Although they aren't as sexy as the other contemporary tools of law enforcement that make more headlines like body-worn cameras and high-tech forensics equipment, no technology is more vital to your mission than your communications equipment.
Since the late 1990s law enforcement communications tools have been transitioning, first from analog to digital signals, then to advanced digital processing and narrow banding to meet the Project 25 (P25) standard, and now from land mobile radio portables into hybrid radio and cellular wireless portables.
In 2015 the revolution in law enforcement communications tools continues on a variety of fronts. Here's what's happening to make your mission-critical voice communication tools more capable and more useful.
Improving the Portables
Portable radios are some of the most rapidly evolving tools used in law enforcement. Harris, Kenwood, Motorola, Tait, and other players are all competing in this market to provide the most innovative and useful features and clearest sound for law enforcement operations.
Harris released its new XL-200P in August. The XL-200P is a full-spectrum radio that offers single- and multi-band capability. Bands can be added with a simple software upgrade. Mark Tesh, Harris' product manager for advanced development says the new portable "performs seamlessly across all bands." The XL-200P is lighter than the company's previous law enforcement portables, but offers excellent audio quality, extended battery life of more than 10 hours, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, and GPS tracking. Tesh says despite its compact size and light weight, the XL-200P is "brilliantly loud and brilliantly clear in the loudest environments." He explains that Harris achieved the sound quality through an innovative design of a woofer and tweeter with tuned cavities. Should a user miss a message or not understand part of a message, the XL-200P stores the last five messages for replay. "It's a simple solution to a really common problem," Tesh says.
Kenwood's latest P25 Phase II portable is the TK-5410D. It offers enhanced microprocessing for coverage of the entire 700 MHz and 800 MHz voice bands and MIL-STD-810 toughness and IP-54/55 moisture and dust protection. Some of the features include: 100 zones with 1,024 channels, a backlit dot matrix LCD, 16-character alphanumeric aliases, a three-digit sub-display, and several encryption keys.
Motorola added the APX 8000 to its product line of public safety portables in March at the International Wireless Communications Expo. The all-band, WiFi-enabled P-25 radio features an adaptive audio engine and a 1-watt speaker for sound quality and vocal clarity.
Tait's latest public safety portable is the TP9400, which offers multiple operating modes. The TP9400 can operate in analog mode and in 12.5 KHz P25 Phase 1 FDMA conventional/trunked, upgradeable to 6.25 KHz (equivalent) P25 Phase 2 TDMA trunked and LSM (CQPSK). Tait says having all of this decode capability in a single device allows users to transition into upgrades according to their needs. Features include GPS positioning, Bluetooth connectivity, and officer down functionality. The TP9400 meets MIL-STD-810G standards for ruggedness and IP67 for water and dust resistance.
Great post ! if you have an older TV, like mine that tunes up to channel 83, then channels 70-83 were converted to analog cell phone use in 1982. in theory you could pick up a cell phone conversation which has FM audio, same as analog television.
ReplyDeleteThanks:)