The Background
The EKO Acropolis Greece Rally, part of the FIA World Rally Championship, an historic event first held in 1951, took place over four days between 8-11 September 2022. It began with an opening stage held at the Olympic Athletic Center of Athens. The remaining stages started in Loutraki, near the Corinth Canal, and moved northwards to the final stage near the town of Lamia in Central Greece.
The 16-stage race totals around 300 km with all the stages besides the opening stadium event taking place in very challenging conditions on dusty and rocky dirt mountain roads. Multiple car rally teams attempt to win this prestigious event in front of thousands of spectators where clear communications can make the vital difference between first and second place.
The Challenge
Providing reliable and comprehensive radio coverage across the entire racing area.
For communication around the event, the organisers previously relied on an analogue system that was in desperate need of an upgrade. The reason for this was due to the unique challenges posed by the terrain. The twisting mountain routes caused coverage blind spots and the analogue system struggled to cope with the extreme terrain, high temperatures and dusty environment.
The organisers had to ensure that clear communications are maintained throughout the rally both to enable the efficient running of race operations, but also to support their duty of care in keeping organising staff, racing teams and fans safe. It was imperative, therefore, that a new system was implemented ahead of the 2022 event.
The Solution
Hytera's distributor Cobra Center Ltd. understood the needs and unique requirements posed by this kind of event and proposed the implementation of a new Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) solution to help improve the communication capabilities for the event.
Cobra Center proposed a DMR network consisting of 10 HR1065 repeaters and 10 HM785 mobile radios. The HR1065 compact digital repeater is half the size of its predecessor and comes with an integrated power adapter. This meant that the organisers were able to easily transport the repeaters between race stages and situate them where they were needed.
The HM785 represented the next generation of professional digital mobile radio providing greater flexibility and scalability. The HM785 is the first ever Hytera DMR radio capable of supporting the IP Transit Solution. This connects two or more conventional communication systems in different areas through an IP network. It is particularly useful for solving communication problems caused by complex terrains such as mountains.
The HM785 supports a standard single control head and remote-control head (single or dual) to suit different environments including vehicles, which helps staff in ensuring efficient communication. In addition to these systems, Cobra Center also provided 260 portable radios to help maintain clear communication on the ground.
The Results
The difference between the Hytera DMR solution compared with the old analogue solutions was dramatic. The event organisers said that the communication quality provided by Hytera's DMR Solution was the best they had ever experienced, especially given the noise and type of terrain the competitors had to deal with.
The Hytera equipment overcame the noisy conditions thanks to improved receiver sensitivity in the HR1065, which provided enhanced coverage and clearer audio compared with older products. The HM785 benefits from Hytera AI noise cancellation technology to filter out background noise, eliminate echoes, enhance speech and reduce howling when in close proximity to the transmitting radio.
By ensuring comprehensive, reliable coverage and high-quality audio across the entire rally terrain, the organisers were able to run the event efficiently and safely and to react swiftly to coordinate a fast response to any issue affecting rally teams, event staff or fans.
The event organisers were extremely satisfied with the results, stating that they had achieved high communication quality and network coverage for all the communication centers in Lamia (FIA Medical Organisation) at the Rally. The organisers have confirmed that they will use the same communication equipment for this year's event, the WRC EKO Acropolis Rally Greece 2023.
