Putting the V8 into radio communications

When an opportunity came knocking for Kenwood to provide its radios to V8 race control, the company jumped at the chance.

For two seasons now the company has, through Racecomms, provided its NEXEDGE radios to V8 Supercar racing teams.

V8 Supercar racing is seen as Australia’s premier motorsport category and is regarded around the world for its ‘action-packed’ racing and entertainment. Kenwood’s radios were chosen for the motorsport after trials of other formats found them to provide better performance.

They were already proven in motorsport, successfully being used as part of Formula One racing. The radios had improved coverage in both analog and digital modes and the audio quality was suitable for high-noise environments.

Kenwood was able to provide custom modifications to firmware and therefore the device integrated well into custom-designed audio accessories. The radios have dual PTT - two inputs to a single portable radio, digital-to-analog conversion to enable fans to still listen to their teams, and IP capabilities to provide versatility.

This season is the first that will have all full operations staff (events, race control, marshals, safety, recovery and medical) solely using NEXEDGE radios.

The devices are robust and, although they are carted all over the world and around Australia, they are still meeting V8 race control’s expectations.

The equipment operates in 25 and 12.5 kHz analog and 12.5 and 6.25 kHz NXDN digital modes and has security against casual electronic eavesdropping via its digital air interface. The system also includes voice and data scrambling for security against external threats while providing confidentiality within the same system and talk group. Internetwork links are further secured through encrypted VPN tunnelling.

Over 200 frequency allocations are used for each race event, ensuring correct setup and integration is achieved. Before a race, total management of frequency allocations, programming and testing is done with all equipment. The system is also capable of being expanded to meet the team’s changing requirements.

With Racecomms now providing a complete support team, the issues of interference have been controlled. The teams will continue using the NEXEDGE system for the next five years.