carry HF, satphone or both, when travelling in remote Australia.

My .02

Stu
(flame suit on)

I have had a Barrett HF for about three years. One point that I find very useful is that you can hook into the telphone network and use the radio like a phone, ring anywhere in Aust from anywhere.

While travelling down the Canning SR three years ago I was able to make nightly calls home in Newcastle and keep in contact that way. For the telphone option you need to belong to one of the associations that provide that service like Radtel.

Chris
Exploroz Russia 2009