Friday fragments - comms news from around the web for 31 October 2014

A round-up of the week's critical communications and public safety radio news for Friday, 31 October 2014.

Another idiotic hoaxer. Valuable police, air traffic control and pilots' time was wasted on Monday when some clown began making distress calls on ATC frequencies on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. Rescue authorities were sent out to search, and two aircraft were diverted to look for the supposed downed aircraft. The hoaxer later returned to the airwaves and pretended to be aboard a specially equipped aircraft that could help join in the search. We hope they find him and throw the book at him.

Free satcoms for NATO. Luxembourg has done a deal with commercial sitcom operator SES that will not only provide comms for the small European nation, but will also contribute 100 million euros' worth of service to NATO over 10 years. Meanwhile, Qatar has signed a deal with Thales to provide satcoms to the Middle Eastern nation's military forces.

Germany flags spectrum auction. Germany aims to auction spectrum in the 700 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 1.5 GHz bands for mobile broadband. The auction is expected to take place in the second quarter of 2015.

TETRA detector. A device that monitors TETRA frequencies has gone on sale in Europe. While it can't listen in on transmissions, it can detect them and give a warning up to 1000 metres away. The concept, says Target Automotive, is to give motorists warning of approaching emergency vehicles and thus help them get out of the way. Cynics would say it's just a way to avoid speed traps etc. Apparently a P25 detection system is in the works.

Vendor stoush. Motorola is protesting the award of a US$32 million emergency radio system (for the Manatee and Sarasota counties in Florida) to Airbus DS Communications. Apparently Harris Corp isn't happy with the way the contract was awarded either.

US Army sets up comms for Ebola fight. US troops being sent to West Africa to help fight the spread of the Ebola virus are building a communications network to coordinate between the US military and NGO organisations. Elements of the network include the Blue Force Tracking (BFT) satellite capability and the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) Increment 2.

Make sure your business or organisation doesn't miss out on a mention in Critical Comms magazine and on CriticalComms.com.au. Send your press releases and other announcements to cc@westwick-farrow.com.au.