Monitoring HF Aviation Voice Communications with your SDR Radio or a WebSDR

[@Flying_Shamrock]

seeing my local airport being on this list made it even more helpfull instead of trying to look around finding the ATIS thank you!

[@FrugalRadio]

Ha ha - that's great!

[@sirac19]

these videos are so informative that even if they are not in demand now, people will come to these videos many years from now.

[@FrugalRadio]

Thanks Sirac.

[@carmelofalzon3589]

Greeting from australia been monitoring aircraft on vhf for around 45 years and monitoring hf comms around 30 years your channel is awesome..

[@FrugalRadio]

I'm pleased you're enjoying the channel. Thanks for your kind comments. Monitoring is such fun, and it's always good to have long term enthusiasts on the channel. Welcome!

[@CarmeloFalzon]

I agree monitoring is fun in fact most of my monitoring since i started has only been aircraft never got intrested in monitoring other comms..

[@lambdaprog]

Thank you for this video. It's all about sharing experiences and opinion!

[@FrugalRadio]

Cheers @prog!

[@kenbaird7067]

I monitor AKL/BBN ATC on 8865U regularly. I have also picked up AKL/BBN Volmet on 8828U.

[@NJF60]

Thank you, this is an excellent presentation and very informative. I’m a big fan and dx’r of these aeronautical frequencies ✈️📡

[@SDR-DXobserver]

Nice and to the point HF-coms aircraft info. It will usefull as the bands are starting to become usable soon. It was my first experience with HF besides the ham bands in the early 70's using some old boatanchor at the time. When the portable Sony ICF-2001 became available in the 80's it was tuned to the aircraft almost every day with a simple wire. No need for expensive gear and a good way to start listening with a portable or an affordable, but very good SDR like the Airspy HF+ Discovery. Keep up with the nice video's Rob!

[@FrugalRadio]

Yeah, HF is opening up nicely these days. It's always interesting to hear how people got started, so thanks for sharing!

[@MCruzDXer]

Excellent information, Thank you, Sir. 73

[@FrugalRadio]

Thanks MCruz.

[@pansim87]

First.Greeting from Greece.I love your videos and I'm learning.

[@FrugalRadio]

Great to hear. Thanks for being part of the Frugal Radio family 😄

[@pansim87]

@@FrugalRadio you are welcome and thanks for your great informations.Its my pleasure.

[@Wayne-Pr]

Another exellent video Rob thanks, really looking forward to the Satellite video. Just a quick update in the last few weeks the Because the PNG Is so VHF challanged ATC are now running H.F. on 6622, its audible in Melbourne in Aust. Keep up the great work. Rgs Wayne.

[@FrugalRadio]

PNG is Papau New Guinea?

[@Wayne-Pr]

Sorry@@FrugalRadio yep sure is I can hear it here in s/e Aust.

[@FrugalRadio]

Maybe I'll receive it when DXing when the bands are good. I've always wanted to catch the RFDS as well,

[@seaningram3285]

Good Video. Good Info, too.

[@AlHearn]

Thank you. Your videos are some of the best on KZbin. I find every one is interesting and informative, even if its topic isn't exactly what I'm doing at the moment. Keep them coming. BTW, I'm leaving you a small donation.

[@FrugalRadio]

Thanks so much Al. Appreciate the donation as well!

[@paulmark63]

Found this channel best one lots of great information paul

[@FrugalRadio]

Cheers Paul.

[@zazugee]

ty, i could hear volmet stations like shannon and RAF ones all over here in south Algeria. for airlines, i'm not sure but i heard some planes faintly but i have no idea what flights and where they were.

[@FrugalRadio]

As you start receiving frequencies that come in stronger, you'll be able to hear what the flights are. You can then look them up on sites like Flight radar 24 to verify their position, start point, and destination.

[@zazugee]

@@FrugalRadio yes, i'm doing that over what i hear over VHF AM, it's way loud and clear bc i'm just 20km away from local ATC still i can hear planes over 200-300km away but for HF USB, it's fainter, i'm using 2x 6m wires, maybe i'm doing it wrong. ofc, i'm switching from RTL SDR v3 stock antenna to my makeshift long wire dipole, i'm removing the antenna and using crocodile clips to attach the wires to the base of the stock antenna, bc rn i don't have a balun for the long wire

[@FrugalRadio]

It's great fun to experiment with antennas. You're making good progress. You can try changing the orientation of your home made wire. Sometimes changing it up to 90 degrees can make a big difference.

