HF Radio Organisation (HFoZ) a Perpspective

Submitted: Saturday, Jan 29, 2011 at 16:30
ThreadID: 83977 Views:5402 Replies:6 FollowUps:7
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I have been a member for about two years and have used Radtel for phone access via HF Radio for a number of years. I’d be interested on feedback others have had with regards to HFoZ from a perspective of being able to contact other users when on the road.

Mid last year we did a trip through Western and Far North-West Queensland and we were only able to make contact with a couple of other members during a four week period. I’ll acknowledge that HFoZ is designed around not having normal ‘skeds’ as their GPS tracking facility covers this; my issue/concern is that it would be nice to put out a call and hear back from someone, and it seems the limited membership is the problem in achieving this.

From a monitoring point of view we now use a SPOT tracking device so the GPS positioning with HFoZ is good, but somewhat redundant for us now and the SMS/email feature is not critical for us.

Previously a member of VKS-737 and thinking that given you can have phone access in a similar way to Radtel that perhaps it is time to rejoin. And….no need to sell me on VKS-737 as I believe it is a fantastic organisation, just thought HFoZ looked an attractive proposition, but it seems to be struggling for members.

Interested to hear from other HFoZ members on their perspective……

Cheers, The Landy

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Reply By: blue one - Saturday, Jan 29, 2011 at 18:08

Saturday, Jan 29, 2011 at 18:08
Got HFoz when it was first offered as a freebe.

None of the users I know had it so I never used it. Let it go when you had to pay.

Everyone I know is on VKS.

Cheers
AnswerID: 443460

Reply By: shanegu6 - Saturday, Jan 29, 2011 at 20:03

Saturday, Jan 29, 2011 at 20:03
Hi The Landy, I am a member of both HFOZ and VKS and my first point of call in an emergency would be through VKS. I dont think there are enough members to try and reach someone in an emergency through HFOZ.

The main reason I like HFOZ is for family members wanting to track our where abouts and the msg system.

Shane
AnswerID: 443476

Follow Up By: The Landy - Sunday, Jan 30, 2011 at 17:15

Sunday, Jan 30, 2011 at 17:15
Thanks Shane..agree, although we are now using SPOT Tracker for tracking our whereabouts.

Cheers, The Landy
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Reply By: Boobook2 - Saturday, Jan 29, 2011 at 21:15

Saturday, Jan 29, 2011 at 21:15
I joined HFoZ mainly for the SMS / Email facility. I have found that the fact that the SMS is ony one way, and email is really simple web mail really limits its use. I was hoping to get a way to communicate to people while they and I were on the road with sms etc but for me it's not enough.

I rarely hear anyone on HFoZ voice channels and just last week decided not to renew.

One thing is that I use Reids for phone calls. It was cheaper for what I want, got me membership with Reids and HF radio club who have skeds and because they use different frequencies for phone ( unlike VKS) the channels are clearer and less chance of people listening in.
AnswerID: 443481

Follow Up By: The Landy - Sunday, Jan 30, 2011 at 17:18

Sunday, Jan 30, 2011 at 17:18
Thanks Boobook.....

We travelled over 8,000 klm in about 4 weeks and spoke to two people. Perhaps in time it will improve, but I think I will also let me membership lapse in favour of VKS-737.

Cheers, The Landy
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FollowupID: 715635

Reply By: get outmore - Sunday, Jan 30, 2011 at 05:12

Sunday, Jan 30, 2011 at 05:12
doesnt help when HF oz main provider wont give so much as a 1/2 c discount on already very steep prices to add HF oz taps to arials

absalutly no reason to give it a go at the cost of many oos of $$$
AnswerID: 443503

Reply By: Member -Pinko (NSW) - Sunday, Jan 30, 2011 at 09:21

Sunday, Jan 30, 2011 at 09:21
I have been with VKS-737 since it began and I have enquired if there were possibilities of the inclusion of SMS/email to the service. There are no plans for the future.
I had toyed with joining HF OZ for this facility however Boobook2 has confirmed what I had thought, not that crash hot.
I will however go with VKS-737 HF-TEL.
I have found that they allocate each user a six digit number which has to be installed by a technician and this means there can be lapses in the blocks (months) for which you need it. The six digit number remains yours and there is no need to have it reprogrammed when a new block is purchased.
While travelling when the scheds are on many members log in and some are in the vicinity of where I intend to go I jot down their callsign and selcall them after scheds are over and gain good information on track condition etc.
Cheers, Stan
Living is a journey,it depends on where you go !
VKS 737 mobile 0049 selcall 0049

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AnswerID: 443510

Follow Up By: Stu & "Bob" - Sunday, Jan 30, 2011 at 10:41

Sunday, Jan 30, 2011 at 10:41
G'day Stan,

What type of HF do you have? On my 9323 it was a simple matter of copying the frequencies to another bank of 7 channels and assigning the six digit number to them as a selcall self id. No technician or computer needed.

Regards
Stu
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FollowupID: 715588

Follow Up By: Member -Pinko (NSW) - Sunday, Jan 30, 2011 at 14:18

Sunday, Jan 30, 2011 at 14:18
Hi Stu
I 'gave' my 9323 to my son in law and I could do all of those things my self but an NGT ARV came up with a price to good to refuse.
So, any changes to the firmware and updates has to be done with a codan tech. The present firmware only allows 10 towers and VKS now has 18. I believe Codan is being negotiated with to alter the firmware. There are also other organizations also waiting fo this to happen.
Cheers
Stan
Living is a journey,it depends on where you go !
VKS 737 mobile 0049 selcall 0049

Member
My Profile  My Position  Send Message

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Follow Up By: The Landy - Sunday, Jan 30, 2011 at 17:20

Sunday, Jan 30, 2011 at 17:20
Thanks Stan,

I'll be looking further into VKS-737 HF/Tel instead of Radtel/HFoZ.

Cheers, The Landy
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FollowupID: 715636

Follow Up By: Pete Jackman (SA) - Monday, Jan 31, 2011 at 14:06

Monday, Jan 31, 2011 at 14:06
With older radios such as my 8525 they will give you a 4 digit selcall for HF Tel

Pete
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FollowupID: 715734

Reply By: The Landy - Sunday, Jan 30, 2011 at 17:13

Sunday, Jan 30, 2011 at 17:13
Thanks for the responses and thoughts.

Cheers, The Landy

AnswerID: 443555

Follow Up By: The Landy - Sunday, Jan 30, 2011 at 17:25

Sunday, Jan 30, 2011 at 17:25
And meant to add that I wish HFoZ every success, however it no longer best suits my needs, just wanted to make sure I was missing something....


Cheers, The Landy
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