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HF-80 Series, the replacement fixed site technology for the URG-II systems Updated: 26 June 2023 This data has not been updated in several years but what is shown is valid The Rockwell Collins HF-80 series is a late 1970 to early 1990 High Frequency radio system. The primary use of the HF-80 was in fixed sites and in military communication shelters. Similar to its earlier brother, the URG-II, it is based on a series of system elements. Shown is Jim Stitzinger's excellant collection of HF-80 element lists and part numbers. The HF-80 was a popular replacement technology that was used by both the military users and the commercial HF markets. It was used extensivily around the world in the various aviation services. The HF-80 series technology was often deployed in remote sites as the technology allowed for remote control over considerable distance. The sites could be configured as a composite site or as split sites with separate transmit and receive functions. The technology was originally used with ALE 1st Generation and later upgraded to support 2nd Generation. Basic Specifications: Frequency Range: 2.00000 Mhz to 29.99999 MHz (100 or 10 Hz steps depending on version) Channels: 280,000 or 2,800,000 (see above) Modes: AM/CW/SSB (LSB/USB plus A2 and B2), SSB channel is 2.85 KHz wide up to 4 channel ISB operation Data capable: Yes Full duplex capable: Yes (separate transmit and receive capable) Split site capable: Yes (this was a common event) External freq. Std: Yes - 100 kHz, 1 MHz, and 5 MHz input (Not 10 MHz) (input or output) Audio Interface: 600 Ohm, 0 dBm balanced audio (4 wire) Receiver RF: 50 Ohm, BNC Exciter RF: 50 Ohn, BNC, 250 Milliwatt (nominal) Power Requirement: 100-240 VAC, 50-400 Hz HF-8010 Exciter, single channel (250 Milliwatt drive output) HF-8010A HF-8012A Exciter (250 Milliwatt drive output) HF-8014 Exciter, 4 channel ISB capable (250 Milliwatt drive output) - Non DSS version. HF-8014A Exciter, 4 Channel ISB with DSS feature (there are six known variations of this DDS unit) HF-8014A Exciter, 4 channel ISB (250 Milliwatt drive output) Note: There were many versions of the HF-8014A so read the left side panel for options Link to a site here for inside photos Note: We have a number of technical manuals related to the DDS versions. HF-8020 RF Amplifier, 1 KW output (Tubed), uses the HF-8030 Power Supply (late 1970's technology) HF-8021 RF Amplifier, 3 KW Output (Tubed), internal AC supply Photos and comments The HF-8021 was the replacement technology for the 208U-3 and the 208U-3A. HF-8022 RF Amplifier, 10 KW Output (Tubed), internal AC supply Front inside photo This was the replacement technology for the 208U-10 and the 208U-10A. HF-8023 RF Amplifier, 1 KW output, solid-state AM-7163/TSC-60(V) 622-3490-207, (early 1980's technology) It uses the HF-8031/32 Power Supply and the 8010/14 Exciter or the HF-8070 receiver-exciter Note there is a variation to use the 671 series receiver-exciter Product Specifications (note this is a big download) HF-8030 Power Supply (Picture) - Used with the HF-8020 1 KW Amplifier, 90 lbs (40 kg) 622-3383-001 Note: This was a 3 phase unit HF-8031 Power supply for the HF-8023 Amplifier 622-3512-001 - input power is 208-240V VAC Single Phase 50-60 Hz (see note) HF-8032 Power supply for the HF-8023 Amplifier 622-3490-207 - input power is: 208/220/230/240 VAC 57-400 Hz 3 0 input Note: The only difference is the type of power fed to it. The HF-8031 or 32 will take single or 3 phase power You need to check the strapping on the cable connector to allow for the correct voltage and phase wiring. The three HF-8032 units I have were all strapped for 220/single phase. HF-8040A Antenna Tuner, 1 KW 622-3384-002 Equipment Manual (partial) HF-8040M Marine version - designed to load into the standard 35 foot (10.7 meter) high whip we think CU-2040 Low Power version - 400 Watt PN 822-0752-001 (part of the "Spectrum" series") CU-2041 High Power (1 KW) Version. Part Number: 822-0779-001 See here CU-2462/TSC-122 Collins Part number 622-9635-001 - Estimated to be a 150 Watt Coupler from photos we have seen HF-8050 Basic Receiver (single channel) HF-8050A Basic Receiver - updated version HF-8051 Basic HF Receiver, one audio channel at a time Receiver Picture HF-8054 Receiver, 2 or 4 channel ISB, full features HF-8054A Similar to the HF-8054 but often had the DDS frequency control system (1 Hz steps and 100 microsecond tuning). HF-8060 Pre-selector/Postselector 622-3386-001 (Early version - later replaced by the HF-8064 series) HF-8060A Pre-selector/Postselector - updated version of the HF-8060 version HF-8061 Transmit filter/line flattener 622-3497-202, can support up to 1 KW of output power This unit was replaced later with the LF-2040 (a break in the numbering scheme) See current version here HF-8064B Agile HF preselector 622-3522-203 A picture Power: 100/115/215/230 V 47-63 Hz. 5.3x19x24, 32 lbs This unit was also replaced with a fully digital one - the PR-2025 (also a break in the numbering). See current version here HF-8070 Transceiver (simplex only) HF-8070A Set of Front panel picture HF-8090 Used to control the HF-8010 Exciter HF-8091 Used to control the HF-8050 Receiver series HF-8092 Used to control the HF-8070 Transceiver HF-8093 Used to control the HF-8014 Exciter series (8014 and 8014A) HF-8094 Used to control the HF-8054 Receiver (documentation is available but BIG) HF-8096 Receiver-Exciter control system, has early first generation (1G) ALE capabilities (ALE phase I?), plus HF squelch, this equipment is early 1980's design Here is a picture of the system controller Here is the operations (user) Manual for it The Military manual number was TM 11-5820-1014-12-2 (01 APR 1983) Here is one for sale (search for it) The replacement is here VP-100 Voice Privacy on HF bands - generally for Aviation industry An view