HyperSpike is a brand name for acoustic products manufactured by Ultra Electronics – Undersea Sensor Systems Inc. (USSI), in

Columbia City, Indiana Columbia City is a city in Columbia Township, Whitley County, Indiana, United States. The population was 9,892 at the 2020 Census, up from 8,750 at the 2010 Census, estimated to be 10,064 in 2023. The city is the county seat of Whitley County, ...

. HyperSpike is composed of a line of acoustic hailing devices that feature integrated electronics with a flat

frequency response In signal processing and electronics, the frequency response of a system is the quantitative measure of the magnitude and Phase (waves), phase of the output as a function of input frequency. The frequency response is widely used in the design and ...

curve.

History

HyperSpike was originally invented by Curt Graber of Wattre Corporation. In 2008, Wattre and Ultra Electronics – USSI signed a teaming agreement for the design and manufacture of an array of acoustic hailing devices. A teaming agreement is an interim agreement between partners which commits them to their roles during the development and marketing stage of a project. It would generally be transformed into a formal

sub-contracting A subcontractor is a person or business which undertakes to perform part or all of the obligations of another's contract, and a subcontract is a contract which assigns part of an existing contract to a subcontractor. A general contractor, prime ...

agreement once an order for delivery has been placed. Since 2008, over 8 new devices have been released. HyperSpike products currently hold the

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

position for the loudest electro-acoustic projection device at 182.2 dB.

Characteristics

HyperSpike units are created out of custom

composite material A composite or composite material (also composition material) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or physical properties and are merged to create a ...

s or

carbon fiber Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers ( Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon comp ...

. Each is sealed against the environment and has been designed to operate in extreme environmental conditions including hot, cold, blowing dust, freezing rain, and torrential downpours. HyperSpike units are weatherproof, not waterproof. Each directional unit has an integrated electronics package, which increases usability and decreases overall package weight. Certain high-output models are also manufactured with an output selector switch that can toggle between the hearing safe "low" and extreme output level "high." Finally, new HyperSpike units have been manufactured with an integrated network port.

Inputs

All HyperSpike units have three inputs for sound. These inputs use unique

Amphenol Amphenol Corporation is an American producer of electronic and fiber optic connectors, cable and interconnect systems such as coaxial cables. Amphenol is a portmanteau from the corporation's original name, American Phenolic Corp. History Amph ...

connectors so that they cannot be accidentally interchanged in extreme situations. The details for each type of connector are below: # Dynamic Microphone This CB-Style

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic (), or mike, is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and publi ...

is designed to adapt to user input. The louder the input, the louder the HyperSpike output. The dynamic microphone is activated by a thumb-toggle. # AUX In Using a standard headphone jack, a HyperSpike can accept any commercial audio source including

iPod The iPod is a series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. from 2001 to 2022. The iPod Classic#1st generation, first version was released on November 10, 2001, about mon ...

Zune Zune was a brand of digital media products and services that was marketed by Microsoft from November 2006 until it was discontinued in June 2012. Zune consisted of a line of portable media players, a music subscription service known as Zune Music ...

s, and other

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany under the lead of Karlheinz Brandenburg. It was designed to greatly reduce the amount ...

players. The AUX In is always on. # Alert Tone Each HyperSpike has an alert-tone button that puts out a frequency designed to gain attention. This button can only output the alert tone.

Models

HyperSpike models are divided into two types, directional and omni-directional. The directional units can also be integrated into a remote-controlled platform. The Omnidirectional units can also remote-controlled through an IP

network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

First MA-1 on concrete pad FOB 101 2010-5-26

Directional models

Directional HyperSpikes are characterized by their ability to form a narrow beam of

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

. This

collimated A collimated beam of light or other electromagnetic radiation has parallel rays, and therefore will spread minimally as it propagates. A laser beam is an archetypical example. A perfectly collimated light beam, with no divergence, would not disp ...

beam can range from 5 degrees to 15 degrees at 2 kHz. The current models offered are detailed below with their maximum

sound pressure Sound pressure or acoustic pressure is the local pressure deviation from the ambient (average or equilibrium) atmospheric pressure, caused by a sound wave. In air, sound pressure can be measured using a microphone, and in water with a hydrophon ...

level. * HS-18 156 dBA @1m

Omnidirectional models

These HyperSpike products emit high volumes in a 360

radius In classical geometry, a radius (: radii or radiuses) of a circle or sphere is any of the line segments from its Centre (geometry), center to its perimeter, and in more modern usage, it is also their length. The radius of a regular polygon is th ...

. At 50' the units can be heard over 1.5 miles away. The MA series of acoustic hailing devices consist of a hexagonal array of

transducers A transducer is a device that converts energy from one form to another. Usually a transducer converts a signal in one form of energy to a signal in another. Transducers are often employed at the boundaries of automation, measurement, and contro ...

. As the number of transducers increases, the potential output increases. As such, the MA-2 is essentially two MA-1 emitter heads. The current models are detailed below with their maximum

level. * TCPA-Omni 129 dB @1m HS-18 Front

Remote-controlled models

Recently, the HS-14 and HS-18 have been integrated into a pan/tilt platform with partner corporation MOOG. This platform, named the HS-14 RAHD or HS-18 RAHD (Remote Acoustic Hailing Device), is an IP-controlled remote system that can be integrated with any sensor. In addition, these units can be equipped with advanced software analytics capable of detecting human or machine forms at distances in excess of 1000 meters. Examples of integrable sensors include: * Daylight Cameras * Thermal Cameras * Infrared Cameras * Night-Vision Cameras * Illuminator (Adjustable Spot Light) * Avian Radars * Ground Radars HS-16 at LA protest with sheriffs copy

Field usage

Directional HyperSpike models are in service with various domestic and international and private,

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...

, and

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

users. Notable users include the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

, Allen County SWAT (Fort Wayne, IN), the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

, the

Malaysian Navy The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN, ; Jawi: ) is the naval arm of the Malaysian Armed Forces. RMN is the main agency responsible for the country's maritime surveillance and defence operations. RMN's area of operation consists of 603,210 square kilo ...

, Indonesia Police and various international energy conglomerates. The MA-1 is currently in service with the United States Army for their

Counter Rocket, Artillery, and Mortar Counter rocket, artillery, and mortar, abbreviated C-RAM or counter-RAM, is a set of systems used to detect and/or destroy incoming rocket artillery, rockets, artillery, and mortar (weapon), mortars before they hit their targets, or provide ea ...

(C-RAM) program.C-RAM Website
/ref> In addition, units have been fielded for use at large

tradeshow A trade show, also known as trade fair, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and c ...

s, for the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

, and international navies.

References

External links

HyperSpike's Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hyperspike Loudspeakers