re: #184 austin_blue

HF was the bane of any SAC pilot. Any trip across the pond required sending position reports to Omaha on the HF, which typically were sent in the blind and consisted of putting on the headphones, tuning a channel and listening to K-K-K-K-CHACK!- -d-d-d-d-zwee-WHACK-garble garble garble and then transmitting “This is Poopy 22, crossed 30 west at 16:25, estimating 20 west at 17:40.” Followed by a response from Omaha of K-K-K-K sheep! garble garble zzzz Roger Poo Whee! Confir pbpbpbp estima gagagagagaga.

It was a joke for all involved. And this was our nuclear war communication system.

It still is to some extent, though over the ocean, HF works a lot better to reach the USA than UHF.

Techs in the shop would use our bench HF radio (an AN/ARC-51) on the ship to get news like the BBC or music.