Ruggedised SmartPhone

RangerFone S18 with LiPO battery for size comparison

My last couple of blogs have been on the subject of Blue Force Tracking using either the BattleTac software from Hungary or the Slovenian PES. The posts have focused largely on the software and its capabilities.

Another aspect of this topic concerns the choice of hardware that the BFT software runs on.

If you read the other blog posts, you will know that I tried to run both software products on a Kindle Fire 7 ruggedised tablet.  This had its difficulties, but the PES software worked in the end after a number of work arounds although there were still issues with the BattleTac (free panning problem)..

This led me to the conclusion that the best way forward is probably to run the BFT apps on a self contained Android OS smartphone.

Although you can use any reasonably equipped smartphone, I have loaded the PES software on to a RangerFone S18 Ruggedised SmartPhone.

Produced in China by Shenzhen Outfone Technology Ltd it is IP68 certified which makes it dustproof and waterproof. It can apparently be submerged 1m underwater and still operate, although if it can withstand heavy Welsh rain at a milsim then most game users will be happy simmers. Certainly, other reviewers have talked about watching streamed movies in the shower, so that's good enough for me. 

It does all the normal cellphone things, so can be used as a normal everyday phone and apps like the PES software can be downloaded through the Google PlayStore. The phone is a bit chunky (250g) for casually carrying to the pub or round Tesco's when doing the weekly shopp but it's a great phone if you work or play outdoors.

What I like most about it is the integral GPS that can work with the US, Russian GLONASS and Chinese BeiDou satellite constellations, a built-in electronic compass and sensors for altitude, air pressure, temperature and humidity. It even has a torch light for searching through your rucksack at night !! 

Although I run mine on a PAYG 4G SIM so I can control costs, like most phones it can run on any normal size or micro SIM and you can use two different SIM cards if you want two numbers or a choice of networks.

The display is ideal for BFT use and is a 4.5" 960x540 TFT IPS.

The phone has a 16GB memory as standard with microSD expansion possibilities up to 64GB, which allows for greater offline storage of cached mapping.

The battery is a 3500mAH capacity and charging is carried out via a microUSB port.

One cool thing is that there are two hard function buttons on the side of the phone (in addition to the standard POWER and VOL + and VOL - buttons). Using an Andoid app from PlayStore, it's possible to programme these for custom functions.  I have one assigned to switching the torch on by touch in the pitch black and the other FUNC button switches the "do not disturb" on, when well, you dont want the phone ringing in the middle of a game.  

The RangerFone S18 is available in the UK at around £120.

PES Battlefield Management Software Review

What ?

Battlefield Management Software is a fancy title for a piece of publicly available software which allows milsim games to have that extra degree of reality.

Now it has to be said that the Slovenian maker is a real defence company which produces different flavours of this software depending on whether you are a mountain hiker, milsim player, Security/LEO or the military.

What Does It Do ? 

It's similar to a Blue Force Tracking software except it has a few enhancements which allow it to do some extra stuff like navigation, past tracking of forces, interfacing to laser rangefinders and so on.

Easier to show you..

Although it will display in landscape mode, I find there is more mapping space in portrait.
You can download a wide variety of free mapping, but this example shows Google Earth.
For this example, I am showing a milsim game in the British Army Training Village of Tyneham in Dorset (I know, we can dream).

The Blue (BLUFOR) unit is us, callsign SUNRAY. The software is showing us two civilian trucks in green, an enemy APC in red and an unknown vehicle in yellow (this follows NATO symbology doctrines for friend or foe). These objects have to be manually entered by us or one of our allies on the same net, but it means that everybody is looking at the same scenario and we then all know the same information.

So far so good.

What do I need to run this and how much does it cost ?

Well the bad news (for iPad and iPhone owners anyway) is that the Personal Eye System only runs on Android operating systems. In saying that, Apple products are probably far too valuable to expose to airsofting ?

I found that the Amazon Kindle Fire 7 made a great rugged tablet for milsim use. With its 7" display and ruggedised case, it cost £64 from Amazon. You will need to load Google Play Store on to it as the Amazon app  store doesn't sell PES. You will still need your mobile phone to act as a wifi hotspot as the tablet doesn't have data connectivity, but you can use your regular smartphone and bury it deep in your kit so it doesnt get broken. All user interaction is done through the tablet and let's face it, only one player in each squad or fireteam really needs a PES enabled tablet on behalf of their team - this is usually the TL/SL or RTO.

