I've heard a few pilots in my wing call the CAP VHF FM radio installed in the aircraft an "HF" radio. Is this jargon widespread?
My understanding is the HF frequency range is 3 to 30 MHz, which is clearly different from the 130 to 170 MHz (give or take) that the CAP VHF FM radio can operate on.
For further information see International Telecommunications Union Radio Regulations, volume 1, article 2.
https://www.itu.int/en/publications/ITU-R/pages/publications.aspx?parent=R-REG-RR-2016&media=electronic (https://www.itu.int/en/publications/ITU-R/pages/publications.aspx?parent=R-REG-RR-2016&media=electronic)
I've also heard pilots call CAP (as in "C" "A" and "P") "cap" (as in a thing you wear on your head).
Doesn't mean its right. :)
The VHF-FM in the aircraft is just that: VHF.
Most of the pilots I know refer to the radios as "aircraft radio" and cap radio". They don't worry about what band the radio is, just who they talk to on it.
I think (bad habit) some CAP aircraft at one time in the past had HF radios, but not that I've seen this century.
FM or CAP radio is what I normally hear. But what you are hearing is some institutional misinformation. 20 years ago some Chief Sky God Instructor Pilot got it wrong and passed it on. Now through corporate inertia it is just there. And trying to "Fix" it will just make you "That Guy".
I try to educate where possible....but don't let it get you blood pressure up.
Quote from: xyzzy on October 13, 2019, 12:58:02 PMI've heard a few pilots in my wing call the CAP VHF FM radio installed in the aircraft an "HF" radio. Is this jargon widespread?
It was 70 years ago when the CAP radio was indeed HF. How old are these guys? I've been around sine 1974 and I have never seen an HF radio in an airplane.