AIRCRAFT FREQUENCIES & BEACONS
VIDEOS OF MY RECEPTION OF AIRCRAFT BEACONS.
Australian Aircraft beacons - 17th July 2025.
DO AIRCRAFT STILL USE HF RADIO?
The HF frequency bands range from 3 MHz to 30 MHz. Despite the emergence of other technology, e.g. SATCOM, SATNAV, civil aviation still uses HF radio. It is particularly used for long distance communications in the aviation industry. (BOM 2025) (NZ Aviator n.d.)
VIDEOS OF MY RECEPTION OF AIRCRAFT FREQUENCIES ON THE HF BANDS.
5634 kHz - 19th August 2025
1225 UTC
Brisbane Radio
1225 UTC
Brisbane Radio
6673 kHz - 19th August 2025
1140 UTC
San Francisco Radio
1140 UTC
San Francisco Radio
5643 kHz - 11th August 2025
0930 UTC
Auckland Radio
0930 UTC
Auckland Radio
13306 kHz - 10th August 2025
Brisbane Radio
Brisbane Radio
8822 kHz - 5th August 2025
Brisbane Radio Australia
Brisbane Radio Australia
8867 kHz - 5th August 2025
Auckland Radio New Zealand
Nadi Radio Fiji
Auckland Radio New Zealand
Nadi Radio Fiji
5643 kHz - 4th August 2025
Auckland Radio, New Zealand
Auckland Radio, New Zealand
11285 kHz - 5th September 2024
Colombo Radio, SRI LANKA
Chennai Radio, INDIA
Colombo Radio, SRI LANKA
Chennai Radio, INDIA
8822 kHz and 8867 kHz - 5th September 2024
6673 kHz - 12th May 2024
1302 UTC
Central-East Pacific Region
from San Francisco
1302 UTC
Central-East Pacific Region
from San Francisco
AIR SERVICES AUSTRALIA.
Air Services Australia is an Australian Government-owned corporation, responsible for providing services to the aviation industry within the Australian Flight Information Region (FIR).
REGIONAL DOMESTIC AIR ROUTE AREAS (RDARA).
Australia is divided into six HF network areas which are known as Regional Domestic Air Route Areas (RDARA) and Major World Air Route Areas IMWARA). (SWLD 2014)
The map below shows the three RADARA regions:
The map below shows the three RADARA regions:
- 14A: Southern
- 14B: Northwest
- 14C: Northeast
Above: RDARA in Australia. Image c/o HF Frequency Management Guidance.
Below are the frequencies used in the RDARA's. All frequencies in kHz and Upper SideBand (USB).
14A: Southern |
3461 |
6565 |
8822 |
14B: Northwest |
3452 |
6541 |
8843 |
14C: Northeast |
3452 |
6610 |
8831 |
Those frequencies are controlled by the Brisbane Flight Information Region (FIR) and the Melbourne FIR.
There are three types of air traffic controllers:
The en-route controllers in Brisbane and Melbourne are responsible for all aircraft flying outside the tower and terminal airspace. They are generally responsible for all aircraft over the Australian mainland and on oceanic routes within the Australia Flight Information Region. (Airservices 2025)
Airservices Australia manages approximately 11% of the world's airspace, comprising around 20 million square nautical miles (51.7 million square kilometres). (Airservices 2025)
Brisbane Centre manages Australia's airspace over the northern half of the continent, representing about 10% of the world's airspace. (Grahamswebdesign.com, 2025)
Melbourne Centre includes the southern half of the continent of Australia, and the Southern and Indian Oceans. This represents about 6% of the world's surface. (Grahamswebdesign.com, 2025)
The map below shows the Australian FIR, divided into the Brisbane FIR and Melbourne FIR.
There are three types of air traffic controllers:
- enroute
- terminal
- tower
The en-route controllers in Brisbane and Melbourne are responsible for all aircraft flying outside the tower and terminal airspace. They are generally responsible for all aircraft over the Australian mainland and on oceanic routes within the Australia Flight Information Region. (Airservices 2025)
Airservices Australia manages approximately 11% of the world's airspace, comprising around 20 million square nautical miles (51.7 million square kilometres). (Airservices 2025)
Brisbane Centre manages Australia's airspace over the northern half of the continent, representing about 10% of the world's airspace. (Grahamswebdesign.com, 2025)
Melbourne Centre includes the southern half of the continent of Australia, and the Southern and Indian Oceans. This represents about 6% of the world's surface. (Grahamswebdesign.com, 2025)
The map below shows the Australian FIR, divided into the Brisbane FIR and Melbourne FIR.
