North Sea VHF Radios Monitored by Park’s MARC System

Control Europe’s DeviceMaster-RTS 16 is used for remote controlling and monitoring of VHF radios used to provide ground to air traffic control communications and deployed in the North Sea. These VHF radios provide the crucial communications to helicopters that transport personnel and equipment in the North Sea region’s gas and oil platforms.

For maintaining continuous control and monitoring existing as well as new VHF radio systems, the Park Multi-Access Remote Control (MARC) solution is being utilized for gathering performance and operational data from VHF radios installed on the various oil and gas and rigs across the North Sea area.

RS-232 data from every remote VHF radio is fed via an Inband Signalling Unit (IBSU). The IBSU then transmits control signaling and audio data across customary four-wire telecoms lines, irrespective of whether they are fiber, microwave, or satellite link, to the central control site’s DeviceMaster-RTS 16 or fiber.

This serial data is subsequently passed through Ethernet to the MARC system that offers remote and monitoring control of each VHF transmitter and receiver at the central control site. VHF radios with the MARC system can also be monitored by additional Centers in the North Sea region. When Ethernet is installed at future VHF sites, the DeviceMaster-RTS 2 port 1E will be utilized to offer serial to Ethernet connectivity.

According to Park Air Systems Engineering Manager, Paul Ratcliffe, the DeviceMaster-RTS 16 is useful in the existing VHF radio network setup and its two port version is now used in Park’s distributed systems.

Comtrol GmbH’s VP Sales and Marketing Tony Elvidge added that this venture is another illustration of the utilization of the DeviceMaster-RTS product portfolio in vital situations.