Barrett HF on surveillance boats in remote Chilean region

Barrett Communications have recently supplied High Frequency (HF) radio communications equipment for surveillance boats which operate in the remote and environmentally challenging Aysen región in the South of Chile.

The Aysen región in Chile, is not only remote but also very complicated with lake systems, islands, mountains, rivers and extreme climatic conditions. The Barrett authorised dealer in this region, Skytel Telecommunicaciones are present in this area in many organisations that are critical to the community. These organisations include health care services, the aerodromes, the agricultural and livestock service, the national emergencies bureau and the uniformed police.

The HF stations are used in offices, service vehicles, ambulances and also in surveillance and border patrol boats.

Mr José San Martín from Skytel Telecommunicaciones commented “We have designed and installed a complete HF mobile station on the surveillance boats, and the crew can maintain communications over the HF network throughout Chile. Everything was installed without interfering with the factory installed equipment and the project was previously approved by the boat’s manufacturer to keep the factory warranty.”

The mobile installation kit for the Barrett 2050 HF Transceiver was installed inside the port console and the 2050’s detachable front panel along with the external speaker and PTT were installed onto the port console, as requested by the client. From the Barrett 2050 transceiver, a control cable was installed and channeled below the cabin’s deck to a crew member seat, where the 4011 tuner was installed in available space under the seat. From there a cable went through one of the cabin walls to reach the HF antenna installed on the port side of the boat using a specially designed mast and a fixing plate.”

The HF mobile station was tested under hard and real conditions and was able to establish good quality communications to the nearest port, the closest town, other stations within the same region, and the main station 1,700km away.

Barrett Communications together with Skytel Telecommunicaciones will be exhibiting at FIDAE 2018. Visit our stand in Hall A49 to view our complete range of HF and VHF radio communications equipment.