In a system for establishing connectivity in a HF ALE cellular network, stations are organized to sound each channel, synchronized to every other station in the network. All stations make identical sounding transmissions using a single address, synchronized such that the differential timing within the coverage area remains within the mobile radios' delay spread capability. Synchronized soundings allow the mobile radio to consistently connect to the best available channel. The stations may be synchronized via a central control function. Alternatively, the stations may perform soundings based on a predetermined schedule. Where the propagation time to the mobile radio is known, or determinable within some threshold, the stations may apply a delay to the sounding transmissions to ensure that the sounding transmissions from each of the stations reaches the mobile radio at the same time within some acceptable margin.