The Comfortable Earpiece. Even the shape of your own ear changes with time.

The shape of  everyone's ears and ear canal is slightly different.  The shape of your own ear canal may even change so if even you use a generic eartip or a custom molded earpiece the right earpiece for you will change.   

Generic Eartips
The 2 most common types of generic eartip are the Mushroom shaped eartip and the Flanged style eartip. The tapered design of the flanged can be a little less forgiving on ears.

These bung style earpieces are inexpensive and they effective in high noise environments.  However their drawbacks are that they can be uncomfortable and that they block the flow of air to the ear canal. As a result the ear canal can warm up and this can be the cause of irritation.

To avoid an itchy ear the most important piece of advice is to keep your ears clean  before using an earpiece.  Good hygiene should by common sense reduce the possibility of irritation and will also prevent wax building up in the eartip.  If wax occludes the hole in your eartip sound will not pass out of it (see future blog Common Reasons Why Your Earpiece Doesn't Work).

Semi Custom Eartips
An alternative to a bung is the Skeleton ear insert.

 These are flexible inserts that directly replace your eartip. The Skeleton eartips are more comfortable to wear and are held in place by the little ridge in your ear. There are various models the best in my opinion being made from medical grade silicon.
The Skeleton insert does not block the ear allowing fresh air to pass by into the ear canal alleviating itching.   As such they offer no isolation against external sound. They are therefore unsuitable for use in high noise environments.

Skeleton eartips are available to fit the Left or Right ear in 3 sizes Small, Medium and Large.

Custom Molded Eartips
The most comfortable earpiece is a Custom Molded Earpiece made from an impression taken from the shape of your ear. (TV presenters may require both a left and a right side earpiece depending on the camera angle).  For many years the custom process was expensive and time consuming. Fortunately times have changed and a more affordable inexpensive fixed price Mainland UK service is now available called Proguard.

Custom Molded earpieces are made using an impression taken from your ear.  These can be a standard impression which is mostly the external shape or covert wireless earpieces a deep ear impression is required. Ear impressions should only be taken by a suitably trained person.

Custom molded earpieces are produced from hard clear acrylic plastic or softer squidgy substances into which various sound drivers can be fitted.
Custom earpiece may have a small air breathing  hole or even a valve fitted to allow air to circulate.

30 Second earpiece fitting guide

The 3 most common comments I hear regarding earpieces on our exhibition stands are:

• My earpiece falls out when I move.
• My ear itches after a while.
• How do I get a molded earpiece made.

Most earpieces are supplied to fit the largest ear. As a result the tube is generally too long and the earpiece tends to fall out. A well fitted earpiece will sit comfortably behind your ear lobe and not ride up above it when you place your earpiece into your ear. You can check to see if this happens using a mirror or ask a colleague to check.

If this does occur it is easy to fix. It is a simple case of trimming the tube to length using  a decent pair of scissors.  First remove the eartip. Next pull out the right angled joiner that the tip was fitted over from the acoustic tube. It might resist as the tube has expanded to accept the joiner but it is possible.

Earpiece 90 degree right angle joiner

Now replace the tubing over your ear and note the correct position of the end of tubing where you put the eartip into your ear.  It will be more accurate if you can allow for the short length of the right angle joiner.  Remember it is always easier to cut off a little more tube, it is impossible to put it back on!
Before using the scissors remove the acoustic tube from over your ear. 

Earpiece fitting adjustment instructions

Push the right angle joiner back into the acoustic tube and fit the eartip. 

Did you know if you swing the right angle joiner 180 degrees in the opposite direction you can use your earpiece as a Left or Right side earpiece.

Finally the clip should be attached to you collar at the position on you collar so that when you turn your head to the opposite side it the coil expands without pulling your earlobe down and when you turn to the same side it does not pile out onto your shoulder (in TV world it stays out of shot).  
You may need to adjust the length of the tube from the end of the coil to the collar clip.

Earpiece Collar Clip

Finally if your earpiece still falls out it is time to consider either a semi custom earpiece insert such as a Skeleton eartip or a custom molded earpiece - more on these items to follow on our blog.

