Emcom's digital radio test proves successful in test run attempt at Bloodhound land speed record
"This is a significant milestone in the preparation for the world land speed record attempt scheduled to be carried out in South Africa next year," Sir Richard Noble, of Bloodhound SSC, was quoted as saying on Morning Live Television.
Should Bloodhound Supersonic Car (SSC) driver Andy Green run into any trouble while travelling at 1 609km/h, it is imperative that he still should be able to communicate with the Bloodhound control centre instantly.
That is why he has his Emcom radio communications button right under his thumb on the control column – much like it would be when he is flying a fast jet.
At the test run, technical teams from the communications partners to Bloodhound deployed and tested the bespoke radio network supplied by Emcom in a vehicle driven by Noble, with George Spencer, MD of Emcom, in the passenger seat.
Emcom Wireless is supplying and equipping the Bloodhound SSC with its state-of-the-art TaitNet Tier 3, digital mobile radio (DMR) network, which will be directly linked to Bloodhound's command-and-control centre on Hakskeenpan.
"Our DMR solution will provide real-time voice and data communications and allow the command centre to not only talk to the driver, but monitor his vital statistics such as heart- and breathing rates, as well as offer capability to transmit real-time vehicle performance criteria, throughout the attempt," explains Emcom Wireless Executive Director in charge of business development, Sipho Tony Sibanda.
The DMR T3 technology, manufactured by Tait Commuications in Christchurch, New Zealand, has been specifically configured at Emcom Durban radio workshops, and was showcased for the first time ever in South Africa during the testing of Bloodhound's communication infrastructure on Hakskeenpan on 6 November.
Noble, OBE Bloodhound Project Director and former World Land Speed Record holder (633mph), says: "Emcom's solution provides us with a no compromise voice and data solution ideal for our very unusual needs, and ensures robust mobile radio connectivity between all the team in the desert, even those travelling at 1600 km/h".
George Spencer, MD of Emcom Wireless says: "We are honoured to be associated with this project and to provide a leading edge, integrated radio communications solution. Our mission-critical solution design incorporates ETSI Digital Mobile Radio (DMR), which will facilitate seam Emcom's digital radio test proves successful in test run attempt at Bloodhound land speed record
Emcom is pleased to announce that yesterday morning's test run of the communications systems at Hakskeenpan in the Northern Cape, proved a great success. "This is a significant milestone in the preparation for the world land speed record attempt scheduled to be carried out in South Africa next year," Sir Richard Noble, of Bloodhound SSC, was quoted as saying on Morning Live Television.
Should Bloodhound Supersonic Car (SSC) driver Andy Green run into any trouble while travelling at 1 609km/h, it is imperative that he still should be able to communicate with the Bloodhound control centre instantly.
That is why he has his Emcom radio communications button right under his thumb on the control column – much like it would be when he is flying a fast jet.
At the test run, technical teams from the communications partners to Bloodhound deployed and tested the bespoke radio network supplied by Emcom in a vehicle driven by Noble, with George Spencer, MD of Emcom, in the passenger seat.
Emcom Wireless is supplying and equipping the Bloodhound SSC with its state-of-the-art TaitNet Tier 3, digital mobile radio (DMR) network, which will be directly linked to Bloodhound's command-and-control centre on Hakskeenpan.
"Our DMR solution will provide real-time voice and data communications and allow the command centre to not only talk to the driver, but monitor his vital statistics such as heart- and breathing rates, as well as offer capability to transmit real-time vehicle performance criteria, throughout the attempt," explains Emcom Wireless Executive Director in charge of business development, Sipho Tony Sibanda.
The DMR T3 technology, manufactured by Tait Commuications in Christchurch, New Zealand, has been specifically configured at Emcom Durban radio workshops, and was showcased for the first time ever in South Africa during the testing of Bloodhound's communication infrastructure on Hakskeenpan on 6 November.
Noble, OBE Bloodhound Project Director and former World Land Speed Record holder (633mph), says: "Emcom's solution provides us with a no compromise voice and data solution ideal for our very unusual needs, and ensures robust mobile radio connectivity between all the team in the desert, even those travelling at 1 600km/h".
George Spencer, MD of Emcom Wireless says: "We are honoured to be associated with this project and to provide a leading edge, integrated radio communications solution. Our mission-critical solution design incorporates ETSI Digital Mobile Radio (DMR), which will facilitate seamless, secure communication between the command centre, technical and operations teams, and safety and security personnel across Hakskeen pan."
Sibanda says Bloodhound's radio system is perfect for mission-critical, reliable, secure, voice- and data transmission over a wide area and would benefit the project by ensuring that there is seamless relay of information between the driver and the team members at every point of the high-speed attempt.
"This will not only safeguard the driver but also facilitate the transmission of detailed accurate analysis of all data generated in real time at any stage of the record attempt, during and after the run," says Sibanda.
"The Emcom DMR solution means that, at the push of a button, without having to dial and wait for a connection, the driver will be able to instantly talk and relay or receive information from the command centre. Every second counts and our system will provide crystal-clear secure voice communications for the driver and team."
Emcom will deploy a bespoke secure Taitnet DMR T3 radio network for all operations on the pan. All support teams, car- and track engineers, fire crews, medical and ambulance crews, police, security and airborne assets – like helicopters and aircraft filming the event – and even the parking marshals will benefit from having coordinated group radio communications without interfering with each other.
"We even have the capability to transmit remote micro weather information from trackside weather stations to the command centre," said Sibanda. "It will also easily integrate with the MTN 4G LTE network."
"Yes, we can make two-way radio talk to cellphones! And vice versa!" said Sibanda.
"Emcom's radio solutions have been deployed throughout Africa in very demanding applications, where reliable communication is mission-critical. You only note the lack of professional radio communications where there is a crisis or systems have failed and there is an immediate need to relay critical information without delay," said Sibanda.
"You can't issue an urgent tactical instruction like ‘hold your fire' or ‘don't shoot' via cellphone while waiting for the other person to answer the call. Similarly, you can't switch over live, high voltage electricity distribution or transmission power lines without immediate secure communications or land an Airbus A380 full of passengers without immediate clear communications with the airport tower."
Alongside Emcom, mobile phone network operator MTN and Poynting Antennas have imprinted a unique South African footprint on the Bloodhound adventure, by designing, installing and maintaining a fully secure communications hub around Hakskeenpan in the Northern Cape – where there previously has been no communications infrastructure.
MTN will provide its state-of-the-art LTE network for the public in the area and use this technology for the telemetry and video on the vehicle through infrastructure it will deploy along the pan.
The Bloodhound SSC team is expected to be on the Hakskeenpan in August 2015 where it will attempt to break the current WLSR of 763.035mph (1 227.986km/h) currently held by Green. After that, they will return to the Bloodhound Centre in Bristol, UK, for further engineering on the car. They will then return to South Africa in August 2016, where they will attempt to break the 1 609km/h barrier.