of the older VP-100 system Its current replacement Sources and use of the HF-8xxx series Radios Much more information is available at Paul Keyes site, Columbia Electronics where you can obtain these high quality systems. The pages on the actual Rockwell-Collins HF-80 series are here. This link is to a sales document that details each system element. Very useful to give an overview. where more technical infomation is available on some of the above systems. This site has a number of pictures that provide useful information. There are limited technical documents available also. You may wish to check the Hypertools web site for more information also. This site has a lot of "hands on" experience with this technology so he can really help you. My personal guess is that he works on "milspec" systems as his full time employment. Also see Mike Murphy famous site in San Diego, California. His store has an extensive collection of Rockwell-Collins HF systems that are "milspec". He is an honest place to buy from. You will not go wrong there In any case, while the HF-80 series are nice to own and operate, in general, you may need to have a good bank account as building a complete system may set you back you a few thousand US dollars. But, as they say, "you will not be unhappy with the results". The Rockwell-Collins HF-80 technology lives on however. We recently found that some commercial marine networks are using the HF-80 to provide SITOR service. See article published by the shortwave radio club Worldwide Utility News. Interesting information. Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) For more information about ALE and how the HF-80 and later generation HF radios were to be controlled, please go to the NTIA Report on ALE technology. In summary, this site discusses the following: "High frequency (HF) communications has been an essential part of worldwide information transmission since the advent of radio and has advanced nearly in step with information technology. Today, advanced thinkers in the field envision HF radio technology as embracing and supporting such technological advances as HF e-mail and compressed multimedia voice and data services. A guide has long been needed that brings together into one concise user's handbook all of the working knowledge of HF Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) radio technology. Many publications exist that deal with one or more aspects of this technology - sometimes in great detail. This guide, which is general in scope, provides a broad approach. It is a tutorial for explaining the basics of this HF ALE technology and for passing along working knowledge for hands-on operation of HF ALE systems. This guide is the product of many authors who have combined their considerable expertise." Rockwell-Collins presentation on ALE evolution is here And if you really need bed time reading material, try reading the MIL-STD document on ALE (188-141). MIL-STD-188-141B or the 188-110B document on HF modems. To quote the document summary: "This document contains technical standards and design objectives for medium and high-frequency radio systems. Included are: (1) the basic radio parameters to support both conventional and adaptive radio communications; and (2) technical parameters for automatic link establishment (ALE), linking protection, and other advanced adaptive features and functions." And the ALE Operations manual for US Forces is here More ALE data can be found here at the ARRL site at this link Want to listen to ALE? Go here! Have lots of spare money, buy one of these to solve your ALE needs: Rockwell-Collins ALE Information on the early Rockwell Collins aircraft based 309L-3 system. Was very popular in the early days of ALE operation. Paper on ALE Abstract: The Rockwell Collins SELSCAN adaptive high-frequency (HF) radio system, using an Air Force AN/ARC-190 transceiver, was operated over a 2615-km temperate latitude path for 24 hours. Propagation was monitored by an FMCW chirp oblique sounder. Voice and data transmissions were used to assess the quality of the selected channels. The SELSCAN always found a usable channel, and usually a very good one, even when propagation was limited to a small range of frequencies. A parallel effort to develop a test bed for experimentation with alternative probing waveforms is described. Results are incomplete because of difficulties with equipment and software. A theoretical analysis of probing waveforms for use with adaptive HF systems is presented. Finally, some recommendations are made for the application of adaptive HF. Keywords include: Adaptive High-Frequency Radio, HF Radio Communications, AHF, Oblique Ionograms, and SELSCAN. The US Custom Department COTHEN ALE network. Informal list of ALE users from Ominous-Valve or a backup copy is here. Other utility listening sites for ALE modes include: Chace-Ortiz.org Please also see the Harris section in this site as we some information on the RF-7210 series ALE system.
Another area that I like to learn more about is the area of using HF Radio systems to support E-Mail messaging. There are a number of issues that come up. One is on using TCP/IP over HF (bad idea). Thus, a lot of work has been done to resolve this issue. See this great study that has been done. In specific, NATO create a Standard called: STANAG 5066 which is a variation of SMTP using pipelined SMTP called "HMTP". I will be posting a lot more on this area in the near future as I find out good sources of material. Information on various HF modems is here here Both Rockwell-Collins and Harris Radio has solutions for this requirement. Hope this is all useful. I find HF is an interesting technology with still considerable promise as a global wireless technology. The key phase I use often is "use the right technology to solve the right problem".
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