The company says its ATEX TETRA terminals are designed to be intuitive and easy to use in hazardous environments. They include many advanced features, including an integrated GPS receiver that can locate personnel for safety and resource management, as well as an internal man-down sensor that sends an alert to the console operator if the radio does not move within a certain period of time or tilts past a defined angle. Other safety features include:

• an emergency button that not only alerts colleagues to critical situations but also sends an update of the officer’s location;
• a rugged dust- and water-proof connector, which allows the use of a wide range of accessories including ATEX-certified earpieces and headsets;
• a simplified keyboard with a large button surface that is easy-to-use with protective gloves.

Motorola says its terminals are especially beneficial to fire services. It has supplied MTP850Ex portables to two Danish fire departments, ambulance Hazard Area Response Teams (HART) in the UK and SABIC, the largest and most profitable non-oil company in the Middle East, and one of the world’s five largest petrochemicals manufacturers.

Petrochemical portable

At last year’s TETRA World Congress in Budapest a further ATEX handset entered the picture, from Funkwerk Security Communications. This, the FT4 Ex/FT4 S Ex, is the company’s first ATEX TETRA radio – it was developed
for the chemical and petrochemical industries and it too is IP65-rated.

The handsets have personal security functionality for emergency situations including both manual and automatic alarms. They are also certified according to Germany’s employer liability insurance association guidelines for personal emergency systems in hazardous workplaces. The FT4 S and FT4 S Ex personal emergency systems combine in a single device which includes automatic location tracking and comprehensive personal emergency signalling with TETRA functionality specially designed for group communications.