Skip zone free HF propagation study for tactical application

In mountainous terrain for valley to valley communication or in an inaccessible terrain like deserts, sand dunes or jungle environment where line-of-sight V/UHF communication and satellite fixed/mobile services failed to provide reliable communication, high frequency radio has been proved a low cost alternative. This paper presents the result of 99.99% round the clock propagation study carried out in mountainous terrain using HF sky wave for a skip zone free communication. It has been shown that by using a meager power of 5-20W. It is possible to achieve effective communication range within 0 to 100 km. range with uniform signal strength.