HF radios differances

Hi Tim
I own a Barrett 950 and have used it for the last two years. I am surprised at how little background noise there is compared to the Amateur Rigs I used to run. HF radios do have background noise but I like the audio mute on the Barrett which kepps it quite unless there is a lot of back ground interferance
I preferred the Barrett as I was able to add in the amateur bands as well as the VKS3737 Flying Doc etc with no problems. The newer Codans do not have the facility for amateur bands.
I use a UHF CB for convoy driving because it has no backgound noise, inlike the CB which being HF has the backgound noise.
Ray

Tim......HF radio suffers from eviiromental conditions at the time of transmission, such as the time of day, solar activity, distance of signal etc.etc. While some radios may provide better noise filtering than others there is alway going to be background noise present. I too run a Barrett and I am very happy with its performance, maybe you can check all terminations on cables, electrical interference within the vehicle, mounting position of the aerial to try and reduce any effects from the installation. You may also notice that transmitting early morning and night time is quieter than during the day, as the sun is not as big a player as during the daytime. Remember the higher the sun the higher the frequency to use. Where are you located anyway.

in answer i am located in the illawarra ,east coast nsw,call sign romeo 149 usually listen to vks737 evening sked on 8022,

I've only had experience with Barrett 550's not the newer model.

I've noticed the 550's can go off freq whereas the codan's (even the older 8528's) work fine for years without needing to visit the shop.

The other difference is that the codan autotune works better while moving, but the barrett is at an advantage while stationary.

I guess it depends what you are used to, but I prefer the way the codan works to the barrett with regard to controls and such.

I guess if sales of codan drop then they may review their pricing, but they haven't gotten any cheaper in recent times.

I have a Barret 950 with a 910 auto tune aerial I have owned this radio for 5 months and the remote head died and had to be sent to Barrett WA, the mounting bolt on the aerial snapped of and the main radio had a frequancy crystal died and had to be sent back to WA. I have to say that I have not had any trouble getting them to do anything for me.

Tim
Like you I live in the Illawarra, and most of the noise problems we experience have more to do with all the heavy industry and household power use. When out in the bush it is much quieter.
Incidently I use Codan 9323 and 8525 radios.
Jim