Sam Fenwick

Riedel uses Hytera radios to support Rio 2016 Olympics

News

Riedel Communications is supplying two-way radio communications services, using radio equipment from Hytera, to one of the Rio 2016 Olympics' major suppliers. The scale of the operation huge, with more than 10,000 athletes from 205 different countries competing in 42 different sports and roughly 480,000 tourists expected to visit Rio de Janeiro for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. There are three main aspects of the Rio 2016 Olympics where Riedel's services are being used to enhance coordination between the personnel working to make the games a success:

Sailing (Aug 8th-20th)

  • XPT and PD605, supports up to 18 talk groups with more than 200 handheld and 20 desktop radios.
  • Based on the VHF system design and location, it will be the only radio system to cover all sailing courses. The system installed at ‘Morro da Urca’ the middle station of the Sugar Loaf mountain.
  • The system will be used by sport, competition management, officials, time keeping, results and the local organisation.

The Olympic Village

  • XPT and PD605, support up to two times 20 talk groups with more than 800 handheld radios.
  • It will be the only radio system to cover the complete Village. The systems have been installed on top of two village buildings.
  • The system will be used by venue management, officials, catering, operations and local organisations, and for team welcoming ceremonies.

Hytera XPT Systems were installed on the Sugar Loaf and the roof tops of two Olympic Village building

Hytera XPT is a digital trunking technology that allows easy migration from DMR Tier II and in contrast to other digital trunking technologies, does not use a control channel. It also features automatic channel management.

The PD605 is a dual mode digital/analogue IP67 rated portable radio and features two-slot DMO.

Opening & closing ceremonies

  • Repeaters and 130 PD685 UHF operating in analogue mode
  • The system will be used by ceremony management staff, and for other big hospitality events

Hytera's PD685 dual mode (analogue/digital) portable radios are DMR Tier II/simulcast XPT compatible.

Staff busy organising a rehearsal for the opening ceremony on July 31st



Members of Refugee Olympic Team arrive for a welcoming ceremony at the athletes’ village of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on August 3, 2016; credit: Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images

All set up and ready for the opening ceremony


The production team gears up before the Opening Ceremony at the backstage in Maracanã Stadium on August 5th, 2016

“It was a great opening [ceremony], though it’s like firefighting when preparing everything for it as many news [outlets] have covered,” said Thomas Riedel, CEO of Riedel Communications. “It turned out great, and was worth the effort. Show related management used Hytera UHF PD685 [radios] – [their] unique capability to program multiple zones and nearly ‘countless’ talk-groups was a perfect match for the clients’ expectations and requirements,” commented.

“This is a huge event. A lot of excellent companies bring their top-notch technologies and solutions to serve a great purpose. Hytera is proud to be part of it, and contributing accordingly”, commented Matthias Klausing, CEO of Hytera Mobilfunk.