What is TETRA ?
Discussion
I believe TETRA is the new digital radio system that's replacing the current analogue one (you can see the link with GSM). They do have it on but it's got to be a minimum distance from certain typeof speed detection equipment.
If you watched Traffic Cops you'd have seen the incident where trafpol chased a stolen down a country lane. The trafpol caught them (4 scrotes) but was on his own and when he went to call for backup his radio wasn't working
This was something that was forecast would happen, it apparently is happening, but some halfwit in whitehall decided this would be a good system to give to our emergency services 
Who muttered backhanders at the back of the class.
Bit like the Army and the SA80.
>> Edited by naetype on Sunday 15th February 14:11
If you watched Traffic Cops you'd have seen the incident where trafpol chased a stolen down a country lane. The trafpol caught them (4 scrotes) but was on his own and when he went to call for backup his radio wasn't working
This was something that was forecast would happen, it apparently is happening, but some halfwit in whitehall decided this would be a good system to give to our emergency services Who muttered backhanders at the back of the class. Bit like the Army and the SA80.
>> Edited by naetype on Sunday 15th February 14:11
www.motorola.com/cgiss/emea/tetra/home.html
Above is just one example of a Tetra based system. Its not new, but some of the data services are more advanced than before. Throughput on the data side is VERY low, but it is sufficient for quite a few services.
Airwaves is the new service - though its not that well adopted. It was opened for tendering and then was awarded (to a consortium). However, no police force took it up due to the cost and complexity. In the end, the forces are now being made to use it, regardless of whether they want it or not. Tetra is the encumbant supplied technology.
Above is just one example of a Tetra based system. Its not new, but some of the data services are more advanced than before. Throughput on the data side is VERY low, but it is sufficient for quite a few services.
Airwaves is the new service - though its not that well adopted. It was opened for tendering and then was awarded (to a consortium). However, no police force took it up due to the cost and complexity. In the end, the forces are now being made to use it, regardless of whether they want it or not. Tetra is the encumbant supplied technology.
...and at http://tinyurl.com/2bx7o
A number of Plods not happy bunnies about this system as it has been reported can cause headaches, nausea,and rashes. System being monitored as Makers say it is safe????
DVD
A number of Plods not happy bunnies about this system as it has been reported can cause headaches, nausea,and rashes. System being monitored as Makers say it is safe????
DVD
TETRA was supposed to be competition for GSM in the corporate market (to try and do what trunked PMR never achived)
basically it's a digital trunked PMR system.
main issues with it are that to get any decent coverage, you either have to have a shed load of base stations (ala. GSM) for use relatively high power levels.
whist this is OK for fixed rigs in cars/trucks, it's not so great for hand-held use, you back to TACS like bricks with short battery life etc.
seeing it heading down the pan, a few years back they pushed it to the police etc. using it's 'secure' encription as benifit.
technically it's not bad, but it's not a patch on the current GSM networks, and the costs are just stupid...
basically it's a digital trunked PMR system.
main issues with it are that to get any decent coverage, you either have to have a shed load of base stations (ala. GSM) for use relatively high power levels.
whist this is OK for fixed rigs in cars/trucks, it's not so great for hand-held use, you back to TACS like bricks with short battery life etc.
seeing it heading down the pan, a few years back they pushed it to the police etc. using it's 'secure' encription as benifit.
technically it's not bad, but it's not a patch on the current GSM networks, and the costs are just stupid...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/3499587.stm
Mixed messages on Tetra
By Roger Pinney
BBC Wales environment correspondent
How concerned should you be if you heard a communications mast was going to be erected near your home? Well, very according to groups springing up across Wales to oppose Tetra, the new police walkie-talkie system. Not at all say government experts. None the less from Snowdonia to the Gower, communities are campaigning to block the masts.
Tetra is a new hi-tech police secure communications system. Its in the process of being rolled out across England and Wales with the erection of 3,200 masts - 300 of them in Wales.
But, the project is facing mounting opposition on health grounds.
"What we want is guaranteed health now. Not compensation 30 years down the line." Kevin Jones sentiment is one commonly held in communities confronting what they believe to be a new and dangerous menace.
Kevin Jones manages the Cei Bach Country Club near New Quay on the West Wales Coast. Its near the village of Gilfachreda where O2 Airwave want to put up one of 300 Tetra masts planned for Wales.
"It came as a surprise to us," he says. "We had no chance to challenge the planning application and you can read on the internet that Tetra can cause cancer and all sorts of health problems."
That's a genuinely held fear not just in Gilfachreda but in a growing number of communities across the UK. They are united in attempting to oppose the spread of Tetra technology.