It only takes one or two shared batteries in a large fleet of radios to create an apparent multitude of poor batteries.

It only takes one or two shared batteries in a large fleet of radios to create an apparent multitude of poor batteries. It is a model that can be applied to headset sockets, earpieces, antennae and so on.

A duff  battery or indeed a radio with a duff battery will go straight back in the most convenient slot in the charger and the next user will pick it up. If the last radio back in the charger was also duff and has now gone green the first user will also have walked off with another duff battery. Before long several duff batteries will be circulating in the most commonly used slots and people will be saying none of the radios are reliable. 

This model can equally be applied to earpieces, headsets sockets, antennas (how often do you see people carrying their radio by the antenna).

The biggest money saving tip I can offer customers is
If you do not already mark your radios now is the time to do it.

A simple unique number on the radio, the battery and the headset will quickly enable you to pull out possible culprits as a pattern evolves.  Who knows it could be a particular charger socket, a particular battery or a particular headset socket causing all your reliability issues.

Tetra Radio accessory Orders to Isle of Man and Gibraltar

We were pleased to recently to send orders to both the Isle of Man and Gibraltar

Isle of Man Parking Administration

Showcomms BG-F 1 wire earpieces for Tetra Motorola MTH800 radios
Motorola FTN6355A MTH800 Klickfast Shoulder worn radio bracket

Gibraltar Health Authority

Sepura 3000 series radio Battery and Battery Chargers

Sepura 8000 series radio Klickfast yellow high visibility cases.

EUROS - Showcomms we have made it even easier with Euros

From 17th January  payment can be made directly in Euros on the  SHOWCOMMS website.

To switch the price of item
from £ to Euro 
click on the European Flag at the top left of the page.

2 Secrets that have contibuted to our continuing success at Showcomms

Here are 2 secrets which I believe have made a significant contribution towards our continuing success during these past 3 years.

All of our sales and order team have attended at least one Dale Carnegie course either Skills for Success of their Sales Advantage course. I would like to Congratulate James Lovell (picture below) having just received his certificate from the Dale Carnegie Sales Advantage course he completed this week. James is our newest member of the Showcomms' team

 
The second secret is Action Coach who have installed into me the importance and virtues of planning, goals, frameworks, procedures, reporting and measuring results.  The proof is really in the figures and the goals we have achieved in just 9 months. If I might just introduce our coach, Shweta Jhajharia, recently receiving an award for Franchisee of the year.

Wheels of commerce turn with Herentals Fietst Annual City Centre Cycling Race in Belgium

For those of you that follow our Showcomms' posts you will know that Belgium is an area we often feature and over the last 8 years I have spent many visits to the country visiting exhibitions and customers. It was therefore interesting to receive an order from Herentals in Zone Kempen and learn about the towns rather large annual cycling event held after the Tour de France.

Herental City Centre Cycling Race

The equipment purchased, Nokia THR880i tetra BG-THR 1 wire Kevlar headsets and Skeleton earpiece inserts, will be used by  we use the equipment for communication inside the organization and with the emergency services.

Brandweer HERENTALS

Showcomms new home

We have moved into new premises just down the road from our original home for 10 years.

It is quite a moment to have moved. The logistics of moving has taken nearly all of  the excitement out the move in what has been the hottest week of the year so far.  Thank you to all our staff and colleagues who have helped and offered help whilst we waited for the internet to catch up.  Amanda and Nikki who stepped up to the plate when I pulled a muscle in my shoulder dismantling racks. James who lent the use of his trailer and helped load and unload, Nick the chippie, Justin who installed the network infrastructure & alarm system and Wes our preferred  Man with large Van.
A special mention to The Phonecoop support teams and Performance media Insurance and our insurer's Aviva. Thank you to all the delivery drivers and Royal Mail on BR6 who are delivering to our new address despite the labels on the boxes.

To Petra - thank you.

What is new you ask me? (1) - Save est. £500 in year one on your Show & Production battery costs.

What is new you ask me?
Well I have been out to 2 exhibitions recently, BAPCO, in Manchester, for the Police and ABTT, in London, for Theatre where I discovered this new products which I have listed on our
New Products Page

Fischer Rack Mounting Battery charger Save £500 est. in the first year

NOW Typical 16 cells per @ 20p each
Cost  £1,168.00 per annum.

