Getting the message across in harsh environments

LED signs are becoming increasingly common in shops on the High Street, in our offices, at car parks, on trains, at sports stadia and at many other locations up and down the country. However, because of the useful information that can be displayed on them, they are also increasingly being installed in some of the most demanding, unforgiving and dangerous military and commercial locations.

Each of these brings with it their own technical challenges but LEDsynergy is no stranger to developing and delivering an innovative, reliable and robust range of LED signage and display systems. It builds them to meet exacting technical requirements and safety standards for an increasing number ofUKand international customers for use on land at sea or in the air.

On Land: The MOD has over recent months placed a number of orders with LEDsynergy. At the more ‘traditional’ end of the spectrum are welcome boards, sited at the entrances of several key military establishments with recently completed MOD projects including one for Air Command which has its Headquarters at High Wycombe and another for the Army Land Forces Headquarters, located just down the road from LEDsynergy in Andover.

But when a more technical solution is required LEDsynergy also has the expertise to develop and deliver the appropriate solution and recently had to obtain certification for the high grade radio modems used in one installation.

Another recently delivered and demanding commercial project was for the supply of over 1200 LED boards, all populated here in theUKby LEDsynergy and being used to provide 116 individual signs to display safety and emergency evacuation messages in theDartfordtunnel. These are sited at equal distances along the length of the tunnels and linked back to a control system. “Likely to be subjected to constant vibration, dirt and changes in temperature and humidity a pre-requisite to the contract was that they must work faultlessly at all times as they are an important part of the tunnel’s safety systems, so nothing could be left to chance,” stated Jeremy Harwood of LEDsynergy.

At Sea: When used in close proximity to sensitive military systems, compliance with exacting radio frequency regulations is necessary to avoid possible conflicts. HMS Illustrious for example now has LEDsynergy designed, built and installed display boards on the flight deck / hanger which is often a noisy and extremely hostile environment. Three rows of text, that display up to 36 characters, each 100mm high, are all housed in a weatherproof case that’s painted battleship grey and this is used to relay vital information to pilots and crews to help them efficiently run operations.

And in the air: LEDsynergy has also recently developed and supplied an LED solution that is being mounted on the outside of helicopter. Measuring approximately 1.3 metres by 0.43metres the signs will be used to pass messages and instructions to people on the ground whilst the helicopter is airborne – taking the “STOP/pull-over” sign in the back of a motorway police car to a whole new level.

The project was developed and delivered in conjunction withGosportin Hampshire based LFD Limited, a leader in innovative infra-red and visible aircraft, vehicle and ship lighting technology, for both military and commercial customers.

“This was a really complex project because our design had to both operate in a high vibration environment; be exposed to the elements; plus be totally compatible with all the aircraft’s onboard electronic systems,” stated Jeremy Harwood of LEDsynergy.

“Many of the projects we get involved in require specialist knowledge and the ability to think beyond the initial brief in order to design and deliver a solution that is fit for purpose. Having set these high standards for the more technically oriented projects we still apply the same approach to all the projects we deliver so even if the LED display system does not require particular certification it will still be professionally designed and use quality components – sourced in theUKwhenever possible. This ensures reliability and durability and is what sets LEDsynergy solutions apart from many seemingly competitive products.”

Jeremy Harwood concluded: “And it is not just about shipping an LED-panel to a customer. The intended content is equally important in the design phase and we regularly work with clients to develop and deliver operational solutions that use the display board in the most creative way. We’ve delivered a number of complex solutions; the nine elaborate and ornate prayer clocks we installed at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi being one example, as was the recently completed project to install 76 new parking management signs in the Old Trafford area of Manchester to advise visitors to the area on ‘match days’ about the local parking regulations in force. Traffic-signs

For more information on either the technically specifications achievable or for pricing, contact us via our enquiry form by clicking here Contact us email us at sales@ledsynergy.co.uk or call us on + 44 (0) 1264 30 30 30.