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Copyright © 1996 by Virtual Publishing Co.
HF propagation prediction software is valuable in optimizing the time you have to spend chasing DX or even making in-country contacts on the HF bands. For my desired Seattle, WA to San Francisco, CA path, I discovered that I should seriously consider using the 160 meter band, a band that I had previously given little attention to in part due to the physical space needed for 160 meter antennas. Using the software, I found that during our present sunspot minima, common QSO paths such as to Japan can probably be made more reliably on the 40 meter band during the night than waiting for the few 20 meter band openings that we see between Cycle 21 and Cycle 22 right now. After listening to 160 meters for a few nights using a tuned long wire (actually the coax feeding the 80 meter dipole), I'm now plotting my 160 meter antenna strategy!
I know that many Amateurs use Macintosh or Unix workstations. Unfortunately for you, these products are both designed for the "Wintel" platform. However, if you do use a "Wintel" based computer system, ASAPS and HFx both provide assistance in optimizing your radio operations.
If you are running DOS or a low end (or older PC) with less RAM and a slower CPU, ASAPS is the product for you. ASAPS should work on any low end machine running DOS. While ASAPS is not a modern "graphical user interface" product, its interface is straightforward and simple to use and the program produces a complete set of tabular reports and graphs on screen or to the printer. ASAPS provides for a more accurate description of your antenna gain pattern than is available in HFx.
If you have a new machine running Microsoft Windows with 8 MB of RAM or more and a high resolution SVGA monitor, HFx will be your choice of software. The program is easy to use and quickly produces easy to interpret propagation predictions. HFx is an interactive graphics rich program that provides at-a-glance views of propagation forecasts.
Each program provides a few more features, such as signal-to-noise ratios, than is presented in this review. Overall, I recommend the use of HF propagation prediction software as an aid to making ham radio even more fun. Prediction software will be of value certainly to active DXers and contest operators but also to those who merely wish to optimize their operating times for their desired contacts.
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Copyright © 1996 Virtual Publishing Company. All Rights Reserved.