How to monitor US Air Force military radio | Ham radio

I spent two nights monitoring the US Air Force radio transmissions and also making a few ham radio contacts from a glorious new location.

The High Frequency Global Communications System (HFGCS) is a network of single sideband shortwave transmitters of the United States Air Force which is used to communicate with aircraft in flight, ground stations and some United States Navy surface assets. All worldwide receiving and transmitting sites in the HFGCS system are remotely controlled from Andrews Air Force Base and Grand Forks Air Force Base. Before 1 October 2002 it was known as the Global High Frequency System (GHFS).

The primary HFGCS voice frequencies are 4724.0 kHz, 8992.0 kHz, 11175.0 kHz, and 15016.0 kHz. In addition to the HFGCS, U.S. aircraft frequently use Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) HF stations (13927.0 kHz) and Canadian Forces HF stations (11232.0 kHz) to relay messages.

One common use for the HFGCS is to place telephone calls from the aircraft in flight by means of the Defence Switched Network (DSN) to an U.S. Air Force base. The HFGCS also carries Emergency Action Messages (EAMs). (Info from Wikipedia)

Other useful sites:

The location for the overnight stay was Mount Pleasant Camping and Glamping:

[youtubeaccount]

I like the travel case for the spices, the man doesn't mess around

[charlieb.]

The Evac flight is a medical evacuation flight going into Naval Air Station Sigonella on the island of Sicily. There is a US Naval Hospital there. It is a nice base, been there many times. Great Video. Charlie in Virginia

[mattomite]

That is a nice little setup you have there. Makes for a cozy camping experience and a great listening place. Well done!

[davidkerl]

Looks like a nice, quiet spot, devoid of both noise and PEOPLE. Best wishes, Dave N9HF

[cthoadmin]

Why should camping mean lousy food? A very civilised way to get away from it all. Well done!

[migi]

Nice camping set up for your listening adventure.

[pale_]

This video popped up into my YouTube home page. Cooking, Radio and making some contacts. Made me a subscriber in one video.

73, W4ISB
Mike in Tennessee.

[EiiP]

Use to listen to this stuff 20 years ago....

[blomidon]

Great glamping spot. I’ll have to take a listen to those military frequencies on my IC705. You gave me an idea for what I can make for dinner, supper, tea or whatever tonight. 73 de VO1OK

[pauliedweasel]

Decades ago I used to listen to Looking Glass on 11.243MHz using my PRC-47 transceiver.

[RonanCantwell]

Excellent video, Carl. That looked like a perfect couple of days to unwind. 👍

[MikeDent]

wow nice place and an interesting video. Thanks for sharing.

[johnwayne]

As a young fella and SWL I wish i had such a nice and cozy place for my hobby. Keep it up!

[KEUYV]

I just happened to come across your channel today, and seen the beginning of this video. It sounds just like what I heard in the only video I have posted. I was thinking it was some kind of strange numbers station. Thank you! 73!

[KutWrite]

What a pleasant video. Thanks for uploading. The space seems cozy, if chilly, and the landscape perfect for hamming. Loved the time-lapse and the sunset, too.

I've been considering getting back into ham. I've kept my license valid. It's a General class, N5ZXX. I'm temped to use an SDR like you have in one segment of your video. I'm not sure of the quality of such a tiny radio, but they seem OK on YouTube. Otherwise, Icom would be where I'd look, or maybe an old-school Drake receiver and Transmitter. I think tubes are still available. An antenna like yours would do me well, too.

Thanks again. I'll check out more of your videos and maybe we'll meet on-air some day.

73

[alanthomas]

Yay the disco's back :-) Great vid Carl and thanks for the military radio info.

[IrishHamRadio]

Brilliant Carl😊
Really interesting listening to those US transmissions.

[coandne]

Carl, I just found your channel and am enjoying your videos. I'm W0SEH in the US. I was posted at RAF Mildenhall almost twenty years ago and held call sign M0DGO while in the UK. I only monitor HF here, I mostly do 2m. 73 Steve

[Jmbo]

Ive just purchased one of those Antennas. Hopefully put it to good use next month. Top Video as always Carl 🙂

[simontemplar]

Greetings again from Portland, Oregon. Thank you for the new video. Good as always ☺️ 73