New to the civilian world of HF

[Jeram]

Hello everyone, so i've used HF radios in the Army, however I am looking to expand my knowledge base and want to build / buy one to use from home. I would like to have a hybrid through which i can use my computer, Mac or PC, I run both operating systems, but it doesn't really matter. Does anyone by chance have an idea of a set up that is good to start out with from home that doesn't cost an extravagant amount of money but will allow me to communicate with others and help me to break into the civilian sector of radio communications?

thanks

Jon

 

[Beetle]

What part of "HF" are you interested in? You'll need a license unless all you're looking at is CB.

 

[Jeram]

i would like to get into long range shots, i've made shots as far as nevada and south america from mid way along the east coast, so i would like to keep working in that sort of range, what type of liscense do i need to get?

and do you by chance know what kind of set up im looking at to do long range shots like that as well as local shots just to talk to others near me?

thanks

jon

 

[MisterFatty]

As already mentioned anything other than CB will require you to be licensed, no big deal, a little studying and a test or two later your there... Amateur Radio (Ham Radio) Someone here should be able to link you to some good getting started sites. Here is one such site..... http://www.eham.net/newham/

As for kits, there are a few available, one is a china made transceiver which is discussed in this thread http://www.worldwidedx.com/hf-bands-hf-rigs/33564-chinese-10-watt-high-frequency-kit.html unknown availability. The only other options I'm aware of are from Elecraft (r)* Hands-On Ham Radio about $1450, not inexpensive.. And Finally if you Google "Softrock Radio" you'll find the most reasonable solution.

Softrock Radios are SDR, or Software Defined Radio, the difference is most modern HF transceivers are able to run stand-alone, no PC needed, the SDR relies upon the computer. The Softrocks originally were just single band recievers, then mulitband, and now transceivers are available. I don't have specific links, you'll have to get them from Google.


These SDRs are fairly inexpensive, under 20 bucks for a single band RX, here is a link to a SoftRock based tranciever, - Softrock 6.3 Project - An all band HF Transceiver, using the Softrock RXTX v6.3 kit as a basis (Loftur E. Jónasson - TF3LJ)

It may take some searching, but there are many resources, Yahoo Groups, etc....