Above: Map showing the Australian Flight Information Regions (FIR). Image c/o HF Frequency Management Guidance.
MAP OF FREQUENCIES IN AUSTRALIA.
Australian HF Aircraft frequency map. Map c/o http://www.grahamswebdesign.com/Australian%20HF%20Aircraft%20Frequency%20Chart.pdf
MAJOR WORLD AIR ROUTE AREAS (MWARA).
Major World Route Areas (MWARA) support HF Radio communications to aircraft outside of VHF range. (Radioreference.com 2020)
Below are the frequencies used in the South Pacific (SP) region.
- San Fransisco
- Auckland
- Brisbane
- Clipperton
- Tokyo
- Nadi
- Tahiti
HN |
H24 |
HJ |
3467 |
5559 |
10084 |
- |
5643 |
11327 |
- |
8867 |
13300 |
- |
- |
17904 |
Below are the frequencies used in the Central East Pacific (CEP) region.
- San Fransisco
HN |
H24 |
HJ |
2869 |
5547 |
1057 |
3413 |
5574 |
11282 |
4657 |
6673 |
13300 |
8843 |
17904 |
SELECTIVE CALLING SYSTEM (SELCAL).
Selective Calling System (SELCAL) is a signalling method which alerts an aircraft that a ground station wishes to communicate with the aircraft. (SKYbrary 2021)
Often there is a high level of background noise on HF, and this can be very difficult and distracting for pilots to listen to for long periods of time. Often, crews keep the volume low until the radio is required. This is where SELCAL becomes important, as it alerts the crew that they are about to receive a voice transmission. (Wikipedia 2022)
Often there is a high level of background noise on HF, and this can be very difficult and distracting for pilots to listen to for long periods of time. Often, crews keep the volume low until the radio is required. This is where SELCAL becomes important, as it alerts the crew that they are about to receive a voice transmission. (Wikipedia 2022)
Video on how SELCAL works.
Understanding SELCAL.
YOU TUBE VIDEOS.
Aircraft HF - Peter Skinner - Manly Waringah Radio Society lecture.
OfficialSWL channel video on HF aeronautical frequencies.
Monitoring HF Aviation Voice Communications with your SDR Radio or a WebSDR.
How to listen to aircraft
References.
- Airservices. (n.d.). How air traffic control works. [online] Available at: https://www.airservicesaustralia.com/about-us/our-services/how-air-traffic-control-works/ [Accsed 10 Aug. 2025]
- Bom.gov.au. (2025). Heavenly connections: Why HF radio still rules the sky waves - Social Media Blog - Bureau of Meteorology. [online] Available at: https://media.bom.gov.au/social/blog/432/heavenly-connections-why-hf-radio-still-rules-the-sky-waves/ [Accessed 9 Aug. 2025]
- Grahamswebdesign.com. (2025). AUSTRALIAN AIR TRAFFIC CENTRES INFORMATION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------. [online] Available at: https://www.grahamswebdesign.com/australian_air_traffic_centres.html [Accessed 10 Aug. 2025].
- nz aviator. (n.d.). Exploring HF and VHF in Aviation. [online] Available at: https://www.nzaviator.co.nz/editorial/exploring-hf-and-vhf-in-aviation [Accessed 9 Aug. 2025]
- Radioreference.com. (2020). MWARA - The RadioReference Wiki. [online] Available at: https://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/MWARA. [Access 9 Aug. 2025]
- Shortwave Listeners Delight - SWLD (2014). SWLD - Shortwave Listeners Delight - Civilian HF Aviation Flightwatch Frequencies Australia. [online] Swld.com.au. Available at: https://www.swld.com.au/pages/air_civil_aus.htm [Accessed 9 Aug 2025]
- SKYbrary Aviation Safety. (2021). Selective Calling System (SELCAL). [online] Available at: https://skybrary.aero/articles/selective-calling-system-selcal. [Accessed 9 Aug. 2025]
- Wikipedia. (2022). SELCAL. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SELCAL.