Secure Land Communications / Special features

Positioning the TETRA radio

Putting you on the map

Those in charge of an operation need to know where people are. TETRA radios from Airbus make it easier because they all contain a positioning module.

The radios can be tracked. For example:

  • The radio can automatically send its location at certain time intervals.
  • Control room can ask for the location and the radio can send it. The user does not need to do this.
  • When the user makes the red emergency call, the radio can automatically include the location information in the call.

Where are you?

'Where are you' lets the radio user take advantage of the location information on the radios.

In short, 'Where are you' becomes the question no-one needs to ask. The user can easily send a 'Where Are You question' to a colleague or team. They can answer by pressing the push-to-talk key.

The user’s radio will now display an arrow that points to the colleague’s direction. He can also see how far the colleague is in that direction.

'Where are you' is only available in TETRA radios from Airbus.

New and improved positioning

Global Navigation Satellite System GNSS

The TH1n light-weight radio TH9 handportable TETRA radio and the THR9 Ex ATEX TETRA radio are now even faster and easier to locate. They contain the GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) positioning module. Also Tactilon Dabat, a smartphone and a TETRA radio in one device includes the GNSS module.

The GNSS module can use any two of these satellite systems at once:

  • A-GPS
  • Glonass
  • BeiDou
  • Galileo (later possibility with a software update)

The improvements

  • Faster time-to-fix
  • Better accuracy in so called urban canyons.

Tall buildings can block a radio’s view to a satellite, and such an area is called an urban canyon. But where the radio may not get line-of-sight to one satellite, another may be in view. The GNSS can use two satellite systems and get more accurate positioning – even in urban canyons.

Radio positioning for tracking the units

Use the TETRA radios to track

  • field units
  • vehicles
  • vessels
  • containers.

The radio can send its coordinates as an SDS message

  • at certain time intervals
  • after a certain distance travelled,
  • or both,
  • and if the radio does not have radio coverage, it can save the coordinates and send them when it is back in coverage.

"Where are you?" video

Where are you?

Knowing where your fellow officers are can be vital. They could be quite near, but if you are in a forest or city, they might as well be invisible. In some situation, getting this information quickly can be a matter of life or death.

Your radio can provide automatic positioning between radio users during a call. Right on your radio's display. 

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