 | |
| Industry | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1983 |
| Founder | Magnus Granhed |
| Headquarters | Lidingö, Sweden |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Fredrik Steinwall (CEO) [1] |
| Products |
|
| Website | recco.com |
RECCO is a rescue technology used by organised rescue teams as an additional tool to more quickly locate people buried by an avalanche or lost in the outdoors. [2] The system is based on a harmonic radar system and composed of a detector and a passive reflector integrated into outdoor clothing and gears. [3]
The RECCO rescue technology was developed by Magnus Granhed, in response to his personal experience with a fatal avalanche accident in Åre, Sweden, in 1973. [4] Starting in the winter of 1978–1979, Granhed collaborated with Bengt Enander's team at the Department of Electromagnetic Theory, Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm [5] [6] to develop an avalanche rescue system, using the principle of harmonic radar. [5]
Granhed formed RECCO AB in 1983 and created the first functional prototype. [5] In 1987, a woman was localised with the RECCO rescue technology from a helicopter in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, in the first live rescue found using the technology. [5]
In 2015, RECCO introduced the RECCO SAR Helicopter detector that expands the technology to finding a missing person in other outdoor environments. [7]
Based on the harmonic radar system, the RECCO rescue technology consists of two parts: a passive and lightweight reflector and a portable detector. [3] The reflector is worn by the person and directly integrated in the clothing or gears. The detector is used by professional rescue teams on avalanche site, by foot or from a helicopter. [2] [8] [9]
The reflector is a passive transponder, which does not require batteries [2] or activation, consisting of a diode and an antenna. Its dimensions are 13 mm × 51 mm × 1.5 mm and it weighs 4g. [10] The company suggests that two reflectors in different locations are ideal. [2]
More than 150 brands [7] integrate RECCO reflectors into their outdoor gear, including ski boots, helmets, hiking shoes, jackets, pants and backpacks. [2] [7]
The detector sends out a highly directional radar signal. If the signal hits a reflector it is echoed back to the detector. The returned signal is translated into an audio tone if the detector is pointed in the direction of a reflector. Judging from the audio tone a trained professional rescuer can determine the location of a buried victim. Due to the diode, the returned signal is doubled in frequency - harmonic radar. [2] [11]
The R9 detector, released in 2009, weighs 900 grams. [10] During a search and rescue, its signal can locate RECCO reflectors within a range up to 80 meters through air and 20 meters through packed snow, [2] [10] depending on various factors such as the snow conditions and depth. [2]
Short-range portable detectors are used, transmitting via a directional antenna at 866.9 MHz (Europe) or 902.85 MHz (US) and receiving at twice the frequency. [3] The detector works by transmitting at one frequency on a 20% duty cycle and listening for a harmonic reflection at double the frequency. [3]
| Location | Transmit | Receive |
|---|---|---|
| Europe | 866.9 MHz | 1733.8 MHz |
| United States | 902.85 MHz | 1805.7 MHz |
The signal from the detector can also weakly be reflected from other electronic devices, such as cameras and cell phones, as well as metallic objects. However, even if this effect has allowed the rescue of several buried people who were not carrying a reflector, the search range of those others devices is much shorter and not reliable enough. [2]
More than 700 rescue groups worldwide, predominantly in ski resorts, used the technology. [3] The professional rescue teams use RECCO detectors as an electronic search method in addition to the avalanche transceiver to find victims in an avalanche. [10] RECCO equipment is included in textbooks on rescue, [2] and a RECCO reflector is included among measures recommended by the International Commission for Alpine Rescue. [12]
According to the company, people totally buried by an avalanche were located using the technology in fifteen incidents during 2005–15. [2] A case report of a live rescue of a buried off-piste skier using RECCO equipment that occurred in Spain in 2015 has been published in the Journal of Wilderness and Environmental Medicine. The authors commented that the technology was poorly studied compared with some other avalanche safety methods. [2]
The RECCO SAR helicopter detector is designed for a large-scale search by professional rescue teams for missing persons in open terrain. The missing person must be equipped with a RECCO rescue reflector to be located by the detector signal. [10] [13] The SAR detector can search from a height of 100 meters and covering a search area of approximately 100 meters wide. The principle of locating a victim is the same as for the handheld detector with the detector sending a radar signal echoed back by the reflector. If receiving a returned signal, the rescuer can locate the lost individual. [7]
The RECCO technology has also been applied to tracking some amphibian species, especially tropical frogs. The system allows researchers to track small frogs in their natural habitat. [14] [15] During 2000‒2004 RECCO equipment was tested for tracking ground beetles. [16]
Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from about one meter to one millimeter corresponding to frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz respectively. Different sources define different frequency ranges as microwaves; the above broad definition includes both UHF and EHF bands. A more common definition in radio-frequency engineering is the range between 1 and 100 GHz. In all cases, microwaves include the entire SHF band at minimum. Frequencies in the microwave range are often referred to by their IEEE radar band designations: S, C, X, Ku, K, or Ka band, or by similar NATO or EU designations.
