Reporter’s Notebook
Spacenet announced that its partner Orbital Data Net recently deployed its Connexstar satellite network in Missouri to support emergency voice, video and broadband data communications. It was deployed to help government agencies and community organizations resume communications in the aftermath of severe flooding that damaged terrestrial systems. For instance, the Missouri Department of Transportation used Connexstar to provide a transportable and rapidly deployable satellite network for the state’s Emergency Management Agency, according to the company.
Alpha & Omega Semiconductor announced the release of AOZ803x, a family of multi-line EMI filters. The devices are designed and optimized to suppress unwanted electromagnetic interference, or EMI, signals for next-generation portable handheld devices.
NCI has been awarded a contract from the Army National Guard and Air National Guard worth an estimated $173 million, if all options are exercised. NCI will be responsible for managing all IT and telecommunications equipment and systems operating in the National Capital Region environment, as well as supporting end-users of this equipment.
Globecomm Systems has received a contract modification from NATO valued at $7.3 million to extend communication services for onsite support of its currently deployed GPS-based Force Tracking System (FTS). The FTS enables NATO to identify where its personnel are located at all times, identify other multi-national forces and have the ability to do so in routine and operational situations, according to the company.
Alanco Technologies announced that its TSI PRISM subsidiary has been selected as a subcontractor by Northrop Grumman to provide RFID inmate tracking systems for 19 federal immigration detention facilities. The Department of Homeland Security awarded Northrop Grumman a contract to provide infrastructure and an integrated system that will locate and track detainees, reserve bed space across various facilities, and manage detainee transportation. The contract covers a one year, $14 million base period with three one-year options, for a total potential value of $44.35 million, according to Alanco.
The InternationalAssociation of Fire Fighters and the U.S. Fire Administration have released the Voice Radio Communications Guide for the Fire Service. The manual provides a primer on radio communications, networks and systems, offers tips on equipment selection, and presents strategies for achieving interoperable communications. According to the IAFF, the manual covers on technologies, issues and concepts that didn’t exist when it was first published in 1996.
Camlite Video Systems introduced Model 2000 of its rugged, water resistant, fully functioning flashlight that also incorporates a miniature camera that captures video surveillance footage. While the Model 1000 is able to transmit the footage over distances of about 1000 feet, the Model 2000 incorporates a memory card that can be removed and then inserted into a PC for viewing.
Cimarron Technologies, a San Diego-based vendor of automatic numerical identification encoders and decoders, is developing a series of training videos. “These are full videos, not just narrated PowerPoint presentations,” said company owner Steve Barry. “People are reading less and less, and they like to be shown how to do something.” The videos are expected to be available in the first quarter of 2009.