Edited to add - the Kindle system is a pain and I struggled to get my smartphone to provide its GPS position to the Fire 7.  In the end, I connected it by bluetooth to my Garmin GLO cigarette packet GPS and by wifi to my phone hotspot. The Garmin is fast and works on both the US and Russian satellites. However, it's probably easier to just load the PES software on an Android smartphone with its own integral GPS rather than faff about with the Kindle flavour of Android.

In terms of operating costs, the organiser or team leader needs to buy the PES military app which is £12 and then have a PES server subscription which is Euro 4.80 per month for 10 users (or Euro 48 per annum). Players wishing to be on the net are then invited to use a free version of the app and join the network using a PIN that the organiser or team leader will give you. There are lots of purchase options for this application and its use and I won't go into them all here (check out their website which I will post a link to at the bottom).

My experience of this kind of software is that due to the low volume take up/niche market, most developers go in too cheap to attract players and then can't afford to maintain the software. The makers of PES, Mil Sistemika are a resourced defence company and make a reasonable charge for the application and its maintenance.

Other Features

Here you can see that SUNRAY has plotted an indirect flanking action (blue route line) around the back of the buildings to come up behind the enemy APC. Using the fly-out menu on the right, anybody on the net can create a new route and add waypoints to show all the allied units how they will approach.

The same fly-out menu has a flip side (selected by the reversing arrow on the bottom soft key) which allows the user to enter new reference positions for navigation, new targets to direct colleagues towards or add new enemy or civilian units. Note - BLUFOR units on the same network will appear and move automatically due to the embedded tracking functionality.

COP stands for Common Operational Picture and is effectively what is shared between users over the net. The COP list is a list of all the assets in the COP.

You will also notice that the top line (just below the words Personal Eye System) shows own position which is derived from your phone triangulation or its inbuilt GPS if it has one.

Towards the bottom of the screen is a black text line which displays chat between units. Any user can send a message to other units using secure datacomms (only visible by those using the same PIN number).

Here we have chosen for only one line of chat to be visible to maximise the mapping space but users can adjust this up to 4 lines in settings.

If you press the three vertical dots shown in the top right hand side of the screen, you get the drop -down settings menu. You can elect to have the software update your COP at preset intervals or you can manually update (sync COP picture) at times when you wish to conserve data or work between data dead zones.

Website: Mil Sistemika

Blue Force Tracking for Milsims

Blue Force Tracking is in common use by modern day real world armies.
Originally developed around 2001 to enable forces to know the location of other friendly forces (presumably to avoid friendly fire incidents), it was also used to identify the suspected or observed location of enemy forces.

BFT usually comprises of a processor running bespoke software and which is connected to a military GPS for position reference and a tactical radio or satellite terminal for the sharing of encrypted data over the battlespace.
Initially fitted to military vehicles as a PC-based installation, improved battery technology and the reduction in the size of modern electronics, has enabled BFT to become a personal tool for the battlefield soldier, running on a portable ruggedised tablet.

As well as allowing the avoidance of friendly fire, BFT permits commanding officers to know the positions of their forces, direct them to desired locations using mapping on the screen and to communicate with them using text messaging.

BattleTac is a Hungarian software company which has developed a version of BFT for military gaming use.

The BT software can run on a smartphone or tablet using iOS or Android operating systems. The host platform used in gaming, just like the real BFT, needs to have a position reference which can be derived from an internal GPS or cell triangulation using the mobile network and it needs to have a data connection via GPRS, 3G/4G, etc.

In practice, an inexpensive smartphone can be used for personal use at a milsim (I have an LG one which cost £50 from Tesco). More expensive phones offer bigger screens to make mapping clearer but are more vulnerable and a bigger monetary loss if damaged in the field. Battlefield commanders who observe and manage their forces from relative safety often use a larger tablet to view proceedings.

Screenshot of BattleTac from Tablet

The above screenshot shows the position of friendly forces (blue) being directed to enemy forces (red) at a farmhouse. This image can be viewed by either the force commander on his tablet or the players in the field using smartphones or small ruggedised tablets. The grid is displayed in MGRS and as you can see, the software is providing a range and bearing to the enemy (189m at 300 Degrees). As users are all connected on the same encrypted network by sharing a common password, any change to the mapping will be shared and viewed by all. This means that either the commander or the players in the field can add information at any time.