Radar is a radiolocation system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (ranging), angle (azimuth), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is used to detect and track aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, and motor vehicles, and map weather formations, and terrain. A radar system consists of a transmitter producing electromagnetic waves in the radio or microwaves domain, a transmitting antenna, a receiving antenna and a receiver and processor to determine properties of the objects. Radio waves from the transmitter reflect off the objects and return to the receiver, giving information about the objects' locations and speeds.
In antenna theory, a phased array usually means an electronically scanned array, a computer-controlled array of antennas which creates a beam of radio waves that can be electronically steered to point in different directions without moving the antennas.
An emergency position-indicating radiobeacon (EPIRB) is a type of emergency locator beacon for commercial and recreational boats, a portable, battery-powered radio transmitter used in emergencies to locate boaters in distress and in need of immediate rescue. In the event of an emergency, such as a ship sinking or medical emergency onboard, the transmitter is activated and begins transmitting a continuous 406 MHz distress radio signal, which is used by search-and-rescue teams to quickly locate the emergency and render aid. The signal is detected by satellites operated by an international consortium of rescue services, COSPAS-SARSAT, which can detect emergency beacons anywhere on Earth transmitting on the distress frequency of 406 MHz. The satellites calculate the position or utilize the GPS coordinates of the beacon and quickly passes the information to the appropriate local first responder organization, which performs the search and rescue. As Search and Rescue approach the search areas, they use Direction Finding (DF) equipment to locate the beacon using the 121.5 MHz homing signal, or in newer EPIRBs, the AIS location signal. The basic purpose of this system is to help rescuers find survivors within the so-called "golden day" during which the majority of survivors can usually be saved. The feature distinguishing a modern EPIRB, often called GPIRB, from other types of emergency beacon is that it contains a GPS receiver and broadcasts its position, usually accurate within 100 m (330 ft), to facilitate location. Previous emergency beacons without a GPS can only be localized to within 2 km (1.2 mi) by the COSPAS satellites and relied heavily upon the 121.5 MHz homing signal to pin-point the beacons location as they arrived on scene.
This is an index of articles relating to electronics and electricity or natural electricity and things that run on electricity and things that use or conduct electricity.
Direction finding (DF), or radio direction finding (RDF), is – in accordance with International Telecommunication Union (ITU) – defined as radio location that uses the reception of radio waves to determine the direction in which a radio station or an object is located. This can refer to radio or other forms of wireless communication, including radar signals detection and monitoring (ELINT/ESM). By combining the direction information from two or more suitably spaced receivers, the source of a transmission may be located via triangulation. Radio direction finding is used in the navigation of ships and aircraft, to locate emergency transmitters for search and rescue, for tracking wildlife, and to locate illegal or interfering transmitters. RDF was important in combating German threats during both the World War II Battle of Britain and the long running Battle of the Atlantic. In the former, the Air Ministry also used RDF to locate its own fighter groups and vector them to detected German raids.
The International Cospas-Sarsat Programme is a satellite-aided search and rescue (SAR) initiative. It is organized as a treaty-based, nonprofit, intergovernmental, humanitarian cooperative of 45 nations and agencies. It is dedicated to detecting and locating emergency locator radio beacons activated by persons, aircraft or vessels in distress, and forwarding this alert information to authorities that can take action for rescue.
The Medicina Radio Observatory is an astronomical observatory located 30 km from Bologna, Italy. It is operated by the Institute for Radio Astronomy of the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) of the government of Italy.
An avalanche transceiver or avalanche beacon is a type of emergency locator beacon, a radio transceiver operating at 457 kHz for the purpose of finding people buried under snow. They are widely carried by skiers, particularly back country skiers for use in case a skier is buried by an avalanche. Before setting out on an expedition, all the members of a group activate their transceivers in the transmit mode, causing the device to emit low-power pulsed radio signals during the trip. Following an avalanche, if some members of the ski party are buried, the others may switch their transceivers from transmit into receive mode, allowing use as a radio direction finding device to search for signals coming from the lost skiers. The avalanche beacon is an active device powered by batteries; a ski suit may also contain a passive RECCO transponder sewn into the clothing.
Radar MASINT is a subdiscipline of measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT) and refers to intelligence gathering activities that bring together disparate elements that do not fit within the definitions of signals intelligence (SIGINT), imagery intelligence (IMINT), or human intelligence (HUMINT).
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connected to an antenna which radiates the waves, and received by another antenna connected to a radio receiver. Radio is widely used in modern technology, in radio communication, radar, radio navigation, remote control, remote sensing, and other applications.