WITH Rack Charger & 32 cells 
£552.00.
Subsequent years 32 new rechargeable cells @ £160.00.

Cost effective more whilst  reducing environmental waste.

B-APCO 2013 marks our return to the UK Bluelight market

VISIT US AT at BAPCO 2013
Manchester Central
Mon 29th Tues 30th April.
Stand H10
to REGISTER for BAPCO2013


A number of new products will be launched at 2013 including
TC4_STP8000 covert wireless. 

A low cost single wire acoustic tube earpiece headset. Similar to the BG-F for the MTH800 and MTP850 the low cost version is manufactured in the same factory with slightly different PTT and earpiece driver.

All our own brand Tetra headsets are supplied with a 1 year warranty.
Showcomms  BG, Centurion, Sentinel, MSG and TC4 models are manufactured on an ISO9001 certificated line and full technical specs are available on request.

SALE CLOSED - Used Comms Kits for sale Jelibox, UHF Radio Talkback and RTS User stations

USED EQUIPMENT SALE			Each line Quantity 1 unless stated	All prices exclude VAT
Item No	Manufacturer	Acronym	Description	List Price	Used Price
1	RTS Systems	SAP 612	1U Source assignment panel	£645.00	£290.25
2	RTS Systems	CCD214	RTS Crosstalk Cancellation Device	£220.00	£99.00
3	RTS Systems	MCE 325	Programmable User Station 4 channel buttons	£745.00	£509.40
4	RTS Systems	MCS 325	Modular Speaker short Jacklead	£205.00
5	RTS Systems	MCP-90-8	19.2cm mic for all RTS and Telex panels	£120.00
6	RTS Systems	MCP4	Tandem Mount Kit	£62.00
7	RTS Systems	MCE 325	Programmable User Station	£745.00	£509.40
8	RTS Systems	MCS 325	Modular Speaker	£205.00
9	RTS Systems	MCP-90-8	19.2cm mic for all RTS and Telex panels	£120.00
10	RTS Systems	MCP4	Tandem Mount Kit	£62.00
11	RTS Systems	MCE 325	Programmable User Station	£745.00	£509.40
12	RTS Systems	MCS 325	Modular Speaker	£205.00
13	RTS Systems	MCP-90-8	19.2cm mic for all RTS and Telex panels	£120.00
14	RTS Systems	MCP4	Tandem Mount Kit	£62.00
15	RTS Systems	MRT327	2 Channel User Station	£390.00	£175.50
16	RTS Systems	MCS 325	Modular Speaker	£205.00	£100.00
17	RTS Systems	MRT327	2 Channel User Station	£390.00	£175.50
18	RTS Systems	LMS 325	Powered Modular Speaker	£280.00	£747.00
19	CTP Systems	FW6000	6 channel rack mount four wire box	£1,200.00
20	Beyer	DT100	DT100 and Goose neck mic for FW6000	£180.00
21	Oakleigh Cases	Flightcase	Case with cutouts for FW6000	£225.00	£112.50
22	CTP Systems	FW400	4 channel desktop four wire box	£650.00	£325.00
23	Altair	WBS-200	Altair Base Station 1.88 to 1.9GHz	£809.29	£1,456.12
	Altair	W-BPS-200	Charger for Altair beltpacks	£132.79
	Altair	WBP-200	Altair wireless beltpack	£345.10
	Altair	WBP-200	Altair wireless beltpack	£345.10
	Altair	WBP-200	Altair wireless beltpack	£345.10
	Altair	WBP-200	Altair wireless beltpack	£345.10
	Altair	AM-100/2	Single sided headsets for beltpacks	£93.10
