[ARC5] hf

[Alan Morriss]

may i as a retired pilot say something. even today we use VHF for short range comms and where there is coverage , and HF for areas where there is no VHF coverage. transatlantic stations such as gander or shanwick have extended range vhf which goes out well over the horizon.on one occasion when coming back from xhicago with a refuelling stop at gander there was a fantastic auroral display.  the HF worked onc at about 150 miles and that was it.all traffic was relayed across from aircraft to aircraft across the pond using vhf.  when i started on DC4s we had much the same set up as they did in the war. . this was not long after the war, and there was the vhf set , and an ART13 with the BC348 . all HF was done on the key by the radio operator. when i was on Bristol freighters we had a 10 channel vhf set , and if we had a charter down to Africa an 1154/1155 was installed along with an R/O . the 1154s were xtal controlled . once the company could not find a servicable xtal controlled one and sent an aircraft down to Nairobi with a standard 1154. on arrival the crew were called to the tower and told that if they ever did that again the aircraft would be impounded.!  the 1154 worked fine in civil aircraft , but of course the ART13 was a lot better. it is a much more recent design . alan G4GEN