Section 8.1: Getting Started on HF #

With your station connected and adjusted, you can begin looking for a contact. The choice of band depends partly on propagation, but the activity you want to join matters too. A voice conversation, a CW contact, and a digital message may use different parts of the same band.

Start with a band your station supports and a mode you want to try. Your license tells you where you may transmit. Operating conventions help you find other stations using that mode and select settings they will recognize.

Choosing a Voice Mode #

For most HF voice contacts, the starting point is single sideband:

Key Information: Single sideband (SSB) is the most commonly used voice mode on the HF amateur bands.

The SSB transmitter described in Chapter 7 sends the part of an AM signal needed to carry the voice without transmitting both copies of that information:

Key Information: In SSB, only one sideband is transmitted; the other sideband and the carrier are suppressed.

For the same audio-frequency range, one sideband occupies about half the bandwidth of a conventional AM signal with two sidebands. Suppressing the carrier also avoids spending transmitter power on a component that does not itself carry the changing voice information.

Key Information: Less bandwidth used and greater power efficiency are advantages of SSB compared to other analog voice modes on the HF amateur bands.

Those advantages help explain SSB’s widespread use. The receiver controls and audio adjustments from Chapter 7 help you make use of them when noise or interference makes a contact difficult.

Selecting the Sideband #

Both stations need compatible sideband settings. A voice that sounds badly distorted may be on the opposite sideband, or it may need more careful tuning. Before changing filters or gain, check USB or LSB and tune until the voice sounds natural.

The lower-frequency voice bands share a familiar convention:

Key Information: Lower sideband (LSB) is most commonly used for voice communications on the 160-, 75-, and 40-meter bands.

The name 75 meters refers to the phone portion of the 80-meter band. Choosing LSB there is an operating convention, not a special efficiency advantage:

Key Information: Most amateur stations use LSB on the 160-, 75-, and 40-meter bands because it is commonly accepted amateur practice.

Higher-frequency HF voice operation normally uses USB:

Key Information:

• Upper sideband (USB) is most commonly used for voice communications on frequencies of 14 MHz or higher.
• USB is most commonly used for voice communications on the 17- and 12-meter bands.

For example, an ordinary voice contact on 40 meters calls for LSB, while one on 20 or 17 meters calls for USB. The main lower-frequency exception is 60-meter voice operation, which uses USB. These are voice conventions; digital modes have their own settings, covered in Section 8.5.

The USB convention also extends beyond HF when using SSB:

Key Information: USB is most commonly used for SSB voice communications in the VHF and UHF bands.

The choice here is for SSB operation; an FM repeater still uses FM.

Finding the Right Part of the Band #

Selecting the correct sideband does not make every frequency available for voice. First check the frequencies and emission types allowed by your license. Then consult the voluntary band plan for the activity you intend to use:

Key Information: Following the voluntary band plan is commonly accepted amateur practice when choosing a frequency on which to initiate a call.

A band plan helps operators find one another and gives different activities room to operate. Use it within your legal privileges, and check for existing activity before transmitting. A suggested calling frequency may already be in use.

On 20 meters, for instance, a US General operator looking for an SSB conversation uses the phone segment from 14.225 to 14.350 MHz. As Section 7.3 explained, the entire transmitted signal must fit within that segment, not only the frequency on the display. Digital activity is generally found farther down the band:

Key Information: Most digital mode operations on the 20-meter band are commonly found between 14.070 MHz and 14.100 MHz.

That range is an operating area, not one wide channel or a reservation for a single mode. Section 8.5 explains how to find and answer particular digital signals within it. On 30 meters, US amateurs may use CW and permitted data emissions, but not phone, so it is not a choice for the voice contacts that follow.

Let the Activity Guide You #

Propagation gives you possible paths, not a promise that a particular band will be useful at a particular hour. Listen for stations you can copy, and notice which bands are active with your antenna. The propagation principles from earlier chapters help explain what you hear without requiring you to predict every opening.

Your first contact need not be with a distant or unusually weak station. A readable CQ gives you an opportunity to answer, and listening to a few exchanges helps you recognize what comes next. Once you have chosen an appropriate mode and part of the band, the remaining decision is how to make your call without interrupting someone else.