	Altair	WBP-200	Single sided headsets for beltpacks	£94.10
	Altair	WBP-200	Single sided headsets for beltpacks	£95.10
	Altair	WBP-200	Single sided headsets for beltpacks	£96.10
	Peli	1600	PELI 1600 Flightcase	£211.36
24	Altair	WBS-200	Altair Base Station 1.88 to 1.9GHz	£809.29	£1,456.12
	Altair	W-BPS-200	Charger for Altair beltpacks	£132.79
	Altair	WBP-200	Altair wireless beltpack	£345.10
	Altair	WBP-200	Altair wireless beltpack	£345.10
	Altair	WBP-200	Altair wireless beltpack	£345.10
	Altair	WBP-200	Altair wireless beltpack	£345.10
	Altair	AM-100/2	Single sided headsets for beltpacks	£93.10
	Altair	AM-100/2	Single sided headsets for beltpacks	£94.10
	Altair	AM-100/2	Single sided headsets for beltpacks	£95.10
	Altair	AM-100/2	Single sided headsets for beltpacks	£96.10
	Peli	1600	PELI 1600 Flightcase	£211.36
25	Telex	BTR-24	Wireless intercom system - Base station Standalone		£1,200.00
	Telex	TR24	Wireless intercom system - Belt pack +PS
	Telex	TR24	Wireless intercom system - Belt pack +PS
	Telex	TR24	Wireless intercom system - Belt pack +PS
	Telex	TR24	Wireless intercom system - Belt pack +PS
	Telex	TR24	Wireless intercom system - Belt pack +PS
26	Altair	MTX-416	Audio matrix and 2 wire rourter Matrix NEW	£540.00	£400.00
27	Tecpro	PS711	Tecpro beltpack intercom power supply	£122.85	£67.57
28	Motorola	CP040 4Ch	4 Channel UHF radio with battery stubby antenna and beltclip	£145.00	£672.30
	Motorola	CP040 4Ch	4 Channel UHF radio with battery stubby antenna and beltclip	£145.00
	Motorola	CP040 4Ch	4 Channel UHF radio with battery stubby antenna and beltclip	£145.00
	Motorola	CP040 4Ch	4 Channel UHF radio with battery stubby antenna and beltclip	£145.00
	Motorola	CP040 4Ch	4 Channel UHF radio with battery stubby antenna and beltclip	£145.00
	Motorola	CP040 4Ch	4 Channel UHF radio with battery stubby antenna and beltclip	£145.00
	Motorola	CP040	CP040 6 Way charger	£250.00
	Motorola	CP040	6 x CP040 Spare Ni-MH Battery	£120.00
	Oakleigh Cases		Flightcase for holding 6 CP040 radios and Chargers	£254.00
29		CP040 4Ch	4 Channel UHF radio with battery stubby antenna and beltclip	£145.00	£672.30
		CP040 4Ch	4 Channel UHF radio with battery stubby antenna and beltclip	£145.00
		CP040 4Ch	4 Channel UHF radio with battery stubby antenna and beltclip	£145.00
		CP040 4Ch	4 Channel UHF radio with battery stubby antenna and beltclip	£145.00
		CP040 4Ch	4 Channel UHF radio with battery stubby antenna and beltclip	£145.00
		CP040 4Ch	4 Channel UHF radio with battery stubby antenna and beltclip	£145.00
	Motorola	CP040	CP040 6 Way charger	£250.00
		CP040	6 x CP040 Spare Ni-MH Battery	£120.00
	Oakleigh Cases		Flightcase for holding 6 CP040 radios and Chargers	£254.00
30	Prolink	TKR-851	Prolink - Kenwood Base Duplex Station UHF withdipoles and feeder cable	£2,095.00	£1,047.50
