HF? What to get for the technology illiterate(me)

Do you really need HF for your trip ? If so, only you know your budget and needs. Check to see if you're going to need selcall and telcall.
Lets start with the bottom end.
Barrett 250RC
Codan 8525A or B series
Codan X2 (no selcall)
Middle range
Codan 8528
Barrett 550
Barrett 950
Then exe
Codan 9323 and autotune 9350
Barrett 2020 and autotune
Codan NGT
etc etc
Don't forget that an aerial is going to be a huge part of the total cost.

Shane

Have a look at post 41630. We're going through a similar discussion at the moment.

Regards

Kim

G'day Shane,
Try before you buy, hire?, borrow, beg a mates see what you think? Get familiar with the unit you'd like. Alternatively buy a decent Sat Phone!
Do you need a HF? You are going on a trip? By yourself? or with others= hand helds
If you are going on a holiday with family do you really want to contact others?

andy

Hi Shane,

As you've already found, the obvious manufacturers to consider are Codan and Barret. I agree with Footloose's suggestions and rankings. We have a Codan 8528A which is about the bottom of the range I'd recommend. We find it ideal. It won't (in its basic form) drive an autotune aerial ; so what? manual tune is fine since you'll only ever transmit on 1 or 2 frequencies anyway, and can well do without the extra complexity of an autotune. It's no big deal to change the plug position on a tapped antenna and will save $$$. Selcall is a plus mainly because you can use it to activate other stations which have switched to selcall watch, such as the VKS737 bases when not manned. Think you'll find it on all on Footloose's list. We've never used it.

Older gear may use crystals for frequency selection - very restrictive and expensive. Frequency synthesised transceivers starting at about the 8525 offer lots of channels (very few you will use). If you want to have a telephone facility, you will need to move above the low end of footloose's list (above the 8525A).

I'd encourage you to join up with the Yahoo group at
Site Link
where you will get excellent support and guidance from Codan users. Don't know if there's an equivalent group for Barret. Our radio came from one of the more generous and knowledgeable contributors to that group, who ran (runs?) a small hire operation.

It's worth watching ebay for Codans and Barrets to get a feel for prices.

HTH

John

Has anyone used the QMac HF? They were being developed a few years ago in Perth. Compact and easy to use but still reasonably cheap.

Indeed Shane - Barrett and Codan are the two main players - in the new units, Codan always command more $ than Barrett, new or used. I bought a used Barrett 950 with autotune and its been very good. Straight forward to use, after a little practice - any owner could give you a quick demo to get you up and running. There is no such thing as a good all round radio that's cheap. My first radio was a Tracker Scout with a tap antenna - its still going strong and was top shelf performer for voice only comms - sold it for $500 3 years ago - might command $300 now due to the quality of the antenna (they are not cheap). I went with the Barrett when I wanted to get into selcalling - and the autotune is good to have - we swap around the channels in cab quite a bit - often listen to central Oz ABC stations on HF too. If you were to buy a used HF with autotune, all in very good condition and of a vintage that is fully supported with service and parts, you won't go too far wrong. If the following is of any use, IMO a Barrett 950 system in good condition should be gained for about $1600 - $1800. Add 25% for a Codan of the same vintage (9323 or early NGT maybe). Be wary of some quite early units in either brand - they are often un-supported now re service and parts.
As others have said, autotune is not vital - just handy.

Hi Shane,

I was in the same boat as yourself this time last year. There is so much information, much of which is very specialised and hard to get a finger on. I ended up doing a Kimberly trip with some friends last year and One guy had a Codan 8525 (remote head) from which we listened to the Cricket etc on. That had me and I ended up buying his as he was about to upgrade. I bought it for a song at around the $500 mark and that included the autotune antenna and fitment. When I contacted VKS-737 about membership I also asked some tech questions which they helped with. They were great.

If you go for something around the 8525 vintage (release in 1985) you should be aware that many parts are hard to come by. To minimise damage to my autotune antenna, I only tune when stationary. (It is the first type of autotune antenna's (8558) and are renowned for braking when used hard). They do however (some models like mine)have Selcall, which if you need is great. If you want to spend up around $1000 to 1500 then check e-bay as they are always selling units around that price.

As already said, there is a user group on Yahoo which is very helpful. They are worth joining and asking questions as what they don't know about Codans, well you get the idea. They were helpful in my case several times.

It just depends on your budget and how often you will use it. If like myself you go on one big trip, and heaps of week enders, then the 8525 or above should be great for you needs. If you are looking at living on the road non-stop, then go for the 9350 or NGT, something a little newer. Hopefully this has helped and I haven't rabbited on to much.nn

Happy selecting

Dave

P.S don't know much about Barret but apparently v good as well. Cheers

instead of telling you what to buy Ill tell you what I have
Barret 250 with vks multi tap. it has all the channels programmed in and if i match it with an uto tune it will get them all.
Total cost was $600
Why a barret? they used them at a previos workplace that stuffed their tojos but just swappedthe barrets into the new vehicles.
Why a 250 - well it as everything you need and nothing you dont - the more expensive HF work just as well but just come with features alot of peple will not use