JHARKNESS918
Member
Besides the WIKI, where would be a good place for a newcomer to HF to learn about the different bands and such....I just started monitoring and want to become better versed in it. Thanks in advance!!
Learning the Bands?
- Thread starter JHARKNESS918
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If you are interested in HF amature transmissions, a good reference chart is the Icom Amature Radio Band Plan chart found here:
http://www.icomamerica.com/downloads/bandchar.pdf
http://www.icomamerica.com/downloads/bandchar.pdf
JHARKNESS918
Member
Thanks....I need a place to start and dig in!
If you listen to the 160, 75/80 meter or 40 meter bands at night you will hear many people. The 20 meter band is very active during the morning/daylight hours.
Good luck, there is a lot to listen to even if you are just listening to voice transmissions.
Good luck, there is a lot to listen to even if you are just listening to voice transmissions.
ka3jjz
Wiki Admin Emeritus
I'm curious - why are you excluding the Wiki? There's a TON of solid links there - there's even the HF page - which is accessible right from the front page - which will give you a decent overview of the various services, not just hams, which only use a very small percentage of the total HF spectrum.
Specifically what are your interests?
There's one thing you have to become familiar with in order to be successful in the HF game- propagation. The activity going on in the Sun has a direct correlation to how signals travel from one point to another. You don't need to be a scientist to understand the principles and figures - and we have several links (guess where?) in the Wiki that tells you all about it.
The reason I mention this is because, as I write this, we're in a bit of disturbed conditions - I saw your comment in the Antennas forum - so it's not at all impossible that regulars like WWV might be weakened or even not be there at all. Right now, we're in the low point of the solar cycle, and the higher HF freqs are going to have a harder time propagating to their targets because of this. This is the kind of stuff you need to understand to know what is happening in our ionosphere, and why.
73s Mike
Specifically what are your interests?
There's one thing you have to become familiar with in order to be successful in the HF game- propagation. The activity going on in the Sun has a direct correlation to how signals travel from one point to another. You don't need to be a scientist to understand the principles and figures - and we have several links (guess where?) in the Wiki that tells you all about it.
The reason I mention this is because, as I write this, we're in a bit of disturbed conditions - I saw your comment in the Antennas forum - so it's not at all impossible that regulars like WWV might be weakened or even not be there at all. Right now, we're in the low point of the solar cycle, and the higher HF freqs are going to have a harder time propagating to their targets because of this. This is the kind of stuff you need to understand to know what is happening in our ionosphere, and why.
73s Mike
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K3GI
Member
Mike, I didn't get the impression that he was excluding the Wiki, just looking for additional sources, which, of course, is a good reason to use the Wiki. 
I read "besides" as meaning "in addition to."
I found that when I got started just sitting there with some frequency charts and tuning around was a good way to learn. I remember trying to learn the amateur bands from the book, but when I started tuning around, things started to fall in place. A resource like RadioReference would have been very valuable, but such stuff didn't exist then.
Same thing for SWL or Utilities, tuning around the frequency ranges helped me learn where things were.
It's like anything else, playing with it helps you learn. Have fun!
Lee, K3GI
I read "besides" as meaning "in addition to." I found that when I got started just sitting there with some frequency charts and tuning around was a good way to learn. I remember trying to learn the amateur bands from the book, but when I started tuning around, things started to fall in place. A resource like RadioReference would have been very valuable, but such stuff didn't exist then.
Same thing for SWL or Utilities, tuning around the frequency ranges helped me learn where things were.
It's like anything else, playing with it helps you learn. Have fun!
Lee, K3GI
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