	UHF Dipole		2 UHF base station dipole antennae	£120.00	£54.00
	Feeder Cable		2 Low loss feeder cable with correct connector for base and dipoles	£90.00	£40.50
31	Telex	PH2	Double sided telex headset XLR4F	£165.00	£74.25
32	Telex	PH2	Double sided telex headset XLR4F	£165.00	£74.25
33	Telex	PH2	Double sided telex headset XLR4F	£165.00	£74.25
34	Telex	PH2	Double sided telex headset XLR4F	£165.00	£74.25
35	Telex	PH2	Double sided telex headset XLR5M	£165.00	£74.25
36	Telex	PH2	Double sided telex headset XLR5M	£165.00	£74.25
37	Telex	PH2	Double sided telex headset XLR5M	£165.00	£74.25
38	Telex	PH2	Double sided telex headset XLR5M	£165.00	£74.25
39	Telex	PH2	Double sided telex headset XLR5M	£165.00	£74.25
40	Telex	PH2	Double sided telex headset XLR5M	£165.00	£74.25
41	Telex	PH2	Double sided telex headset XLR5M	£165.00	£74.25
42	Telex	PH2	Double sided telex headset XLR5M	£165.00	£74.25
43	Telex	PH2	Double sided telex headset XLR5M	£165.00	£74.25
44	Telex	PH2	Double sided telex headset XLR5M	£165.00	£74.25
45	Pelicase	1550	Hard black Pelicase assume minimal foam lining	£156.00	£70.20
46	Pelicase	1550	Hard black Pelicase assume minimal foam lining	£156.00	£70.20
47	Pelicase	1500	Hard black Pelicase assume minimal foam lining	£130.00	£58.50
48	Pelicase	1500	Hard black Pelicase assume minimal foam lining	£130.00	£58.50
49	Pelicase	1500	Hard black Pelicase assume minimal foam lining	£130.00	£58.50
50	Pelicase	1500	Hard black Pelicase assume minimal foam lining	£130.00	£58.50
51	Pelicase	1500	Hard black Pelicase assume minimal foam lining	£130.00	£58.50
52	Pelicase	1500	Hard black Pelicase assume minimal foam lining	£130.00	£58.50
53	Pelicase	1500	Hard black Pelicase assume minimal foam lining	£130.00	£58.50
54	Pelicase	1500	Hard black Pelicase assume minimal foam lining	£130.00	£58.50
55	Pelicase	1450	Hard black Pelicase assume minimal foam lining	£100.00	£45.00
56	Pelicase	1450	Hard black Pelicase assume minimal foam lining	£100.00	£45.00
57	Pelicase	1400	Hard black Pelicase assume minimal foam lining	£86.50	£38.93
58	Altair		Charger case for charger and 4 batteries
Jeli Box Kit 1			Jelibox System Camera crane talkback comms and tally kit	£4,352.00	£2,176.00
59	Oakleigh Cases		4U Custom Flightcase, aluminium finish	£395.00
	Steve Jagger	Tally unit 1	Remote camera tally box and 3 external lamps	£950.00
	CTP Sytems	Custom	4 x four wire and mix amp	£950.00
	RTS Systems	PS15	1 + 1 channel intercom power supply	£425.00
	RTS Systems	SSA324A	Dual 2 wire / 4 wire system interface adapter	£555.00
	RTS Systems	MCP1	Rack mounting kit (joins SSA324As together)	£85.00
	Bryant Broadcast		2U XLR Jack field with internal wiring looms	£400.00
	Kelsey Acoustics	FD7/16	Mains Distribution Unit	£142.00
			Ancillary items	£450.00
					£14,572.18

