©2010 HFLINK

2G ALE Interoperable Global HF Network Developments

by: Bonnie Crystal International Coordinator,

Global ALE High Frequency Network - HFNpresented in the

High Frequency Industries Association - HFIA4 February 2010 - San Diego, California,USA

©2010 HFLINK

International amateur radio network of HF operators using ALE Primary purpose:

“To provide a standard interoperable HF platform for International Emergency / Disaster Relief Communications”

Continuous 24-7-365 service since founding in June 2007 Open net: Any ham operator may use it at any time for normal amateur

purposes when there is no emergency traffic Registration in the network is free and immediate upon active use

What is the Global ALE High Frequency Network? (HFN)

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An amateur radio network at HFIA?

One of HFIA's functions is to provide "…detailed, up-to-date information about … developments in HF Radio… standardized, and interoperable systems to support HF radio users."

HFN seeks to be as interoperable as possible, and has encountered compatibility issues while finding solutions to networking problems with many types of radios

HFN is reporting on some of the developments that have led to good 2G ALE service and interfacing with internet on a global scale

HFLINK seeks to inform HF industry of the potential for newly developing markets

Many HF industry participants are also in amateur radio

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HFLINK Membership 2001-2010

Founded in 2001 as an international resource for ALE Developed organized ham radio ALE nets and adapted protocols Formed the Global ALE High Frequency Network (HFN)

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ALE.

In many subtle flavors.

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Typical Advantages of ALE in Amateur Radio Service

1. HF digital selective calling system2. The international standard for initiating and

maintaining HF communications.3. Developed into a flexible “Ham Friendly”

automatic, semi-automatic, or manual system, avoiding problems commonly associated with other automatic digital systems.

4. Organization communications in wide area5. Inter-organization communication6. Interfacing with internet-enabled stations

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One operator can do the work of many operators, and be ready for communication constantly with other

organizations and individuals using ALE with HFN

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ITU Region 1 HFN Pilot Station Coverage Map 2007-2009

ITU Region 1: Europe, MiddleEast, Africa Email, Reporting, and Emergency Alarm System

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ITU Region 2 HFN Pilot Station Coverage Map 2007-2009

ITU Region 2: North America, South America Email, Reporting, and Emergency Alarm System

©2010 HFLINK

ITU Region 3 HFN Pilot Station Coverage Map 2007-2009

ITU Region 3: Asia, Pacific, Australia Email, Reporting, and Emergency Alarm System

©2010 HFLINK

HFN Primary

Frequencies

International ALE Channels (kHz USB)

24926.0

14109.018106.021096.0

28146.0

10145.57102.07049.53596.0

Channels used for Calling, Bulletins, Text Messages, SMS, Email, Emergency Alert, Sounding, Data

Frequency coordinated in ITU regions worldwide.

©2010 HFLINK

HFL NetThe International ALE SSBVoice Channels

ALE Frequencies for all ITU RegionsEmergency / Disaster Relief

28312.524932.0

14346.018117.521437.5

kHz USB

10145.57185.57049.53791.0

©2010 HFLINK

Global ALE High Frequency Network Comm Centre

HFLINK.NET

Chat Room Information

Links Help Shoutbox Callsign Search Realtime

Network Activity Log

Footprint Maps User Map Info Graphics Network

Connectivity Map

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HFN Network Activity Log on HFLINK.NET

Stations report: Time, Frequency, Callsigns, Messages, Signal Quality Messages may be text or Emergency Alarms

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Map of Typical Locations of HFN Users 2007-2010

Map shows user trends for HFN network server logs. Network users tend to be typically within the HFN Pilot Stations

service coverage areas for regional HF propagation, in all the ITU regions.

With additional stations in all ITU regions and countries, the network can expand to cover the world with 90% service

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AMD Email and SMS • HFN Provides email

and SMS service via AMD

• Other modem standards are used, including FSK DBM

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Sending an AMD SMS message on HFN using an embedded ALE Transceiver1. Link with an HFN Pilot Station 2. Send the text as an AMD message.3. Receive verification via AMD.

