Combined Services Winter Sports

We sponsored the Combined Winter Sports which was held in Meribel, France on the 2nd - 6th February 2010. Our involvement was to provide communications for the whole event so the skiers, commentators and event management could keep in contact with one another, without costly mobile phone bills at the end!

Portable Motorola Radios

For the Alpine skiers, the Army will again be looking to exert their domination at team and individual level. Last year they were chased all the way by the RAF!

It is also a big year for the Navy who are hoping to give some of their young up coming skiers the a good test, in events they have struggled with over the past few years.

This time as well as the Downhill, Super G Giant Slalom and Slalom events there will be a fifth race the SC Slalom, designed to give the speedsters and slalom experts an equal chance of success.

The presence of the "Battle Back" competitors was also be much looked forward to. They are hoping to use the championships as a springboard for future Winter Paralympics ambitions.

Snowboarding continues to grow in popularity and a record number of forces competitors are expected in Meribel. The snowboard park in Meribel is one of the best dedicated tracks in the Alps and offers plenty of challenges for all the competitors. The main event remains the Snowboard Cross with thrills and spills of racing on the tight track. But another great attraction is the Parallel Giant Slalom held under the floodlights, which adds extra spice. The Slope Style is the final event, which allows the riders to show off their skills with the board to the full.

The event is over a course of 5 days.

Meribel is once again pulling out the stops for the top service skiers and snowboarders.

Go into any of the bars and restaurants here and the prices hit you between the eyes! One bar was advertising its prices on labels on the tables. A pint of beer 4 Euros, in Happy Hour! The shops are as friendly and helpful as ever.

A link to the whole event and the bloggers is listed below, we hope you enjoyed the event and look forward to next year!

BFBS Sport

British Army Telemark Skiing Association

The British Army Telemark Skiing event will be taking place in Austria and will commence in January 2010. We will be sponsoring this event again in 2010. The Army Sports Association require communications for this event so we will be supplying them with 10 Motorola Hand Held Radios and PA system.

Motorola design, manufacture, sell, install, service analogue and digital two way radios as well as voice and data communications products and systems.

Buy Motorola VHF Hand Held Radios

The list below provides you with the dates of this event. It will be held in Rauris, Austria between 6th - 18th Jan 2010.

Mon 04 - Jan Committee Arrives
Tue 05 - Jan Set up day
Wed 06 - Jan Competitors Arrive
Thu 07 - Jan Training
Fri 08 - Jan Training
Sat 09 - Jan Training
Sun 10 - Jan Training
Mon 11 - Jan Training
Tue 12 - Jan Training
Wed 13 - Jan Development Telemark Sprint
Thu 14 - Jan Championship Giant Slalom
Fri 15 - Jan Championship Telemark Sprint
Sat 16 - Jan Development Telemark Sprint
Sun 17 - Jan Championship Telemark Classic. Prize-giving
Mon 18 - Jan Competitors depart
Tue 19 - Jan Committee depart

Those wishing to take part in the 2010 Army Telemark championships should read the DIN and complete the included entry form.

Many of you reading this may not even know what Telemark Skiing is, so, let's go back in time and give you some background history on Telemark Skiing and the British Army Association.


Where did the Telemark come from?
Telemark skiing was introduced in 1868 by Sondre Norheim of Norway, it is also referred to as free heel skiing which is a technique focused around the Telemark turn. This type of skiing has steadily regained popularity since the 1970s.

What is Telemarking?
The Telemark turn is a skiing technique that allows for fast, smooth and stable turns on a variety of surfaces. Telemark skiers have cable bindings, which allow the heel to rise during turns - hence the term 'free heel' skiing. Telemark skiing is therefore characterised by the 'telemark turn', in which the outside ski leads in the turn and the inside ski trails, with the knee bent and the heel raised. (By contrast, Alpine skiers' boots are fastened firmly to their skis and the inside ski leads in the turn.)