Hire Department to close

Special Announcement

From 1st March 2013 our hire department will close
All RF comms kit will be sold off.

I will be concentrating my efforts on the Sales section of the business and also the spares.sennheiser.co.uk website when we move to our new premises in the coming weeks.

Our Wireless Tour Guide Equipment will remain to hire for Factory Tours and Manufacturing Plant Open Days.

UKTI Brussels 1 day Table Top Security Event 28th Feb

Showcomms will be exhibiting at the

UK SECURITY & DEFENCE TECHNOLOGY EXHIBITION
Thursday 28 February 2013 - Brussels

The Trade & Investment department of the British Embassy in Brussels is hosting a UK
Security & Defence Technology Exhibition, which will take place in Brussels at the
conference facilities of Autoworld for a one-day tabletop exhibition on Thursday 28
February (11.00-16.00).

 http://ukinbelgium.fco.gov.uk/en/news/events/security-defence-event

 To attend you must register at

http://www.eventbrite.com/event/4857267217#

Myself and Keith will be arriving the day before in Brussels by Eurostar if anyone would like to meet before hand to discuss business over meal in the evening.

We will bringing along a selection of headsets and accessories for Sepura, Nokia, Cassidian, Hytera and Motorola Tetra Radios and also some Kenwood 2 pin accessories.

This year there are 2 of us so we can carry a little more on the train. If there is anything specific you require or would like to see please let me know.

 We would look forward to see you at Autoworld

 

Motorola Turbo Bluetooth Dongle and headets for Blue water Lend Lease

I know it is a long time since I wrote on the Showcomms Blog. Things have been truly busy whilst I have been working on the business rather in the business.

Our new Showcomms website is operational with new products including a Bluetooth Dongle for Motorola Trbo radios. DP3400 DP3600.

McKay Bluetooth Dongle for MotorTrbo

I would be interested to hear from anyone who would like to test it for  us and present their findings.

Whilst I am on the subject of MotorolaTrbo accessories BlueWater, our large, local out of town retail centre acquired 200 headsets for their MotoTrbos through their company Lend Lease.  Another great Kent based Customer.

10th Anniversary. Action Coach. Sennheiser Pro Spare parts

Yes as we hit our 10th birthday this year  as a company we have grown beyond the size of our original premises.  Early in 2013  we will be moving across the site to what is known as the
 Red Block.

 For myself I have enrolled on an ActionCoach program commencing 1st Jan. I am looking forward to be under the guidance of Shweta Jhajharia. The ground work is already being put in place in preperation for exciting new times.

Our spare parts website spares.sennheiser.co.uk now includes spares for Das, Nagra, Neumann and Rane with Rycote soon to be added.

Website relaunched

The blog has been very quiet again.
Since the end of a very busy summer I have been working on our new website.

I am pleased to say we relaunched the www.showcomms.co.uk site on the 1st November 2012.
The new site has a clean modern look and offers additional features.

There is a 1p postal rate on the first 40 orders if you would like to check out the cart.

Your feedback and comments would be appreciated. There is some snagging to do and some images still to upload.

We are exhibiting 3 Exhibitions in Holland then London and later this year in Belgium.

Showcomms will be exhibiting at 3 exhibitions this year starting the first week of June.

                        IVVP Holland, June 6th & 7th, Gorinchem

Innoverend Vakevenement voor Politie

  

ABTT 2012 13 & 14th June London   

  
Theatre & stage wired and wireless intercom equipment

      Astrid User Days   Lotto Mons Expo, Belgium, Oct 18th & 19th 
The latest TETRA applications for secure communications are presented in the 3,000 m² exhibition hall. 

What a Journey so far!

I was up early this morning, Saturday 19th May 2012, to watch the start of the Olympic Torch relay on television.   The man  from the TST (Torch Security Team) who lit the torch for the first leg of the relay was wearing a Showcomms Acoustic Tube Earpiece (BG-F-Tetra one wire headset).

As seen around the world and there is one of our earpieces on the left!

The Our journey began about 8 years ago when a Policeman on the first roll out of Tetra Radios in the UK called and asked me if I could get him a headset for his new radio.  His issued headset was no good and he wanted one like the one he had seen on Showcomms website, one like they used on TV! 

If you had said to me then that this same headset would be used by The International Criminal Court, Nato, Belgium Police Forces, Parts of the The Highways Agency, Dartford River Crossing, Westminster City Council, Kent Count Council, Transport for London and that I would be watching out for them on TV for the 2012 Olympic Torch Relay I would never have believed you!

What a journey so far!
Thank you all customers and colleagues both past and present!

Voicevests and Earpieces London 2012

I have received comments from as far afield as Manchester that I have not posted anything on our blog recently.  I shall make amends and start now with a brief summary of what is occurring.

 

The Olympics have been a important feature of April and May orders. We were very pleased to receive an order from London 2012 for 68 MkII Voicevests (shown below).The Voicevests were delivered to the Venues Team for May 2nd and are already in use. Father and son were in over most of the May Day bank holiday charging and testing all the Voicevests.

The Voicevest has been popular with the train operating companies at key mainline stations (Reading, Bristol and Cardiff for example) during large events. They can also be seen previously in operation on The London Marathon and International Test matches in the UK.  The Voicevest offers a portable hands free PA system for broadcasting information clearly to crowds and queues at Events.  It is also used as part of Fire Evacuation Procedures in large building such as One Churchill Place, Canary Wharf.

