When the Nassau County Police Department was looking to increase its security coverage for the second presidential debate, which took place on October 16th at Hofstra University, it turned to Integrated Microwave Technologies LLC (IMT), a business unit within the Vitec Group’s Videocom Division, and a leader in advanced digital microwave systems for MAG (Military, Aerospace & Government) markets, and a range of its wireless technologies to create a complete system for the event.
The Nassau County Police Department deployed IMT’s Skymaster HD Transmitter (SkymasterTX), its RMR-X6-II receiver with Newscoder 4 Decoder (NCRX-4), its Mobile Tactical Receiver and its MobilCMDR in order to ensure that the event went off without any security risks. This included a receive site within the Hofstra library, a mobile command center located at the Nassau Coliseum, a Mobile Command Unit and several mobilehandheld receives placed throughout the area.
“At an event featuring both, the President of the United States and the presidential candidate, security is of the utmost importance,” says Integrated Microwave Technologies Divisional Chief Executive Stephen Shpock. “Being able to provide the Nassau County Police Department with reliable, state-of-the-art equipment that significantly increased its ability to see what was going on and provide another layer of safety was very important to us.”
Prior to the debate, IMT’s SkymasterTX was installed inside the police helicopter that was going to be used during the event. SkymasterTX provided the police department with views from above the entire university. Operating in the 6.5-GHz band, the MPEG-4 HD transmitter was used for crowd control and situational awareness, as it allowed the police to spot and address any potential safety concerns. The helicopter also followed the presidential motorcade from JFK airport to the university.
In order to view the video transmitted from the chopper, the main receive site, which was located at the library, featured IMT's RMR-X6-II receiver. In addition, IMT provided an NCRX-4 decoder that streamed IP video onto the police video network for distribution. The Nassau County Police Department also set up a mobile command centerat the Nassau Coliseum, which featured IMT’s Mobile Tactical Receiver as well as a Mobile Command Unit with a 6 way diversity receiver where law enforcement and Secret Service monitored all of the police communications for the event. IMT also provided two MobilCMDR dual diversity COFDM receivers, allowing for instant real-time aerial images using SkymasterTX in Nassau County’s Bell 407.
“IMT recommended using several of its products in conjunction with one another in order to create a comprehensive system for this important national event,” says Sean Drew, IMT business development manager for Law Enforcement. “The Nassau County Police Department was able to have several sets of eyes covering all aspects of the debates, from numerous vantage points throughout campus.”
IMT’s SkymasterTX is a lightweight, full-featured digital COFDM video downlink transmitter purpose built to address the unique requirements of aircraft downlink operations. The downlink transmitter has secure BCRYPT AES 128/256 encryption, ensuring seamless integration and interoperability with any standard-compliant equipment the customers may already have in their inventory. The chassis design features ARINC mounting, with all of the connections and controls located on one side of the unit. A unique feature of SkymasterTX is its built-in GPS receiver, which allows aircraft position data to be downlinked to a command center for display on a moving map system. This also makes it easier to locate the aircraft rapidly.
IMT’s RMR-X6-II software-defined, six-input digital diversity receiver provides maximum ratio combining, DVB-T receive capabilities, ASI output for forwarding the stream, UDP streaming over IP (Ethernet) and an internal MPEG-4/2 SD/HD encoder. NCRX-4 features superb H.264 SD and HD decoding. It has AES decryption capabilities, making it ideal for public security monitoring, covert surveillance, and other secure transmission applications.
The Mobile Tactical Receiver is a ruggedized COFDM (DVB-T-compliant) diversity vehicle-mounted down-link receiver. It offers exceptional RF performance and durability with H.264 MPEG-4 and MPEG-2 decoding. The Mobile Tactical Receiver has AES decryption capabilities that make it ideal for law enforcement, public security monitoring and homeland security applications. The receiver includes integrated antennas and features a compact, lightweight rugged IP-rated chassis, enabling it to be mounted on vehicles in any weather conditions. The receiver outputs IP streaming of the MPEG transport stream to a computer application software decoder and is powered via a single cable. All of these features provide unequaled value in a high-quality COFDM down-link reception device.
IMT’s MobilCMDR (C-COFDM M-Mobile D-Diversity R-Receiver), ruggedized (DVB-T-compliant) receiver is ideal for airborne downlinks and mobile vehicles that operate in tactical and/or strategic settings. It offers exceptional RF performance and durability, combined with true ease of operation and superb H.264/MPEG-2 decoding. The unit displays received video images on a built-in nine-inch high brightness display. The display also features an easy-to-use menu-driven interface. The MobilCMDR is also available with AES decryption capabilities.