Chilean surveillance boats installed with Barrett HF


Monday, 19 March, 2018


Chilean surveillance boats installed with Barrett HF

A remote Chilean region is receiving high frequency (HF) radiocommunications equipment from Barrett Communications.

It will be used for surveillance boats operating in the remote and environmentally challenging Aysen region in southern Chile.

The region’s terrain is very complicated, with lake systems, islands, mountains, rivers and extreme climatic conditions. The Barrett authorised dealer in this area, Skytel Telecommunicaciones, deals with many critical organisations including healthcare services, the aerodromes, the agricultural and livestock service, the national emergencies bureau and the uniformed police.

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

“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,” said José San Martín, Skytel Telecommunicaciones.

“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.”

From the Barrett 2050 transceiver, a control cable was installed and channelled below the cabin’s deck to a crew member seat, where the 4011 tuner was installed in available space underneath. 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 real, challenging 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 1700 km away.

Image courtesy of Barrett Communications.

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