History of Telemarking Skiing
Telemarking Skiing has been called "the world's oldest new sport". Telemark has also been referred to as "the most rhythmic and flowing way to descend snow covered mountains". Telemark skiing is all about the stroke, sensation and the feeling of excited exhilaration that comes from getting into the grove of the tele turn. The true stoke of Telemarking is hard to describe. It can be an almost ethereal experience in those moments when everything comes together: form, function, time and space.

In 1868, Norheim and a group of skiers from Telemark travelled to the city of Christiania (now Oslo) to take part in the second annual Centralforeningen (Central Ski Association), a ski competition the object of which was to see who could ski most skilfully down a particular nearby slope in the city . At the time, nearly all skiers were straight running everything, and struggled to make any kind of turn. At the competition, Norheim and the other villagers shocked the city skiers, demonstrating skills that had never been seen before, including strong turns and precisely controlled stops.

Who Are the ATSA?
ATSA was set up in 2007 to provide a focal point for Telemark skiing at all levels within the British Army.


The Aim of ATSA:

• Encourage new telemarkers to get involved
• Run an annual Army Telemark championships in Austria. (This is open to Royal Navy, RAF, UK Civilian and other military competitors. In 2010 we will also host a world cup telemark event.)
• Send a British Army team to the Inter Services Championships
• Support GB Telemark - the focus for the British national team

Competing in this skiing event are the Army, Navy and The Air Force.

Facebook Fan Page for Communications

Last week Communication Specialists decided to join the World that is social media, this is all relatively new to us but as times move on and the internet evolves we must keep up and reach out to customers. Social Media is by far the superior way to achieve this.

A snapshot of our fan page is below, so you know what to look for! ;)



We have been sharing our events and news on this fan page, along with images of the communications that we offer.

We have also opened up discussions for you to join in and ask any questions you may have regarding "how to operate", technical issues you may be experiencing, perhaps you are not sure "how to programme" your communication system.

Our fan page will help with all your communication needs.

What can we offer you?
Motorola
Kenwood
Codan
Barrett
HYT
iCom
Entel
Vertex Standard
Tait

We look forward to seeing you on our fan page and helping you where we can.
Otto

Walkie Talkies for Schools

Children of all ages are sent for their education to schools and thus they spend a lot of time inside the school campus. The safety and security of these kids should thus be the highest priority for the institutions, which in all ways is responsible for their safety inside the campus. Communication and co –ordination between the various staff and teachers is thus very imperative.

It is impossible to personally send or receive messages, especially when the school is big and covers many buildings or dormitories. At the same time fixing a telephone in each block or even in each class is time and cost consuming task.

Moreover, there is no surety that the lines will always work. The best form of communication in terms of time and cost is the Walkie talkie. Walkie talkies are hand held radio receiver, which can be carried by all within the vicinity of the school campus.

To help you decide what type of two way radio would be suitable for your school you have to take into consideration the distances involved as to which radio can be used. If the campus is not too large, then any license free radio will do, i.e., Kenwood TK-3201, Motorola XTNi (business type license free) or the smaller, cheaper “consumer” radios, such as Motorola XTR446, TLKR T3 or TLKR T7.

Normally we would advise the Kenwood TK-3201 or XTNi as these are very robust.

Alternatively, if the area is larger the school would need to obtain a radio license. Then it would be any number of radios, Motorola CP040, Motorola GP340, Motorola GP344 and so on.

Read more about the importance of walkie talkie for schools on our website

Good brands of Walkie Talkie?

We keep being asked "What are the best brands of Walkie Talkie" - so we decided to talk about that and list the best Walkie Talkie brands on the market today.

On our website we list our walkie talkie manufacturers in the order of preference to our clients, this list is not what we 'think' is the best but what our customers think is the best.

Top Ten Walkie Talkies by preference

• Motorola
  Motorola radios are world leaders in two way radio Communications. Legendary quality and reliability. USA manufacturer.



• Kenwood
  Total solutions in the Commercial and Amateur Radio Communications markets. Manufactured in Japan.



