The recent temporary failure of an Inmarsat satellite serving the Pacific, has forced commercial aircraft to rely on the backup HF communications system used between air traffic controllers and pilots over the Pacific.
On April 16 the satellite began experiencing a service outage affecting aircraft transiting through the North and South Pacific Major World Air Route Areas (MWARA).
Increased traffic was heard on 5643, 8867, 13261, 17904 kHz in the South Pacific (San Francisco, Auckland, Brisbane, Nadi, Tahiti and 5628, 6655, 8951, 10048, 13339, 17946 and 21925 kHz in the North Pacific (San Francisco, Tokyo) areas. All frequencies listed are USB.
The services did not fully recover until April 21. The satellite had experienced a previous failure in 2008 and is 5 years past the predicted operational lifetime. Bearing this in mind, enthusiasts may discover increased HF traffic during this period of satellite uncertainty, proving that HF radio is far from obsolete.
Hi doe anyone know why the BBc world service is now about 2 hours latter than stated on all the short wave radio sites??
I have tried Emailing the BBC world service but nearly all their websites bounce back to me?