[@zazugee]

​@@FrugalRadio ty for your kind replies. I searched google for the new atc frequency i found while searching as you suggested and found a pdf on ICAO's site that my gov compiled when they changed all my country's ATC frequencies on VHF and HF this year I'm lucky today, I just bookmarked them on my SDR software and I'm going to hunt them tonight

[@paulnortham]

I love this series! It was a real surprise when I first discovered HF air communications, as I didn't think I'd be able to hear anything at all. It also helped that there was a broadcast at the exact moment I first attempted to tune to Shanwick Radio, and I've been hooked ever since. You really do feel like you are being taken back in time, especially when you can hear both ground and air, but they can't hear each other for some reason! Always some good conversation on there too, as you hear people passing the time of day! Can you tell me what the 'cell call'(?) is, please? Best wishes.

[@FrugalRadio]

Hi Paul, good to hear from you again, and of your experience monitoring HF air band. It's always exciting to listen! Great question. SELCAL is the system you are referring to. It allows the crew to mute the HF radio. When the ground station wants to communicate with that flight, they transmit the 4 digit SELCAL tones which emits a light and tone in the cockpit. The crew then know that they are wanted on HF, unmute the radio, and return the call, as it were. You can find more info at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SELCAL or other sites if you search SELCAL HF.

[@MatthewJohnCrittenden]

Excellent, ordering some more antennas now, been "experimenting" a little too enthusiastically ;)

[@FrugalRadio]

Sounds like there's an interesting story there Matt!

[@MatthewJohnCrittenden]

@@FrugalRadio The tale of a tall mast that was less than stable. :) All fun learnings!

[@FrugalRadio]

Ah, fair enough. All part of the learning curve.

[@vos72]

What specific type of antenna would be recommended for this? I have an RTL-SDR usb stick, and have tried a few antennas so far. You mentioned a dipole antenna. Is that the best option?

[@FrugalRadio]

Just a random long wire can work surprisingly well on HF. However the RTL-SDR v3 isn't the best SDR for monitoring HF.

[@Oodle-ox2vf]

SP is still very active (in 2024) , due to the isolation. 8867 is very busy.

[@NJF60]

CAR-A and CAR-B and VOLMET still active

[@JensiW79]

wow, great video!

[@FrugalRadio]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@b3j8]

Though most of the activity has indeed shifted to satellites, you can still hear some great comms. I like 6,535 Mhz as several interesting stations can often be picked up there when band conditions permit.

[@FrugalRadio]

Thanks for the comment and the frequency. My hope is that others discover or rediscover the magic of monitoring HF as well, so thanks for sharing :-)

[@Andy71]

Can you advise what antenna setup your using to hear these broadcasts? Thanks!

[@FrugalRadio]

The shots of SDR# were made using the AirSpy YouLoop antenna hanging on an internal brick wall of a house. The others were from kiwi web SDR using other people's equipment. On the kiwi SDR page, when you choose a receiver, it gives information on the antenna system.

[@bosstaki]

Hi there! Where do you find the btown monitoring post please!

[@FrugalRadio]

Argh, sorry I must have deleted the link, so thanks for calling my attention to that. I've added it back into the description, or you can just click here - monitor-post.blogspot.com/p/this-international-hf-aero-frequency.html

[@thewind-ne8rh]

how good would an inverted V antenna work for hf air frequencies ? Thanks Tim

[@FrugalRadio]

It would work well!

[@thewind-ne8rh]

hi Rob which won would be better for H.F. aero band monitoring a) alpha delta dx swl s or b) alpha delta dx db Plus dipole inverted "v"

[@FrugalRadio]

Those antennas are tuned for the amateur radio bands, and are transmit capable. For receiving, you can spend a lot less. If I was buying a short wave receive antenna, I'd probably go for a Par EF-SWL. They've got a good reputation and are about half the price of the ones you mentioned. All should work fine for HF Aero, but so would any piece of random length wire! If you are in an urban environment, a loop antenna might be better.

[@thewind-ne8rh]

@@FrugalRadio the dx swl s ,is a120-13 meter short wave listening sloper rx only