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Introduction

ALE, Automatic Link Establishment, is based on government standards for automatically connecting HF radios.  The protocol not only links radios, but selects the best channel to use.  A major disadvantage of HF or high frequency spectrum is the constant change of propagation, which can make spectrum choice a difficult challenge.

Articles

Note: Some of the following articles are in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files. To view and print these files, you'll need a copy of Adobe's Acrobat Reader program. (Version 3.0 or later required). More information here.

• A Federal Standard for HF Radio Automatic Link Establishment (445,577 bytes, PDF file)
  QEX January 1990, p. 3
• Growing Family of Federal Standards for HF Radio Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) - Part I (552,411 bytes, PDF file)
  QEX July 1993, pp. 3-8
• The Growing Family of Federal Standards for HF Radio Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) - Part II (2,214,846 bytes, PDF file)
  QEX August 1993, pp. 9-14
• The Growing Family of Federal Standards for HF Radio Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) - Part III (548,965 bytes, PDF file)
  QEX September 1993, pp. 14-19
• The Growing Family of Federal Standards for HF Radio Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) - Part IV (572,180 bytes, PDF file)
  QEX October 1993, pp. 13-18
• The Growing Family of Federal Standards for HF Radio Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) - Part V (2,463,220 bytes, PDF file)
  QEX November 1993, pp. 9-12
• The Growing Family of Federal Standards for HF Radio Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) - Part VI (252,549 bytes, PDF file)
  QEX December 1993, pp. 7-12
• ALE--The Coming of Automatic Link Establishment (13,952 bytes, PDF file)
  QST February 1995, p. 68 (Technical Correspondence)

Note:

Contact information for suppliers mentioned in the above articles should first be confirmed using TIS Address Database Search.

Web Links

• HFLINK
  HFLINK is the main coordinating resource for the use of Automatic Link Establishment in the International Amateur Radio Service. You have permission to use, and we encourage you to use the ALE channel listing.
• Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) Application Handbook
• Automatic Link Establishment (ALE)
  General Overview from Harris
• Welcome to the ALE Area of Tactical Link Systems
• Simulation Results for Third-Generation HF Automatic Link
• Free US government ALE package
  
• PC-ALE Project
  A Windows program

Article Reprints:

You can get a photocopy of any ARRL published article for $3 ($5 for nonmembers) for each article requested. Contact the ARRL Technical Department (reprints@arrl.org ), 1-860-594-0390) if you wish to get photocopies.

This information was prepared as a membership service by the American Radio Relay League, Inc., Technical Information Service, 225 Main St., Newington, CT 06111 (860) 594-0214. Email: tis@arrl.org (Internet). ARRL HQ is glad to provide this information on the Web free of charge as a service to League members and affiliated clubs.

If you have any questions concerning the reproduction or distribution of this material, please contact:

TIS Coordinator
American Radio Relay League
225 Main St., Newington, CT 06111
Tel: 860-594-0214 Fax: 860-594-0259
(email: tis@arrl.org)