• Icom
  A major Manufacturer of Radio Communications in the Marine, Avionics and Land Mobile Radio Industries. The equipment is manufactured in Japan.



• Vertex Standard
  Offering total solutions to the worlds commerical and public safety Radio Communications markets. Manufactured in Japan.



• HYT



• Tait
  Very high quality Radio Communications and data equipment from this New
  Zealand based manufacturer.



• Entel
  Professional radio communications equipment for land based, marine and radio telemetry applications.



• Barrett
  Barrett Communications is an international, leading manufacturer of long distance high frequency communications equipment.


Codan
Designs and builds High Frequency (HF) Radio, Satellite, and Microwave Links products.


• Otto
  A highly specialised Manufacturer based in the United States of America designing audio accessories specifically for the two-way radio market.

Tour of Britain

Communication Specialists provide two way radio for the Tour of Britain

The Tour of Britain is a blue riband cycling event that returned to the British cycling calendar in 2004 after an absence of five years. Cycling is a hugely popular sport and British cyclists are among the best in the world, winning five gold medals in the 2004 Olympics and Paralympics.

The Tour of Britain has formerly been known as the Milk Race, the Kellogg's Tour and the Pru Tour of Britain. The aspiration of the Tour of Britain was to re-launch the event along the lines of the Tour de France, which has no title sponsor but a spectrum of public and private sector support.

The Tour of Britain has placed itself on a global platform alongside major races such as The Tour de France and Giro d'Italia by attracting a combination of national and international teams. Teams which are attracted to racing the Tour of Britain include Pro Tour Teams such as T-Mobile, Quickstep, Phonak and CSC.

The world governing body the UCI (the Union Cyclisme Internationale) granted the 2004Tour of Britain world championship ranking status. The Tour of Britain is determined in the future to become part of the UCI's elite Pro Tour calendar.

The Tour of Britain has four founding directors: Chief Executive, Hugh Roberts who also heads sporting marketing and events company Sweetspot Tony Doyle MBE, twice world pursuit champion Mick Bennett, double Olympic medallist Peter Moore OBE, former Managing Director of Center Parc.

The Tour of Britain is a not for profit organisation governed by a Board of Trustees with representatives from the sport of cycling, trade and industry and politics.

Communication Specialists are sponsors of the Tour of Britain and installed their radio equipment, their engineers Slawosz Uznanski, Raymoond Brooks and Maciej Korneluk were there that day to help install the required equipment on Thursday 6 September 2007.

For the Tour of Britain Communication Specialists supplied the following equipment:

• 60 + 6 car/mobile Motorola GM900 and CM140 radio units complete with fist mics, power leads and UHF 3dB collinear mag mounting antennas, installed in over 20 brand new 2007
• Vauxhall Astra and Vectra cars
• 4 mobile units GM950 for motorcycles with autocom headset systems
• 80 + 30 hand portable Motorola radios with spare batteries and chargers

All systems work with 2 independent repeaters, located in the organisers cars, one in front of the cyclists group other one in the middle, to provide maximum coverage for all radio users.

All equipment was prepared in our workshop (programming, testing, charging batteries) one week before installation. Installation of car/mobile units was made on Thursday 6 September and Friday 7 September (motorcycles on Saturday). Giving out all hand portable radio equipment to the users was made on Saturday and Sunday.

Instructions on how to operate channels was given to all users.

So far all equipment and system works well. Comm-spec Team (Kervin Labrosse, Raymond Brooks and Slawosz Uznanski) is following the race in Tour Of Britain as a technical support for two way radio equipment and all communication system.

Stage 1: Reading to Southampton - Monday 10 September
Stage 2: Yeovilton to Taunton - Tuesday 11 September
Stage 3: Worcester to Wolverhampton - Wednesday 12 September
Stage 4: Rother Valley Country Park to Bradford - Thursday 13 September
Stage 5: Liverpool to Kendall - Friday 14 September
Stage 6: Dumfries to Glasgow - Saturday 15 September