Frequently Asked Questions

Barrett and Codan are both well built Aussie radios--It really is personal preference-You will however pay about 15% more for an equivalent Codan radio, purely because the Codan name is a little more popular.-All dates below are an approximate guide only.

Barrett Model Timeline:

~BC 220/225   1980-1990  -12 channel crystal locked radio. 

~BC 250   1987-1993  - 250 channel with optional selcall-Optional telcall available on radios fitted with Ver. 4 or 5 firmware.

~BC 550   1993-1997 - 500 channel with selcall/telcall etc.

~BC 950    1997-2003  - Upgrade of the 550 with a few extra functions.

~2050    2003-Current - Easy to use radio with pretty much all the bells and whistles.


Codan Model Timeline:

~6924/8121 "Lunchbox" Radio 1975-1985. - These popular 50 watt radios had a built in tuner, so basically all you needed was a piece of wire to throw over a tree as an antenna / then "Tune Up" and you're ready to go. The early model had a few reliability problems, but the 6924 MKII and 8121(Marine version) were quite good.

 ~7727/6801/7515 and variants   1975-1985  - Normally a 10 channel/100W Crystal locked radio-The 7515 was a 6 channel/50W radio.

~8525A/B   1985-1992  - 99 channel eprom programmable radio with optional selcall.

~8727   1985-1992  - 10 Channel Crystal locked radio with similar cosmetic styling to the 8525-No Selcall option. 

~8528   1989-1995   - 400 channel with selcall/telcall--These radios are still sought after.-Amateur and TXE options available.

~X2   1990-2000  - Extremely well built "PC Programmable" 10 channel radio-No selcall option.

~9313/9480   1989-1994 - Basically a 15 channel version of the 8528 - Selcall only. The 9480 had the LSB option.-Generally these radios can be easily upgraded to a 8528 if you have access to a 8528 keypad & eprom.

~9323/9360    1993-2003 - 400 channel with selcall/telcall etc. Widely considered in radio circles as the best 4WD HF radio ever built--Still very popular.

~9780   15 channel version of the 9323/9360.

~NGT   2001-Current - Pretty much all the bells and whistles--Uses a "Mobile Phone" style of mic / handset.

There are two main styles of mobile antennas available-
 Autotune and Multitap.

An Autotune basically does what the name implies--It automatically tunes itself to suit the frequency selected on the radio.

Advantage: -Makes life easy when swapping frequencies.
Disadvantage: -High Cost / Generally has to be reconditioned every 5 yrs or so.

A Multitap has to have the "wander lead" moved each time you change frequency.

Advantage: Low cost / Reliable-No servicing required
Disadvantage: Limits the amount of frequencies available on the radio / Have to manually change aerial tap.

Popular Models of autotunes:

Codan 8558--Requires an interface box or circuit board to operate---These antennas are pretty much at the end of their useful life---Not recommended.

Codan 9350 -Very popular--Will plug straight into 8525A/B, 8528, 9323, X2, NGT--Note that the NGT uses a different antenna interface cable.--There are a few versions of these antennas (A to F prefix), dont worry too much about the prefix, as long as it has been serviced over the last few years it will of had most of the upgrades anyway.

Codan 3040 -New-- This antenna uses an electronic tuner rather than a stepper motor to drive the antenna--I believe that the electrical connections are identical to the 9350, so it will happily work with the 85xx, 93xx & NGT series of radios. Note that although the stud on top of the autotuner has a 14mm thread, the spring supplied with the 3040 steps down to 12mm for the actual whip mount.

Barrett 510/910 -Very popular---Just ensure that you get one with the mid to dark grey casing. The very early model 510 (off-white colour) has a tendancy for the outer casing to crack.

Barrett 2019 -New- This very robust antenna, is  quite sleek looking.---It can also be supplied with an internal GPS antenna/receiver. Note that the 2019 uses a different control lead to the 510/910.

Popular Network operators within  Australia:


Austravel (VMD750)

HF Radio Network (VKE237).

Radtel / HF Oz

Reids radio Data / Bush Telegraph (VMS469).

RFDS Network.

VKS737 HF Radio Network / HF-Tel.


Annual licence fees vary, but range from about $40-115.  No licencing test required on a 4WD network , just pay your money and away you go.

Firstly-Dont panic. In my experience, only about 1% of problems are actually bona-fide faults within the radio or antenna system.

If I were to break it down, I would say that:

60% would be bad earthing of the antenna-Always earth the antenna base mounting bolt directly to the body of the car.-Dont just rely of the bullbar mounting bolts as your aerial system earth.

30% would be a faulty coax lead.-Always test for short circuits after fitting the coax connectors.

15% would be a bad power feed-Always use 4-6 mm2 cable, and a physically large 25-30 Amp fuse or circuit breaker.-Do not use a small glass(3AG) or spade fuse .

5% other misc faults.

Here is a little "ballpark" test of your Multi-tap antenna system-This has got me out of trouble many a time:

Set antenna and radio to the frequency you wish to test.-Turn up radio to about 3/4 volume.

Unscrew coax connector from radio--you should now only hear some low level "hiss".

Plug the middle contact of the coax connector back into the radio-You dont want to push it all the way home-Only the centre pin must be connected, the outer screw thread must be clear from the radio.--Noise level through your speaker should jump dramatically. You should now hear plenty of loud static coming from the radio.

Now here is the important part-Now push the connector all the way home and touch the outer thread on the radio--If all is well ,the static should get about 25% louder, if it gets a bit quieter your antenna is not set up properly--If it goes very quiet, you have a short circuit in your antenna or coax system.

This is only a general test only, but it may help you to trouble shoot your problem.

Background "Noise and Hash" is quite normal on a HF radio receiver---The latest model Barrett (2050) & Codan (NGT) both have noise reduction systems which improve things a little, but are not a miracle cure.

If you can only receive a signal from a car basically parked 50 Metres from you, the problem will probably be:

*Short circuit in antenna or coax system. - Common Fault.

*External electronic noise generation--Common culprits are Battery Pulse, Antirust Systems, Cheaper Solar Regulators, and Fridges - All of these devices will need to have a switch fitted inline so they can be turned off while using the HF radio. - Common Fault.

If you cant receive a signal at all from a car parked 50 M from you, you probably have a faulty receiver.