HF communication system with decoding operations and related methods

A high frequency (HF) communication system comprising:

• a first HF radio communications device comprising a first HF radio transceiver and a first controller coupled thereto;
• and
• a second HF radio communications device comprising a second HF radio transceiver and a second controller coupled thereto;
• said first controller being operable with said first HF radio transceiver and being configured to send a message to said second HF radio communications device, the message comprising:
• a preamble portion;
• a variable length data portion after the preamble portion and having a given ending point selected from among a plurality of potential ending points with each potential ending point being spaced apart from an adjacent potential ending point by a set quantity of digital data;
• and
• a check portion after the variable length data portion indicating an end of the message;
• said second controller being operable with said second HF radio transceiver and being configured to
• perform a decoding operation on the message at a potential ending point, and perform a check operation on a potential check portion of the decoded message, and
• when the check operation is successful, recover the variable length data portion from the decoded message, otherwise perform another decoding operation on the message at a next potential ending point, and perform another check operation on another potential check portion of the respective decoded message.