[ADXA] FYI

[LennyK5OVC at wmconnect.com]

Acoustic Device Companies offers powerful speakers for Katrina  
(Law Enforcement Technology - LRADs and MRADs  [Long- and medium- range 
acoustic devices] ) 
By MATTHEW FORDAHL  (The Associated Press) - Saturday, September 3, 2005, 
7:13 AM EDT
(Edited for brevity and law enforcement pertinency)
 
 
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. 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 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.

 

Putnam 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.
 
Their 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