our boy Putnam is busy elsewhere
Cos. Offer Powerful Speakers for Katrina
Sep 2, 9:25 PM (ET)
By MATTHEW FORDAHL
(AP) A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter flies over homes surrounded by floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina...
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SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - A company that develops high-powered speakers for the military and police says it has loaned some of its gear so emergency responders can communicate with people stranded by Hurricane Katrina.
The gear was developed for crowd control and for use in war zones. But it can also be used to relate information like a gigantic bullhorn.
San Diego-based American Technology Corp. (ATCO) has deployed its long- and medium- range acoustic devices - LRADs and MRADs - for use by the military in Iraq. It has loaned several to emergency agencies, said Robert Putnam of the company's investor relation's department. It was unclear whether the equipment had been used as of Friday, he said.
In Iraq, the high-tech loudspeakers blast messages at cars approaching checkpoints, warning drivers to stop or slow down. They've also been used at sea to stop boats from approaching Navy vessels.
In the United States, police departments also have used devices to relay information to people holed up in homes. Putnam said the intent is not to injure hearing but to make sure information is heard.
"The whole point is to move, get out of the beam and do as you're instructed," he said. "The sound tones are used to get people's attention not to hurt people. Most of these are used with verbal instructions."
In the disaster area, messages can be blasted from helicopters to people stranded on rooftops.
"It can be heard even above the roar of a helicopter, which is important if you want to tell people anything," Putnam said. "That's the problem with bullhorns - over a helicopter, they can't really understand what you're saying."
Costa Mesa-based HPV Technologies Inc., another firm that develops similar high-tech audio gear, said it has offered to donate equipment to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but its calls have not been returned.
During a test earlier this week at Edwards Air Force Base in southern California, the equipment projected recordings of Muhammad Ali reading poetry and Frank Sinatra singing over a mile.
"All of them were completely audible," said Phillip Hamilton, HPV's owner and general counsel. "The speaker was a tiny dot. You couldn't tell what it was. You were 5,280 feet away."
The test, however, was conducted along a desert runway at the base. In an urban area, the sound waves could be blocked by tall buildings and other obstructions.
HPV's Magnetic Acoustic Device, however, also can be deployed on a truck or attached to a helicopter, he said. Units displayed Thursday were as much as 10-feet across.
"It's a self-contained unit," he said. "Very mobile and transportable."
The units are based on a technology called planar magnetics. Unlike cone-shaped speakers, the HPV speakers vibrate flat panels on the speaker. The combination significantly multiplies the strength of the speaker.
"It does to sound what a laser does to light," Hamilton said.
Currently, HPV's equipment is used by the Arco Arena in Sacramento, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and by a concert tour organization in Germany. Hamilton said the company also is pursuing work with the military.
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