The organisers of an international rally race decided to base the event’s communication system on modern two-way radios leased from Senop Communications (formerly Virve Tuotteet ja Palvelut). The Lahti Historic Rally’s Chief Safety Officer, who has decades of experience in organising motorsport events, found cooperation with Senop extremely smooth. The VIRVE network and handsets ensured that the communication system for the event worked as intended.
“The VIRVE network enables communicating with a large group of people at the same time, which makes it a great choice for situations that require fast and direct responses as well as for various kinds of operations requiring leadership and command.”
Arto Heino, Chief Safety Officer
“The VIRVE network enables communicating with a large group of people at the same time, which makes it a great choice for situations that require fast and direct responses as well as for various kinds of operations requiring leadership and command”, says the Lahti Historic Rally’s Chief Safety Officer Arto Heino.
The Lahti Historic Rally is a two-day international motorsport event that has been running since the early 2000s. Arto Heino’s first time being involved in organising a rally was in 1977, and he has since worked as, among other things, a scrutineer at events all over Finland. His long experience gives him a unique understanding of the Finnish rally scene and the intricacies of organising motorsport events.
In organising the Lahti Historic Rally, Heino decided to lease 35 two-way radios. He found cooperation with Senop Communications straightforward and enjoyable.
“It was not just one thing that worked exceptionally well but every single element of the process. Placing our order, for example, was extremely easy, and Senop communicated with us very effectively.”
“The best thing about Senop Communications is the consistently high standard of service. It was not just one thing that worked exceptionally well but every single element of the process. Placing our order, for example, was extremely easy, and Senop communicated with us very effectively”, he says.
The convenient location of Senop’s offices is a bonus: Tampere is centrally positioned relative to the venues of many events. Senop’s leasing service naturally delivers handsets nationwide as well.
VIRVE network has the best signal strength in Finland
The Lahti Historic Rally’s 12 special stages covered a total distance of almost 150 kilometres. The race control centre for the event was based at the Lahti Energy Arena, Friday’s special stages were held near Sysmä and Saturday’s special stages around Lammi. The race control centre in Lahti had to be able to communicate directly with the venues of the special stages. The organisers therefore needed a reliable communication network with good coverage across a wide area.
“The signal strength of the VIRVE network is the best in Finland. VIRVE is technically reliable and sophisticated, which ensures that everyone can hear what others are saying. The coverage of VHF radio is not enough”, Arto Heino says.
Several different talk groups were set up for the Lahti Historic Rally, which enabled the organisers to choose which individuals they wanted to communicate with at any given time.
“Senop Communications pre-programmed the handsets for us. All it took was one phone call and everything was sorted.”
According to Heino, the fact that no one mentioned the communication system during the event is proof that it was a success.
“Communication is one of those things that people generally only talk about if there is a problem with it. Handsets’ batteries running out in the middle of nowhere, for example, would be very inconvenient. Thanks to Senop Communications, there were no issues whatsoever and the system worked exactly as it was supposed to. The handsets were brand new and their batteries lasted the whole day without charging.”
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Jesse Lohtander
Technical Sales Representative
Senop Communications