Another successful RadioComms event in 2011

RadioComms Connect again had Etihad Stadium buzzing in Melbourne this year, with over 700 participants attending the 28 presentations and discussing technology at 68 stands in the exhibition hall.

Critical communications during the Queensland flood and Cyclone Yasi disasters of early 2011 was the topic chosen by Garry Kerr for the first keynote presentation. The audience sat in silence, recalling the events of last summer as Kerr showed footage of the devastation from victims and rescuers. He went on to mention that 14,349 triple zero emergency calls were made during that time to ambulance and fire departments.

Taking a little break from the radio side of things, attendees looked on in amazement as a picture of a 6 m snake slithering beside a road was displayed on the screen. Kerr told the audience that after being aggravated by the floods, the snake went on to attack passing traffic!

A brief overview of the new Queensland Emergency Centre (QEOC) was mentioned. It will be opening in 2012 at Kedron Park Emergency Services complex to coordinate day-to-day emergency responses and provide centralised management of large-scale incidents and disasters.

Two streams of technical papers gave attendees a chance to visit 35 presenters from major companies and associations including a case study overview from Chris McCaskie from Surf Life Saving NSW. Their radio network has undergone change in recent times with a significant change management project rolled out over 18 months. The project will be finalised in 2012.

Other hot topics from the conferences included phase II of the P25 standard being released; security and how to protect against the new breed of cyberterrorist; the new P25 Solutions Centre; safeguarding lone workers using leverage convergence technology; and the future of digital mobile radios.

The annual ARCIA Industry Gala Dinner was also packed full of eager workers interested in networking and was held at the Palladium restaurant in the Crown Casino. The awards were given out by Christian Kelly to the high-achievers, newcomers and lifetime members of the industry.

The list of the award winners follows:

Sir Angus Tait Memorial Scholarship - Dylan Bucktrout

Life Member of ARCIA - Martin Cahill from Pacific Wireless Communications

Apprentice Trainee Award (sponsored by MobileMasters) - Theo Goslett from ComGroup

New Talent Award (sponsored by Icom) - Elisha McCann from Kenwood

Peter Wallace Award (sponsored by Vertex Standard) - Jamie Baker from RFI

Jonathon Livingstone Seagull Award - Craig Ross from Crosscom

Professional Sales Award (sponsored by CRS) - Damien Tyrell from Motorola

Customer Service Award (sponsored by ZCG Scalar) - Vanessa Rayner from MobileMasters

Technical Excellence Award (sponsored by Zetron) - Nigel Porritt from AA Radio Services

Engineering Excellence Award (sponsored by ComGroup) - Neil Sutherland from Nixon Communications

Future projects were discussed at the DMR panel session with topics covering the DMR Tier 3 standard and products which will be released into the market in 2012; how DMR relates to other digital systems; and the differences between DMR and dPMR.

Overall the large numbers at the exhibition and attendance at the conferences has shown that the radio industry is still going strong and, with newcomers still arriving, it will continue to grow in future.

There is a hint that there may be a change of venue next year. More details will be featured in the January/February issue of RadioComms Asia-Pacific magazine.