Recently, we left our basset at home, where he was walked, fed and played with during the day. However, at 5 am when Buster would usually get up with my husband and have breakfast, he commenced howling where the neighbors considered calling the dog pound. We have left Buster before with the radio on on previous occasions, but now we feel we can't leave him alone at night. Would a no bark collar help?

Does he howl every time you leave?
Separation anxiety is common in dogs, and can lead to some pretty undesirable behaviors.

In saying that though, Basset Hounds are well known for their baying and howling.

If he is barking or howling while you are at home a citronella collar might be beneficial (I don't believe in the use of shock collars personally) My parents Great Dane used to always go out into their backyard and bark at random things while they were at home, he also used to bark at dogs at dog shows constantly. They bought a citronella collar and it worked great. The barking stopped within 3 days. Once the collar was off he occasionally let out a bark but after that all they had to do was pick up the collar and show it to him and he would stop... he knew what it meant.

Now if it is separation anxiety there are a few ways to deal with it.
The most effective one I have found is leaving in intervals.
You start by gathering your keys, shoes, bag everything you need to go out. Leave from your front door as normal, but then come back in after just 30 seconds.

Put your keys and everything back down and just resume your day as normal.

The next time (later that day) Do the same thing, but leave for a full minute.
The time after that, leave for 2 minutes, then 5, then 10 etc etc etc.

The basic idea is that this teaches the dog that when you leave it is not the end of the world and that you are going to be coming back. Increasing the time sort of 'tricks' the dog into thinking that it hasn't been that long since you left.

If you are going for a few days do you have someone looking after the dog?
Have you considered a boarding kennel for when you go away on long trips?

How old is Buster? How long has he been on this schedule of having breakfast with your husband at 5 am? What time was the 'sitter' coming in?

Can you get the person who is going to be taking care of him to come in before 5 am to keep him on his schedule?

If that is the only time that he acts up while you are gone, you may need to retrain him not to think of 5 am as 'his' time with your husband.

Otherwise, a boarding kennel may be an option.

In a way, using a no bark collar would be punishing him for doing what he sees as his job-being awake and ready for breakfast at a certain time.