HF Radios--the ones with the cobwebs on them.

[Jerry]

( all statements are the opinions of the author)

As most of us know, we have a pretty good arsenal of  HF frequencies at our disposal. Except for a few exceptions, we tend to remain on ONE  HF frequency, that being our primary region frequency with a rare excursion onto  Alpha Delta, or Alpha Echo. Of course, I realize that many of us don't have HF radios and never experience that area of our communications support program.  And sometimes, we DO have access and simply don't realize  what HF can do for us!  Some members have the impression that HF
is "quaint" or "obsolete". Nothing could be farther from the truth. If it weren't for mechanical enhancements (hams call them "machines"), one's ground to ground comms would be severely limited!  Our HF resources are there for a good reason.  Did you know, for example, that in some situations HF is a MUCH better choice than VHF?  Have you ever been on a ground team (like in a corp van) and tried to do your 30 minute check-in and couldn't be heard?  Or tried to pass important mission traffic only to have the mission base tell you, "I'm sorry, you're unreadable"? Or "repeat"!
"Repeat"!  "Please say again". Over and over, and over.   Durn them mountain valleys!   But during the day, you could pass your traffic on HF
(AD or AE--even AG) and do just fine!  Once upon a time, we didn't HAVE mechanical enhancements and no FM!  Your VHF radio was AM and likely an Aerotron "lunchbox", and, except for air-ground work, you could SPIT farther than you could talk! Our HF radios were Army surplus sets or homemade transmitters. Mobile HF was bulky and filled up the trunk of the car with awkward and heavy transmitters. Your receiver was likely an Ameco transverter/converter and, if you left the filaments (tubes) on, you'd have a dead battery in 45 minutes!  We always had to keep the engine running in order to operate the radio. High voltage was supplied by a thing called a "dynamotor", and it would dim your lights almost OFF when the radio was keyed.  TWO batteries were almost a must.  But we ran missions with them--often on HF alone. We had ONE HF frequency for just about the WHOLE country.  We had NO ELT's--hadn't been invented--prior to 1970, and we thought, WOW!  What an innovation.  WOW again when Single Sideband came along with the venerable HW-18. It cost---what?------in 1968-70, about $159 in kit form? I forgot!   And we griped about the price of "them new-fangled radios"!

But times have changed. We couldn't have seen 30 years into the future when HF radios were as small as some CB sets! And we gripe about the price still.  But that is not the point; we are getting HF radios issued from National that folks don't ever use (and need to be re-assigned). Is it because people don't understand HF and think it is obsolete? Is it because folks think, "Well, I'll just plug this handheld into the cigarette lighter and I am set"? Do they not understand that VHF still depends on whizz-bang machinery and enhancements and will  FAIL when the flag drops? Do they not know that their ground team will be strangled in the field if there is no 'High Bird' overhead and the enhancements don't work?  Do they think their cellphone makes  radio communications obsolete (YES! Some people DO think that and don't realize that when cellphones become jammed with traffic or are blocked to allow priority traffic to be passed OR are sabotaged, their cell won't work!)

So what is the thing that WILL work?  Your HF radio that is gathering dust out at the squadron bldg and has never been put on the air. 

So the point of this overly long missive is to encourage you to look into the world of HF radio and what it can provide to your unit.  HF radio is not only fun, but effective!  Certainly, VHF has a very important place in CAP's communications toolbox, but so does HF. It's just under-utilized! Yes, it *can* be expensive, but with careful planning HF can be obtained and installed at your home, mobile (that's what I enjoy) or at the squadron. There are really good antennas on the market that are cheaper than the
almost de rigeur B & W dipole and take up little space. I have built vertical antennas for units that went onto squadron buildings, and there are lots of
antenna options on the internet and ham radio websites. I like the screwdriver type that makes for an excellent multi-band HF antenna both for mobile and base (you must know how to install a mobile as a base  antenna for it to work right) They are priced from $189 to over $500.  Dipoles can be made for $30 bucks. With ladderline feeds and a simple manual tuner, you can cover ALL frequencies.  An autotuner (like the LDG Pro100 or 200) makes it soooooooo nice!

So if you have an HF radio sitting at your unit, put it on the air! Don't let it sit there "just because we got it and we won't let it go because Joe Blow might get it"! USE it!  You might find that it is actually fun!


Thanks fer readin'!


Jerry