Compander

[WSHH887]

So if I understand correctly, compander is used to reduce noise on weak signals. Why would you not want compander programmed on all of your radios channels?

[Radioguy7268]

Compander = Compression/Expander 

It's a method to re-constitute your voice after the insignificant audio has been squeezed out of it. Just like concentrated Orange Juice doesn't taste the same as fresh squeezed - Compandered audio isn't the same as the Original audio.

For 12.5 narrowband, it was considered a win in the overall audio picture, but you gave up some tonal quality while it did reduce background noise and hiss. In 25 kHz wideband, I never really saw the benefit to using it.

It's also a system wide setting, so if only one radio on your channel is using it, all the other units will not hear him clearly & vice/versa. Better to have everyone using the Compander feature, and not all radios offer the feature - and not all radios treat the compandered audio exactly the same during compression/expansion. It can lead to odd sounding audio.  I've also seen some radios display a lack of sensitivity at the edge of coverage when using compandered audio. 

I played around with that a bit in the late 90's with the onset of narrowbanding.  the TLDR was: use if it it works, but you're better off to implement it from the start. Migrating a user group over to it was a PITA - especially if they had a mix of radio models.