The early universe from hydrogen recombination to the earliest observed galaxies is the large stretch of cosmic timeline which has yet to be observed. During this time the dominant baryon is atomic Hydrogen. Though self absorbed in electronic transitions HI is visible in the 21cm radio line which is redshifted to meter wavelengths as it travels to us. First generation instruments like MWA, PAPER, and LOFAR have demonstrated methods for making sensitive instruments. The Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA) is a second generation instrument which combines lessons learned from these arrays to target a high significance measurement between redshifts 5.5 to 20. HERA is currently under construction and in use for commissioning observations which are being used to assess the performance of the instrument and calibration strategies. I will report on progress made in construction and the results from these early observations.