In Snowdonia at Beddgelert, locals have blocked the road to the proposed mast site. On Gower the opponents managed to force a public inquiry.
Tetra works much like a mobile phone, except that the operating frequency is close to that of human brain waves. Critics claim that poses all sort of health risks including cancer.
There's no evidence the signals from the masts can affect people. Tetra is new to this country. But its actually been used all over the world.
NRPB's Dr Michael Clarke
Physicist Barrie Trower has researched Tetra for the Police Federation. His report was highly critical and he's sticking to his guns.
"When I wrote the Tetra report I said it must never be used and I haven't changed my mind," he says.
"Tetra is particularly dangerous because it modulates at 18 pulses a second , which is very close to natural brain rhythms and can affect those rhythms and hence our brains."
Clear enough? Well its not that straightforward. Supporters of Tetra, including the Home Office who are funding the programme, and the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) are equally emphatic - Barrie Trower has got it wrong.
"There's no evidence Tetra can be harmful," says Dr Michael Clarke, a scientist at the NRPB.
'Catch 22'
"There's no evidence the signals from the masts can affect people. Tetra is new to this country. But its actually been used all over the world. In Australia, in New Zealand, in Italy. Its actually used in the London underground, and its not affected people there."
The UK Government has responded to the health concerns by commissioning London's Imperial College to carry out a study. It will look at the affect of Tetra on police officers using the system but it wont report for a decade.
To the lay man, conflicting scientific advice then. And the promise of a report years down the line. All contributing to the worry says Kevin Jones back at Gilfachreda.
"We are in Catch 22 situation. What do we do?," he asks. "Do we sell and move on or do we stay and hope that nothing happens in the future."
The Home Office says Tetra should be fully operational by the middle of next year. The arguments over its safety will run on a lot longer that.
Mixed messages on Tetra
By Roger Pinney
BBC Wales environment correspondent
How concerned should you be if you heard a communications mast was going to be erected near your home? Well, very according to groups springing up across Wales to oppose Tetra, the new police walkie-talkie system. Not at all say government experts. None the less from Snowdonia to the Gower, communities are campaigning to block the masts.
Tetra is a new hi-tech police secure communications system. Its in the process of being rolled out across England and Wales with the erection of 3,200 masts - 300 of them in Wales.
But, the project is facing mounting opposition on health grounds.
"What we want is guaranteed health now. Not compensation 30 years down the line." Kevin Jones sentiment is one commonly held in communities confronting what they believe to be a new and dangerous menace.
Kevin Jones manages the Cei Bach Country Club near New Quay on the West Wales Coast. Its near the village of Gilfachreda where O2 Airwave want to put up one of 300 Tetra masts planned for Wales.
"It came as a surprise to us," he says. "We had no chance to challenge the planning application and you can read on the internet that Tetra can cause cancer and all sorts of health problems."
That's a genuinely held fear not just in Gilfachreda but in a growing number of communities across the UK. They are united in attempting to oppose the spread of Tetra technology.
In Snowdonia at Beddgelert, locals have blocked the road to the proposed mast site. On Gower the opponents managed to force a public inquiry.
Tetra works much like a mobile phone, except that the operating frequency is close to that of human brain waves. Critics claim that poses all sort of health risks including cancer.
There's no evidence the signals from the masts can affect people. Tetra is new to this country. But its actually been used all over the world.
NRPB's Dr Michael Clarke
Physicist Barrie Trower has researched Tetra for the Police Federation. His report was highly critical and he's sticking to his guns.
"When I wrote the Tetra report I said it must never be used and I haven't changed my mind," he says.
"Tetra is particularly dangerous because it modulates at 18 pulses a second , which is very close to natural brain rhythms and can affect those rhythms and hence our brains."
Clear enough? Well its not that straightforward. Supporters of Tetra, including the Home Office who are funding the programme, and the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) are equally emphatic - Barrie Trower has got it wrong.
"There's no evidence Tetra can be harmful," says Dr Michael Clarke, a scientist at the NRPB.
'Catch 22'
"There's no evidence the signals from the masts can affect people. Tetra is new to this country. But its actually been used all over the world. In Australia, in New Zealand, in Italy. Its actually used in the London underground, and its not affected people there."
The UK Government has responded to the health concerns by commissioning London's Imperial College to carry out a study. It will look at the affect of Tetra on police officers using the system but it wont report for a decade.
To the lay man, conflicting scientific advice then. And the promise of a report years down the line. All contributing to the worry says Kevin Jones back at Gilfachreda.
"We are in Catch 22 situation. What do we do?," he asks. "Do we sell and move on or do we stay and hope that nothing happens in the future."
The Home Office says Tetra should be fully operational by the middle of next year. The arguments over its safety will run on a lot longer that.
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