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What makes HF emergency communication viable?

“For HF emergency communication to be taken seriously, it must be able to make the call or send a message without prior notice, at any time of the day or night.”

– Bonnie Crystal KQ6XA, HFN International ALE CoordinatorGlobal Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Conference

at GAREC-2007 in Huntsville, AL, USA

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HFN Emergency Alarm KeywordsSent as the first word of the AMD text. Triggers HFN-SOS system alarm sequences.

KEYWORD ALARM TYPE AND MESSAGE PURPOSE

MAYDAY Urgent Distress CallHFN911 Urgent Emergency CallHFN112 Urgent Emergency CallHFN999 Urgent Emergency CallHFNMEDICAL Priority Medical Comms RequestHFNRELIEF Priority Disaster Relief Comms RequestHFNEMCOMM Priority Emcomm Support RequestHFNPHONE Priority Emcomm Phone Patch RequestHFNSET Routine Simulated Emergency Test HFNTEST HFN Alarm System Test: No Emergency(*NOTE) *Other keywords may be added as needed

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HFN Emergency Alarm System HFLINK.NET

Alarms signal upon received HFN-SOS keywords from any station Relays the alarm to all operators in the network via web, SMS, and

email broadcasts. Includes date/time/frequency/receive-station/message.

©2010 HFLINK

ALE-GPR – The Geo Position Report

ALE-GPR is a human-readable and human-enterable Geographic Position Reporting standard using AMD Alpha Numeric UPPER CASE

Can be sent as an Individual Call, Netcall, or in lieu of a sounding Simple conversion from GPS devices for direct Easy use with mapping Please see the most recent version of ALE-GPR standard on the HFN ALE-GPR is a string of text with 7 fields separated by *

1. Netcall or Net Reference2. Object that is giving position3. Latitude in decimal degrees4. Longitude in decimal degrees5. Altitude6. Time Date Stamp7. Comment field with possible expansion

NET*OBJECT*LAxTITUDE*LONyGITUDE*ALTITUDf*YYYYMMDDZhhmmss*COMMENT

Example: GPR*KQ6XA*37N654321*122W987654*000003M*20050821Z135235*EVERYTHING FINE

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ALE-GPR – Mapping on Network Website or ALE Controller

Typical interactive map on the network website combines ALE-GPR and networked LQA color coded with Google Maps

Typical map on ALE Controller uses received ALE-GPRs

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ALE Hardware and Software

Most hams use free software (PCALE or MultiPSK) on a PC computer with an HF amateur radio SSB transceiver.

Same computer sound device and interface as PSK31 and other common ham digital modes

Hams also use commercial grade HF radios with embedded ALE...

Base antennas: Multiband or broadband, dipoles and verticals

Mobiles: Vertical whips with ATU antenna tuners

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Typical Ham Radio ALE Base Station

ALE station: low cost of entry Common PC computer PCALE software Normal SSB ham transceiver Multi-frequency antenna or ATU

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Embedded ALE Transceivers used on the Global ALE High Frequency Network

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Can we handshake?

2G ALE handshake exchanges form the most basic level of interoperability for linking between all stations globally.

A few common windows of timing for this sequence of transmissions and reception are critical to compatibility acrosswide ranging types of equipment and network characteristics.

©2010 HFLINK

Interoperable Handshake Timing Problems: "Fast Reply"

A common handshake timing problem happens when one radio replies too fast for slower equipment to turn around from Transmit to Receive and then decode in a marginal channel.

An acceptable timing, that enables interoperability with most known radios, was found to be >700 milliseconds.

©2010 HFLINK

Interoperable Handshake Timing Problems: "Twr"

A common handshake timing problem was traced to some radios not listening long enough for slower equipment to reply (Twr) during a normal handshake exchange.

An acceptable value of Twr, that enables interoperability with all known radios, was found to be >1.6 seconds. To provide for worst case, it has been successful at Twr=2 seconds.

©2010 HFLINK

Twr: Handshake Timing and the Standards

Twr is the Wait for Reply Time at calling station, from end of transmitter signal to start of received reply detection period.

