Monitoring HF "airband"

[tomos]

I am trying to get my Alinco DX R8 setup for monitoring the HF air bands (Shanwick, Gander etc)
Although I can find dozens of HF frequencies ( http://aeronauticalradio.weebly.com/index.html )
for the sake of adding say 10 or 20 to my receiver memory are there some that are more useful to have
than others, i.e. busier? Being HF I don't want to be trying to scan a whole range really

I am in Southern England

Thank you

[pete_uk]

hello

Put in 5541khz, Stockholm Radio* which does quite a bit of message handling for many airlines over Europe
5680khz is of course RAF SAR which can be busy depending on the weather


* Also 3494, 8930 at night. 8930, 11345, 13342, 17916, 23210 during the day.

[tomos]

That's great thank you, I will put those it, I did not want to fill in 40 odd frequencies if 10 will get me going ..
Especially as I am listening from Southern England many of them will be "out of reach" for me anyway?

[neil-c]

That's great thank you, I will put those it, I did not want to fill in 40 odd frequencies if 10 will get me going ..
Especially as I am listening from Southern England many of them will be "out of reach" for me anyway?

I would doubt it, I could pick up Gander extremely clearly just using my Yupi7100 with the longwire running into it. It would even on occasions pick it up just using the supplied telescopic.
Kinloss base comes through very clear also but the transmissions from the helis can vary a great deal in strength.

[pete_uk]

On one of the Stockholm freq's I heard a American Airlines aircraft do a radio check from on the ground somewhere on the continent and on a few occasions have heard RAF Seakings on the ground at RAF Valley from south England. But being HF conditions play a big part.

6712khz is a military freq which sometimes has the US Airforce system broadcast through it and can be better than the 11.175 or 8992 mhz (again, depending on time of day and conditions)

[milairscanner]

6547 is also a very busy Shanwick frequency...

Cheers,

Steve

[tomos]

Added thank you Steve
It is indeed busy, monitoring now and decoding SELCALL

[milairscanner]

No problem ; 6622, 5649 and 8879 are also fairly active re Shanwick.

During the week, 3924 Plymouth Air Safety is often in use. I'm also in the South and overall, conditions for HF have been poor for some time now....

Cheers,

Steve

[scanhermit]

I was looking around 8906 and got a man and a woman who seemed to be chatting in Spanish on 8881 ssb. Didn't sound like aircraft - not terse enough for that. Would it be marine stuff or could i have found some naughty freebanders?

[stratocaster]

Shannon Volmet booming in last night on 5505! Picked it up clear as a bell on my latest acqisition Kaito KA1102 much better than I got it on my Sony icf 2001!

[Warden]

RAF Volmet strong now on 5.450

[stratocaster]

Nice!! Just what I'll be able to pull in on HF when I get a wellbrook or longwire once I've a more suitable abode should be quite good!

[Warden]

I am using a Gwhip mini widebander without any tuning device and it pulls in great. unun attached just under house guttering, radiator thrown over a 15 meter tree bottom of garden and counterpoise just comes down to ground and runs down the side of the garden.

[26TM6708]

Listen for Gander Volmet on 6604kHz after dark. 5598kHz is quite active with transatlantic aircraft. BA also use 5541kHz Stockholm Radio.

[stratocaster]

Was just getting Stockholm radio and no more last night. Once I've moved to a better and bigger house,I'll fully rig up my gear! Very frustrating having some limitations!