As the operation of such a system can be difficult in the field, players can choose just to be tracked (by burying their smartphone in the relative safety of a pouch or bergen) and this means that their commander will know their location as they move around. The commander can use this positional information to direct them by normal radio commands. How often have you been asked for your position over the radio by Command, only to find that one tree looks much like another in woodland and you really aren't sure. This call becomes unnecessary with BattleTac tracking and the position that the C.O sees is much more accurate that your estimation could ever be !! Not only does this remove errors from poor verbal communication but it frees up the player to concentrate on the enemy rather than radio requests for updated positions.

Sometimes, Squad or Team Leaders will carry a small tablet in a ruggedised case. This enables them to reach a place of reasonable safety out of a potential contact situation and consult the tactical situation on the screen while the rest of the squad provide him with cover.           

Cranking Them Out !!

Although I often use high capacity (hi-cap) Airsoft magazines for a days skirmish shooting with friends, I do like to use mid caps for MilSim games.

Having tried the plunger type speed loaders without much success, I switched to using what I call "Pea-Shooter" loaders which consist of a long hollow tube through which you ram BB's into your magazine using a loading rod. The latter is slow and it's very easy to spill BB's especially when the magazine vomits them back at you.

So, when I saw the Odin Innovations M12 Sidewinder Speed Loader, I was intrigued.

Odin is a Colorado-based company and they have produced this Speed Loader primarily for M4/AR15 5.56mm size Airsoft magazines. There is talk of adapters for AK mags and all that, but one step at a time.


WHAT IT DOES

It enables you to fill about 1600 BB's into its sizable hopper, push the business end of an empty M4 Mid-Cap mag into the bottom of it until it clicks and then crank BB's into your magazine at the rate of around 12 BB's per crank revolution.

DOES IT WORK ?

Yes it seems to. I've successfully used standard metal M4 mid-caps, PTS EPM and Evike BAMF mid-caps with it.
The theory is that when the magazine is full, an integral clutch will signal this to your cranking hand. I tried filling an EPM to the max and sure enough I felt resistance on the crank after twelve or thirteen revolutions. Generally though, I tend to only fill my mid-caps to about 60 rounds and treat them as low-caps, so they don't get a hard life with me.


THE COOL BIT

What I really like about this speed loader is the following in order of preference:

1. The crank is normally folded in and flush for storage, but when you fold it out and start cranking, the 12BB's per rotation allows you to measure pretty accurately how many rounds you are loading.
I wanted about 30 rounds in my EPM so gave the crank three rotations - emptying the mag manually after, I had 31 rounds inside and 2 dropped out from the loading nozzle when I disconnected the mag for use, so what should have been 36 was 33, but it's close enough.

When I filled the EPM to capacity, I manually emptied it and counted. It had contained 155 rounds before the clutch gave me the good news.

2. It's fast and there is little spillage. You can load a mag in about 30 seconds. The two-BB spillage per load is pretty consistent. Great for Milsims where you need to reload your four mags back at the FOB or ammo cache and the OPFOR could be breathing down your neck any second or you get redeployed and your patrol is about to move out.

3. The beige clip that you can see on the loader in the top photo is the magazine release. The mags click in firmly when pushed up and is held securely while you are crank-loading. Depressing this clip afterwards, allows the mag to be removed from the loader.

4. The loader has a large aperture and sliding door on the feeder entrance so its really easy to pour BB's in when you are filling and close it afterwards to stop spills. The door is a bit like a sliding hi-cap one only this one is a lot bigger !

5. It will fit in a double M4 pouch so you can carry it with you (if your game rules allow). I probably wouldn't use this feature but its handy to be able to store it in your kit pouches when you're at home, so it doesn't get left behind.


IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER

Keep the Speed Loader and magazine vertical when cranking, so gravity can do its job. Got caught out by this when I couldn't work out why the BB's weren't going into my mag.


WHAT'S IT NOT GOOD FOR ?

* - Hi-cap magazines
* - AK, 9mm and non-M4/AR15 shaped magazines
* - 7.62mm magazines


HOW MUCH DOES IT COST ?

At the time of going to press, one of these costs about £60-65 in the UK including mainland delivery.

Real Steel Headsets at Airsoft Prices

Frustrated by the high price of Tactical Headsets (typically £400+ here in the UK) and wishing for something a little better quality than the far eastern copies of the great and mighty, I did a little research on forums and Facebook groups and decided to purchase a Peltor Pro Tac Hunter headset to act as a back-up headset for MilSims and skirmishes.

Peltor have a good pedigree and manufacture the well known and expensive top end tactical  COM TAC XP range. The Pro Tac is their civilian hunter headset manufactured in Sweden.

