Most Active HF Frequencies

[CSL126]

Hey guys, I just figured out that if i hook my CB antenna up to my Yatchboy 400 it performs really well. What are some of the most active frequencies out there? I'm looking mainly for stuff like USAF, USCG, MWARA... any of that stuff. I've heard a lot on 8992 and 11175, as well as 5598. I've seen a bunch of frequencies online, but I haven't really had any luck with them. Thanks for the help!

 

[ka3jjz]

Many ute stations don't have schedules (there are some that do, such as those that carry marine traffic lists...). Therefore, you need to be more aware of what time of day you are listening, what propagation is doing that day, and the capabilities of your radio.

In all cases, though, like N4VOXGill said in his message in another thread, join the WUN. You will quickly discover which ones are active and which not. There are always the old standards, such as 5696, 8983, and many otheres; some of the more interesting ones are the ones that are NOT on all the time.

The WUN links - including how to join - can all be found on the Utility listening wiki

73s Mike

 

[w8prr]

Antenna

Glad that your CB ant works. Try a 50 ft chunk on wire and it will be great

 

[RevGary]

Just a thought...

Since most HF transmissions are horizontally polarized, a horizontal long wire antenna as suggested above and run north and south ( in North America ) will operate better than most any vertically polarized antenna. Use insullators at both ends and grab your feed point approximately 6 1/2 feet from one end. Depending upon the antenna input impedance of your receiver, you can also construct a matching balun out of RG-58U coax to match a 300 ohm antenna to a 52 ohm radio input. I don't have a diagram handy but most HAM antenna handbooks have those construction details listed. A lightning protector should be used at the residence entry point with an 8 foot ground rod. Good luck and happy listening...

 

[ka3jjz]

This is simply untrue. Many HF broadcasters use curtain arrays, phased antennas and other tricks so it becomes very difficult to categorize a transmission just by the antenna it uses (unlike the scanner bands, unless we're talking skip, and there the polarization can be changed dramatically).
There are a good many designs on the Antennas Wiki if you're interested. However, there is one thing about verticals that can be an issue - particularly in an urban setting. They're much more sensitive to noise,
And as for how you orient an antenna - well, that gets into things like Great circle paths - but that consideration only comes into play when using antennas (mounted at the proper height) such as dipoles, where their response is basically off the sides of the antenna. The standard random wire - notice that I didn't call it a longwire, which is a very different animal - is basically omnidirectional - what little directionality it might have changes with frequency. The same can be basically said of an inverted L.
Antennas on HF work vith somewhat different rules than the scanner bands :.>> 73s Mike

 

[luke-1]

FYI-

I was using a long wire for sometime with OK results.

I just constructed a coax loop, 8'X12' as found in the Wiki forum here. Wow!! What a difference. I was looking for something that I could put in my attic, since an outdoor is out of the question. It works amazingly well for my r-75. with just quad shield rg-6, and about a 15' run to the radio.

Luke

 

[kb2vxa]

Hi all,

Just to get the humor out of the way first,

"Hey guys, I just figured out that if i hook my CB antenna up to my Yatchboy 400 it performs really well."
It would be nice if it could be done as such, that is if the Yacht Boy had the proper socket.

"Glad that your CB ant works. Try a 50 ft chunk on wire and it will be great"
Yea, the CB antenna and coax is acting as a wire but may be shorter or longer than 50' and may be a ground terminated loop if he has any earthing for lightning protection.

"I was using a long wire for sometime with OK results."
OK is what you get with a "long" wire, specialized antennas get specialized results, I gues you could call them A-OK (If you remember the early days of NASA, smirk).

"Editor's" note:
The Yacht Boy was designed to operate with it's built in antenna as a portable, connecting a wire often results in overload and spurious signal reception. Many portables suffer from this condition more or less, for best results use a communications receiver and a proper antenna for serious monitoring and leave the portables for portable entertainment.

The lower frequencies propagate at night and are active in the path of darkness. Higher ones follow the sun but at this point in the sunspot cycle are sporadic. During a solar event there can be an HF blackout, all you'll hear is a somewhat elevated background noise. As for individual frequencies, some are scheduled, some are not. You'll need to do your homework regarding the radio service of interest for the best listening, otherwise it's hit or miss.

Oh, I'm glad someone found a good use for a CB antenna. (;->)

 

[KC4ZEX]

Re Most active hf

I have been listening to shortwave for yrs. With several types of receivers and homemade antennas. I'll give you a few frequencies to try active daily and nightly. Commercial aircraft days 8.906 8.918 11.342 11.396 13.306 13.330. Nights 2.899 3.016 5.550 5.598 5.616 6.577 6.586 8.825. Military days 8.992 9.025 11.175 11.205 11.220 11.232 13.200 13.927. Coast guard 5.320 5.696 8.993 since katrina 5.732 7.527 8.912. CAP 4.467 4.469 . The cb antenna will do very well on the yb400 even just aligator cliped to the center of coax. 50 ft. of wire will drive the front end crazy try 10 to 25 ft.

 

[k5xs]

CSL126:

Welcome to HF.

As several have pointed out, the antenna isn't critical. Your CB antenna will likely do just fine. Most receivers nowadays are far more limited by noise and overload than they are by sensitivity. In other words, sucking in a lot of signal isn't the challenge; the challenge is filtering out what you don't want. As to horizontal vs. vertical polarization, I'd offer that for most listening it's non-issue. There are circumstances where it matters, but I think for your purposes it doesn't. Plug most any wire into your antenna jack and have fun!