The Thing, also known as the Great Seal bug, was one of the first covert listening devices to use passive techniques to transmit an audio signal. It was concealed inside a gift given by the Soviet Union to W. Averell Harriman, the United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union, on August 4, 1945. Because it was passive, needing electromagnetic energy from an outside source to become energized and active, it is considered a predecessor of radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology.
Survival radios are carried by ships and aircraft to facilitate rescue in an emergency. They are generally designed to transmit on international distress frequencies. Maritime systems have been standardized under the Global Maritime Distress Safety System.
Avalanche rescue involves locating and retrieving people who have been buried in avalanches.
A Sutton tube, or reflex klystron, is a type of vacuum tube used to generate microwaves. It is a low-power device used primarily for two purposes; one is to provide a tuneable low-power frequency source for the local oscillators in receiver circuits, and the other, with minor modifications, as a switch that could turn on and off another microwave source. The second use, sometimes known as a soft Sutton tube or rhumbatron switch, was a key component in the development of microwave radar by Britain during World War II. Microwave switches of all designs, including these, are more generally known as T/R tubes or T/R cells.
German Luftwaffe and Navy Kriegsmarine Radar Equipment during World War II, relied on an increasingly diverse array of communications, IFF and RDF equipment for its function. Most of this equipment received the generic prefix FuG, meaning "radio equipment". During the war, Germany renumbered their radars. From using the year of introduction as their number they moved to a different numbering scheme.
An emergency locator beacon is a radio beacon, a portable battery powered radio transmitter, used to locate airplanes, vessels, and persons in distress and in need of immediate rescue. Various types of emergency locator beacons are carried by aircraft, ships, vehicles, hikers and cross-country skiers. In case of an emergency, such as the aircraft crashing, the ship sinking, or a hiker becoming lost, the transmitter is deployed and begins to transmit a continuous radio signal, which is used by search and rescue teams to quickly find the emergency and render aid. The purpose of all emergency locator beacons is to help rescuers find survivors within the so-called "golden day", the first 24 hours following a traumatic event, during which the majority of survivors can usually be saved.
The railSAR, also known as the ultra-wideband Foliage Penetration Synthetic Aperture Radar, is a rail-guided, low-frequency impulse radar system that can detect and discern target objects hidden behind foliage. It was designed and developed by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) in the early 1990s in order to demonstrate the capabilities of an airborne SAR for foliage and ground penetration. However, since conducting accurate, repeatable measurements on an airborne platform was both challenging and expensive, the railSAR was built on the rooftop of a four-story building within the Army Research Laboratory compound along a 104-meter laser-leveled track.
The boomSAR is a mobile ultra-wideband synthetic aperture radar system designed by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) in the mid-1990s to detect buried landmines and IEDs. Mounted atop a 45-meter telescoping boom on a stable moving vehicle, the boomSAR transmits low frequency short-pulse UWB signals over the side of the vehicle to scope out a 300-meter range area starting 50 meters from the base of the boom. It travels at an approximate rate of 1 km/hour and requires a relatively flat road that is wide enough to accommodate its 18 ft-wide base.
The Spectrally Agile Frequency-Incrementing Reconfigurable (SAFIRE) radar is a vehicle-mounted, forward-looking ground-penetrating radar (FLGPR) system designed to detect buried or hidden explosive hazards. It was developed by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) in 2016 as part of a long generation of ultra-wideband (UWB) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems created to combat buried landmines and IEDs. Past iterations include the railSAR, the boomSAR, and the SIRE radar.
RECCO detector's transmitter uses the frequency 902.85 MHz … used for example by the "Intelligent Transportation Systems Radio Service". … In Europe, the RECCO detector uses the frequency 866.9 MHz … reflectors are the same all over the world. … pulsed radio signal at 20% duty cycle and the RECCO system is "silent" 80% of the time (it repeatedly transmits for 20 milliseconds and is silent for 80 milliseconds). … the reflector will re-radiate a signal power of approximately 10 nanowatts … around the frequency 1805.7 MHz. … reflector measures approx. 60x20x2 mm. … all objects containing a diode and a metallic structure will react in the same way as the RECCO reflector. … for example if they have a digital camera or a cell phone (no difference if they are switched on or off). … In Europe, several people have been rescued alive even though they were not wearing any RECCO reflectors, but only carrying some other electronic device like a camera, an MP3 player or similar … maximum distance for detecting an avalanche victim, wearing a RECCO reflector, is around 20‒40 meters.
To investigate the logistics of harmonic radar use in the field, we obtained a RECCO transmitter/receiver … unit in May 2000 for $7,500. The RECCO unit uses a 5-element yagi antenna for transmission and a 4-element patch array for reception … the 5-element yagi antenna … transmits the initial 917 MHz signal. … the operator holds the second 4-element antenna that receives the 1834 MHz reflected signal.