This is a sensible work-around compromise that gives me a real steel shooting headset with active ear protection (to protect my lugs from loud bangs like pyro), that reproduces directional ambient sound from two small external "electronic ear" microphones (so I can still hear instructions and movement from those around me) and which allows me to use my radio to talk to my team mates, without an open speaker squawking away and alerting the enemy to my position or received message contents.

How much did this all cost ? - well about £80 excluding the radio.

As you can see from the photo above, it's a simple set-up: the headset, my fist microphone and my radio.

I wear the fist mic on my chest rig shoulder strap or the top of my plate carrier front, so it's quite close to my mouth, but not in the way. With the headset over my ears, I can listen to received radio signals in my left ear. 

I can also hear stereo ambient sound around me via the "electronic ear" microphones. If there are any loud bangs, they pick it up  and before the sound can reach and damage my ears, internal digital electronic circuitry will reduce their volume. The response time is fantastic. If you clap your hands loudly, the noise immediately sounds muted in the "cans". If somebody speaks to you straight after though, it's as clear as a bell again.

There are push-button controls on the side of the right ear shell which allow me to turn the headset on and off as well as adjust the amplification from zero (mute) to maximum in five steps. You hear a beep in your ear when the upper and lower extents are reached. A voice in your ear also tells you when the headset is on, off or your batteries need changing.

R.H. Ear Shell with buttons and Electronic Ear MIC

The Pro-Tac uses two AA batteries which last for around 100 hours. Military Sordin batteries last about 500 hours so this is not brilliant endurance, but you can buy a lot of Duracell's for the price difference.

Changing the batteries is much easier than on Sordins where they are an absolute pig to get out. On the Pro Tac, you just pull the retaining clip down with your index finger, the left ear shell cover comes off (as shown in the photo below) and you change the two batteries - simple.

L.H Ear Shell with battery space and Electronic Ear MIC

If you leave the headset on by accident, it will switch itself off after four hours if untouched.

So what are the downsides ?

Let's face it, there's over £300 difference in price between this and full blown MSA Sordins fitted with a noise-cancelling boom microphone.

There are differences, of course there are.

Sordins seem to enhance your hearing by giving you bat ears. I suspect the Pro Tacs just hear what there is in terms of ambient sound and don't actually amplify very much, if at all. I cant find any figures or data to support this suspicion or amount of amplification; I'm just comparing performance in practice.

When the radio audio plays from the radio, where it goes via the fist mic into the AUX input jack of the headset, the volume in the left ear shell is controlled by the radio volume knob. You can turn it up very loud!

Sordins tend to clip the level so you can't damage your hearing by playing the radio too loud.

The boom mic on the Sordin is excellent quality and allows clear transmission even with background noise. My little Baofeng fist mic is clear but its not noise-cancelling. It's hard to have a conversation with explosions and gunfire going on in the background, but is it that important in a MilSim which uses quieter Airsoft based weapons ?

The size of the Pro Tac earshells are larger than that of the Sordins and you are limited in your choice of headgear - helmets will be difficult. However, baseball caps, balaclavas or just bare headed is fine. Note that the "Shooter" version of this Pro-Tac Hunter headset has even fatter ear-shells (it offers better sound suppression which on a firing range is a good idea but probably a waste for us).

The environmentals are different too.   Sordins will probably take a lot more water and pain, but a headset designed for shooting (outside) should be able to withstand a rain shower.

A footnote here relates to the cable between fist microphone and the headset AUX IN.
Its worth getting a stereo 3.5mm cable - I bought a 30cm one to cut down on excess cable. The mono radio still plays in your left ear so no benefit tactically, but if you want to listen to anything when stood down, its useful to hear stereo music, media etc with your headset plugged into a smartphone etc.

So there we have it -  

Of course, the principle will theoretically work with any headset that has an AUX input jack. The Peltor which is a 3M company, provides a mid priced solution. You can buy cheaper shooting headsets (starting from about £40) or you can even get an MSA Sordin version without a boom microphone for about £160 (all prices correct in the UK at time of going to press).

To put this into perspective, have a look at the Z-Tactical range of headsets. These are specifically designed for Airsoft and produced by a company in the far east. They are certainly not "real steel".

I've never owned one and can't comment on their performance, but their prices aren't that different from the set-up shown here.  Its up to each player to decide how he or she wishes to invest their hard earned in the pursuit of our shared hobby.