Our second Olympic order was for a large quantity of 1 wire earpiece Police headset (BG-F-Tetra) direct to New Scotland yard for their Torch Procession Team.  Yes I will be shouting Look there is one of our earpieces in shot every time I see someone running alongside the torch holder with an acoustic tube on the news. I only wish I could have put huge branded labels on them  as they will no doubt be on the news around the world!

All the sums added up for Maths in The City

They say everything is governed by formula and complex equations.
Every graph has results outside the mean deviation and on this occasion all the numbers added for our "Factory" VIP Tour Guide System as a  successful candidate for Oxford University, Department of Continuing Education, on their Maths in the City Tours.

The Walking Tours developed by Marcus Du Sautoy uncover hidden examples of Maths in our cities of London and Oxford.   I have included a link above to their website if you are interested to discover more.
I don't believe there is any homework involved!

Building Bridges

Sales techniques keep reminding me to Build Bridges with our Customers.
After many months I have literally got the message, this week has been all about Bridges!

Bill Boley moves bridges, in Chislehurst!
Bill Boley is one of our earliest wired and wireless communications customers from outside the Broadcast Industry.  Bill uses a Tecpro wired Beltpack system to communicate clearly with his team of skilled operators as they use hydraulics to lift large objects!  Bill's team is in nearby Chislehurst and today I dropped in to deliver an 8 way Intercom system they will be using whilst they install a safety skirt under the current bridge. The old bridge has been weak for some time and is to be replaced by the Fourth Bridge between the Petts Wood and Chislehurst sides of the railway line.  Bill Boley's Website.


Staying with Bridges Connect Plus Services have placed an order for Peter Jones High Visibility Klickfast Cases for the Dartford River Crossing.

The cases and accompanying belt docks will  prevent damage from drops to their Tetra Sepura STP8000 radios.  The Klickfast Docking system can only be removed from it's holding Dock in one position at 180 degree making it quickly accessible when needed and otherwise safe & secure when not! 
The Dartford River Crossing Crossing is another local famous bridge and we are pleased to be able to include another Area of Highways operations in England and Wales to our list of customers.

First Impression of Constant Carrier Digital Radio Talkback

The Barbican Centre have been investigating different solutions to replace their BTR wireless Beltpack system in the main hall.  Today we tested a Kenwoood Nexedge Digital Base station with some dual mode Digital/Analogue capable radios.  The base had the required Tx enable button and audio in and audio out on a trial version interface panel.    The radio system was interfaced to the backstage RTS 2 wire intercom using an RTS 2 wire to 4 wire interface.

The Nexedge radio system was operating in 6.25khz bandwidth offering a possible saving in licence cost as opposed to the normal 12.5kHz OFCOM/JFMG licence.  There was some work to do on the interface to improve the audio levels and litlle of noise however overall it was better than Bruce expected and it was nice to not have that background noise present on Production Radio Talkback. There is a delay, albeit very small, and the infinite echo of an open radio through an open mic in production sounded like a not longer clean feed coming back to some poor presenter's IFB earpiece from a remote studio, studio, studio ,studio, studio (I guess you get the drift)!

This was the first Digital radio talkback system Showcomms and Bruce had tested as runner for a possible replacement to the present analogue UHF base stations.  The clear improvement in range running 5W through some little mag mounts was the biggest surprise. Certainly the in-house production team were impressed by the lack of black spots. If you have been to the Barbican you will know it is a concrete steel jungle and good rf coverage from backstage to FOH foyet and upper levels can be a struggle.

In short the Benefits appear to be:

• reduced bandwidth and possibly therefore lower licence fees. I need to ask JFMG in this respect to booking a licence.
• increased range especially in 6.25kHz
• Private audio, the audio cant be scanned by other users     
• Base station and handset transceivers can be used in Analogue or Digital mode

A little work is required on our interface box  to the Kenwood Nexedge 810 and certainly it wont be long before Bruce can bring anyone who wishes a demo unit to try out!

