http://www.arrl.org/?artid=8610
Global Emergency Network Marks Record (Nov 19, 2008) -- The Global ALE High
Frequency Network (HFN) -- an international Amateur Radio Service organization
of ham operators dedicated to emergency/relief radio communications -- has
become the first network to operate continuously for more than 500 days on all
international Amateur Radio shortwave bands simultaneously. According to HFN
International ALE Coordinator Bonnie Crystal, KQ6XA, the main purpose of the
Network is to provide efficient emergency and disaster relief communications to
remote areas of the world. "Beginning with a core group of six North American
radio operators in June 2007, HFN rapidly expanded to cover large areas of the
planet with 24/7 digital communications," she said."HFN was designed to be an
open framework for global Amateur Radio emergency services to interoperate on
HF using the Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) system." Relying on ionospheric
radio communications,
interconnected HFN base stations scan the radio bands every 10 seconds, from
3.5 MHz-28.0 MHz. Through this Net, Crystal said, ham operators stay connected
with each other at all hours of the day or night in any mode of operation, and
can send Internet e-mail or cell phone mobile text messages from the field."