The MIL STD 188-141B, Appendix A, Annex B. TIMING section includes detailed information about how Twr is determined.

From the standard: "Twr is (Tds, Tdrw, and Tdrrw, below); including propagation, Tp; last word wait Tlww; late word detection, Tld; turnaround, Tta; redundant word phase delay (if not first transmission in handshake or exchange), Trwp; and receiver and transmitter internal signal delays, Trd and Ttd; in a single-channel case without tune times, or multi-channel scanning case after first tune and transmission:" "Twr = Ttd+Tp+Tlww+Tlww+Tta+Trwp(if not first)+Tld+Tp+Trd" For example, approximations of Twr Time to Wait for Reply After transmitting each part of a handshake, the station should wait

and listen for slowest equipment to reply = 1306.66… milliseconds

©2010 HFLINK

New Market Opportunities for 2G ALEEstimated Immediate Potential for Embedded ALE radios

3000 County Emergency Offices and Communications Vans in USA

Thousands of town and city OESs 1000 Local and Regional EmComm and

Disaster Assistance Organizations 10,000 Individual Radio Operators Increasing similar european market

©2010 HFLINK

The Perfect 2G ALE Radio to Meet this Market 100W PEP power output transmit with 12VDC and <1A receive current 1.8MHz – 30MHz with amateur bands and open configurations VFO knob with selectable tuning speed = 2.5kHz/1kHz/100Hz/1Hz Small remote front panel and/or hand mic controller with LCD and keypad USB programming and keyboard Listen Before Transmit polite and effective busy channel detection 10,000 ALE Address; 1000 Nets; 100 Messages 200 ALE Channels, with Associated-Channel LQA Inlink AMD and expanded ASCII character set for DBM Netcall configuration independent of Net channel list 0.5ppm stability and NTIA level spectral purity User selectable 3kHz, 2.7kHz, 2.4kHz, and 500Hz bandwidths SSB/CW/data Offset bandpass receive tuning Effective Noise Reduction Auxiliary receive antenna input Computer transceiver interface (CAT) Associated Channel LQA Volume knob and RIT knob Retail cost < US$1200

©2010 HFLINK

Some HFN 2G ALE Networking Developments1. Flexible Net configurations2. Innovative use of Netcall3. AMD Auto-Retry4. ALE-GPR and Status Report Soundings5. Associated LQA Channel Coupled with Sounding Channels6. 22 second calling 7. Wildcard Net membership and 6 character address8. 3 character Nets and 6 or 9 character addresses9. DBM email10. Link Alert and Alarms via email and SMS11. Linking Attempt Alert12. AMD email13. Non-Inlink AMD email14. Web Network Activity Log15. Web-enabled Shoutbox and Chatroom and "Back Channel"16. AMD to Twitter17. AMD to SMS18. Web User Mapping19. Push Email and Push SMS20. Publishing of Fill Files for different regions and radios21. Development of networking and interfacing specific software 22. Network management push system23. Remote control of stations

©2010 HFLINK

2G ALE Interoperable Global HF Network Developments

by Bonnie Crystal, KQ6XAFounder, HFLINK. Co-founder and International Coordinator, Global ALE High Frequency Network.

More information:

Amateur Radio Global ALE HF Network: HFLINK.NET

ALE Automatic Link Establishment: HFLINK.COM

©2010 HFLINK

HFN would like to thank the following contributors and team members who have made the growing network

possible:Alan Barrow, KM4BA – BBSLINK and HFN Networking Systems

Charles Brain, G4GUO – PCALE ALE ControllerSteve Hajducek, N2CKH – MARS-ALE and PCALE ALE Controllers

Perry Ogletree, K4PWO – ALE^stat ALE NetworkingJohan Hansson, SM0TSC – Internet Systems

HFN Pilot Station Operators worldwideHFN System Station Operators worldwide

Milisec, Inc. – ALE Innovators and Technology PartnerMembers of HFLINK Forum

Participants in the HFN Beta Testing ProgramHFpack, Inc. – SponsorWinlink – email system