At last year’s congress, German manufacturer Funkwerk launched an ATEX intrinsically safe TETRA handportable, and this year it has returned with a variant which spans 410–470?MHz in a single band. With this additional coverage, it hopes to meet demand from new markets in Australia and North America.

On the Funkwerk stand, Dietmar Schöps runs through some of the radio’s many other features. “Others decided to just work with a reduced keypad but we have decided to do a full keypad version, to stay with just one basic model”, he says. “It has an IP 65 enclosure. We have a very brilliant and large display. And we are coming from the security aspects – so that means that the emergency button needs to be easily accessible and big enough. In case you are in an emergency, you don’t have to look for it!”

Another feature he draws attention to is that, unlike rival products, it fits neatly into a leather case with a high-capacity battery attached. “I’ve seen distributors and importers who created a plastic part to fill the gap in the other one, which then means that the radio becomes bigger and less handy. So our aim was to make it as smooth as possible. Fifty per cent of all those who have it in their hands the first time say, ‘It’s much lighter than I thought!’” 

Also offered by Funkwerk is a security version of the radio. “The device is not a stand-alone device, it works as a solution”, Mr Schöps explains. “It’s a unit which supervises your daily working style. It not only provides you a man-down sensor as standard products do, but we have an acceleration sensor. And if none of the sensors will do, then you can still have a time alarm. So you can give the unit a profile which fits your workstyle. If you are in an abnormal state, it will then raise an alarm.”

Other warnings can include a loss alarm, triggered by a cord attached to a peg which will be pulled from the radio if someone snatches it away. “That’s the solution we have the prison guards, for example”, says Mr Schöps. “If you then pull the rope, the other end is fitted to a belt, the unit completely turns its behaviour. If it is programmed in hostage mode, then it keeps quiet and doesn’t tell you anything, but you can’t operate it any more.”

The alarm can also be configured to report the location of the radio user, relying on GPS or, indoors, on a beacon system offered by Funkwerk. “The speciality is that we use a low-frequency beacon, at 65?kHz, and this gives you completely different behaviour in terms of radiation through walls, through floors. The shape (of the radiation) is much better adjustable, due to the magnetic field you have.

“If you turn it to lower power, then the range is just 50 cm or two metres. That gives you very precise location.”