GPS microphone tracks users, stores data
PRYME Radio Products unveiled its newest ruggedized speaker microphone that integrates a global satellite positioning, or GPS, receiver and radio-frequency modem in order to locate first responders and store location data for later retrieval.
The microphone works with mobile and portable two-way radio systems — in either single or multiple channels and conventional or trunked systems — across the VHF/UHF frequency range. It uses GPS satellites to send automatic reports on a user’s position, and the internal alert system can be set up to automatically transmit location data, or it can be done manually whenever the push-to-talk key is pressed by a user.
Dispatchers can locate users to within 10 meters, or a user can activate the panic button function for instant location data, said Mark Skummer, vice president of PRYME. In addition, a relative distance function can track movements every 200 meters in every direction, including longitude, latitude, altitude and heading. The data then are displayed at a dispatch location using the company’s GPS base station unit and a personal computer running a dispatch application, or even a third-party mapping software application.
Several reporting options are available. Skummer pointed to a “geofence” mode, where the microphone reports a user’s location and sends an alert whenever he or she moves more than a set distance from a specific, defined location, either on foot or while driving in a vehicle. If a user leaves the location, the microphone sends out a signal. Reverse geofencing works when a user enters a specific location, he said.
In addition, the device can be set on emergency mode, where it transmits a series of alerts and location reports at regular intervals once the user presses a panic/emergency button.
“We felt this was an important feature,” Skummer said. “Over the air a dispatcher can reconfigure how to track a user’s location, heading, or speed, for example, every 30 seconds.”
Skummer said it works well in any open-air topography or in vehicles, and early beta testing has shown it effectively transmits GPS coordinates inside buildings.
It also includes an internal microprocessor and modem that stores up to 1600 location reports that can be downloaded and archived or sent over the air to dispatchers, Skummer said. In addition, it operates for 10 hours or more using its internal, rechargeable 1100 mAh lithium-ion battery pack, or it can be powered by a vehicle battery when connected to a mobile radio.
The unit currently is available and costs $585.
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Location & tracking system vendors
Antenex ▪ Astron Wireless Technologies ▪ Cimarron Technologies ▪ COM/RAD ▪ Connect Systems ▪ Control Signal ▪ Cook’s Communications ▪ Datron World ▪ Communications ▪ EXACOM ▪ DM Software Ltd. ▪ Furuno USA ▪ IDA ▪ InterAct Public Safety Systems ▪ Intergraph ▪ IPMobileNet ▪ Kantronics ▪ Kenwood Communications ▪ Kirisun ▪ Location Technologies ▪ Microwave Data System ▪ Midian ▪ Midland Radio ▪ Mobile Satellite ▪ Modular Communications Systems ▪ Motorola ▪ Networkcar ▪ Ortivus North America ▪ Plant CML ▪ Positron Public Safety Systems ▪ PRYME Radio Products ▪ Pyramid Communications ▪ SmarTrunk Systems ▪ Spillman Technologies ▪ Tiburon ▪ Trident MicroSystems ▪ TriTech Software Systems ▪ Vertex Standard ▪ For complete listings of location and tracking-system vendors, visit the MRT 2008 Resource Guide at www.mrtmag.com.
