G S Kok, Hytera's vice-president for subscriber terminals, talks to ...

RepeatersForest murmursFor 140 staff and their radios at Whinfell Forest inCumbria, people’s holidays are hard workIguess you know the basics of CenterParcs, the principle of a holiday in a forestlocation”, begins John Summers, technicalservices manager at the company’s WhinfellForest location, near Penrith. “We haveCumbrian lodges, which are a double-pitch,wooden construction, lodge, and we have 863of them, in 500 acres of pine forest.”But the apparent tranquillity of this Lakelandscene is regularly replaced by fermenteach Monday and Friday, the change-overdays, when up to 4000 guests depart and up to4000 new ones check in. “I guess the part thatinterests you the most is that we have 140-oddradios that we’ve just bought”, Mr Summerscontinues. “That means that on a Monday anda Friday, when they are all out and in use, wehave 140 people communicating with eachother – and that’s split across our security, ourhousekeepers, technical services, grounds andour leisure department.”The new DMR radios, by Hytera, replacean ageing analogue system dating back towhen the holiday centre opened, 14 years ago.One particular problem with it was that staffwere unable to communicate adequately atthe extremities of the large, sloping site. “Forinstance, our village is supplied by two boreholesand we lift our water up to a massivetank”, Mr Summers explains. “One million“On the move at the Whinfell Forest park is staff member Chris Robson. The newdigital radio system provides good coverage of the farthest corners of the village sitelitres go up there – it’s a swimming pool onlegs, basically!“We could never get any radio coveragethere because, with analogue, it was affectedby the trees. So the issue is that I’m sendingstaff to locations that are key to operationof the village and I can’t communicate withthem.”After examining various options, and conductingsome trials, the team chose the Hyterasystem, to be supplied by Derbyshire-basedradio company Zycomm. The equipment wasinstalled in June.With experience of digital radios gained ina previous post, Mr Summers already knewthe kind of performance improvements to expect.“We’ve now got full coverage across ourwhole village”, he says. “It’s much clearer now.In fact, that is an advantage because over theradio we are giving out addresses constantly,and you need to get the number right or we goto the wrong place. So to be as clear as possibleis one of the key things that we needed.”Twin repeatersTo provide additional capacity, the digital systemis based on a pair of DMR repeaters, eachof them providing up to two voice channelsthrough its two time-slots. “One of them coversour, kind of, emergency services – fire, securityand the medical and technical services”,says Mr Summers. “The other repeater covershousekeeping, leisure and food and beverages.”The system makes effective use of the talkgroupscapability of the DMR technology, headds. “It would be just constant barrage otherwise!Certainly, if you mixed tech servicesand housekeeping together, particularly on achangeover day, you’d never get a free channel.Those channels are not quiet on a Monday andFriday because there’s so much traffic comingthrough, of little bits that need doing.”Now that the system is installed and working,Mr Summers is working with Zycommto explore the possibilities of data messagingwith the radios. It could be used to pass outrequest for service from guests – to replace alight-bulb or to find why an oven is not working,for example. “At the moment we just passthose verbally over the radio”, he says. “But inthe long term we are looking at a way of link-4Sponsored by