Come and meet us in London Brussels and the Hague

I have been busy organising some new exhibition dates including one in London and one in both Brussels and The Hague.

London 29th September 2011 - ADS 3rd PSE one day event.
Invitations to attend as a visitor are extended only to officers of the police service, Home Office, HM Revenue and Customs, UK Border Agency, SOCA and the prison services, as well as other relevant government departments.
We would like to meet as many of our customers as possible. To attend  as a visitor please follow the below link and complete a registration form.

 
Brussels  23rd November 2011 - UKTI Benelux Security and Defence Roadshow
Brussels at the conference facilities of Autoworld for a one-day tabletop exhibition

The Hague  24th November  - UKTI Benelux Security and Defence Roadshow
Location The British Ambassador’s Residence. This is our first visit to The Netherlands and I promise to bring as many new products as possible with me!


Both of these events are by invitation only. Please contact me if you would like to receive an invitation for either of the European events.
bruce@showcomms.co.uk

SEPURA TETRA RADIO ACCESSORIES SUPPLIED TO NWTRA

(NWTRA) The North Wales Trunk Road Agency manage and maintain
the trunk road network in North Wales on behalf of the Welsh Government
In June 2011 we supplied a range of products including Peter Jones Klickfast accessories, Lowe Headsets and Sepura branded Chargers to be used as part of the communications solution for the Welsh Government’s Traffic Officer service on the A55

BG-THR Headsets for Zuiderkempen Police

At the end of May (2011) we made our second visit to the Infopol exhibition.

Westerlo, a Province of Antwerp and Lokale Police Zuiderkempen was the first Force to place it's order for Nokia THR 880i headsets following the show.

A new Nokia covert headset based on the popular TC4 headset has been designed based on the  suggestions of a team from the VSSE who visited us at the exhibition. The new headset has minimal cable with a BG style PTT mic and a short lead to a 3.5mm jack socket allowing quick change of leads from Covert Wireless to Acoustic Tube Earpiece. 

Kent County Council Emergency Planning Headsets

Showcomms owner Bruce Cocks, who was born in Tonbridge, Kent and lived most of his life in the county, was very pleased to recently receive an order for 19 BG-F headsets for Motorola MTH800 Tetra radios from Kent County for their Emergency Planning Unit.

The Rampant White Horse of Kent

"Our headsets are worn all over Europe and further afield. Our headsets have been purchased by several International bodies including part of the UN.
"I travel a lot in Belgium and every town is always proudly flying their local and; regional flags so there is always something special in receiving an order from your own local region."

Amey - Area 9 Highways Agency

180 Headsets for use with the Sepura STP8000 radio

Amey Area 9 Highways Agency

We have provided 180 headsets with earpiece and PTT microphone to Amey the Oxford based support services company.

Amey  maintains more than 650 miles of road in area 9; 

including one of the busiest stretches of motorway in the UK – the M6 through Birmingham.

It is one area achieved, 13 more areas to go!

Planes Trains and Buses

April 2011 has seen a succession of Transport Industry related orders

Our new Sales Adminstrator,  Amanda Yangin, has been busy sending orders all over the UK and Europe

 

DHK Air Leipzig

London Transport Buses

BTP London Underground

DSB Danish State Railway

Popular Items have Peter Jones Klickfast Accessories and BG Earpiece headsets for different models of digital radios both Tetra and Motorola Trbo Models.

 Showcomms will be in Europe on 23rd, 24th and 25th May at Infopol Belgium

BG-Tracker-Thr Proprietary headsets for MiddelKerke Police

Middelkerke Police Department first contacted Showcomms with a requirement for 75 proprietary earpieces at a trade fair being attended by Showcomms in Belgium  with the assistance of  UKTI.

Earlier this month,  March  2011,  Showcomms supplied the acoustic tube earpieces for connection to Middelkerke's THR880i radios. The new earpieces complete with comfortable ear inserts will  be used by Middelkerke Police during the region's busy summer season. Middelkerke is a seaside resort and  the holiday season attracts a large influx of tourists to the area popular for it's long sandy beaches.  

Showcomms will be exhibiting at Infopol in Belgium in May 2011.