FEC Heliports Worldwide Ltd is pleased to announce that their HEMS-Star® portable battery powered LED helipad lighting system and Remote Lighting Controller have achieved FCC certification for operation in the USA and CE certification for Europe.

HEMS-Star® is a rechargeable portable battery powered, microprocessor controlled LED lighting system designed for rapid deployment in temporary and emergency situations to provide safe and effective marking at designated or ad-hoc helicopter landing areas.

FEC’s Remote Lighting Controller (RLC) enables an operator or pilot to remotely control helipad lighting systems.  The system integrates both traditional VHF PCL and adds SMS control and monitoring with the option of automatic weather reporting (wind speed/direction, temperature, dew point and pressure) from the helipad.

The FCC Certification is a declaration of conformity that certain electronic devices sold in the USA meet stringent requirements whilst the CE certification is the manufacturer’s declaration that the product meets the requirements of EC directives.

Fraser MacKay, Commercial Director at FEC Heliports Worldwide, said, “We are very proud to announce that we have achieved FCC and CE certification for HEMS-Star® and FEC’s Remote Lighting Controller. It is an important milestone in the development of our global standard.”

HEMS-Star® Portable Helipad Lighting System
Each HEMS-Star has Night Vision Goggle (NVG) compatible red, blue, green, white visible LEDs and infa-red and is programmable to show steady -on, flash warning, location beacon or Morse Code with the option of automatic sunset switching.

HEMS-Stars are fitted with an 868 MHz (915 MHz in USA) UHF transceiver to enable each individual light or set of lights to be programmed, interrogated and controlled by wireless commands.

HEMS-Stars can be operated by Remote Lighting Controller or using a PC/Tablet with the Zulu “dongle” transceiver with USB connector provided with each case as standard.

HEM-Stars® system contains up to 8 landing lights, each weighing less than 1 kg. A full case weighs only 10.6Kg.

HEM-Star® is rechargeable in its case via mains at 100-240V AC, vehicles at 13.5-28VDC, solar or wind power and it is IP65 rated.  Run Time Steady – Up to 18 hours, Run Time Flashing – Up to 108 hours.  Recharging Time – fully exhausted to fully charged in 3.5 hours.

Each HEM-Star® is fitted with a rubber soled stainless steel bases for stability and has been successfully tested at the Sikorsky Development Flight Centre for stability under the full rotor wash of a CH-147 (Chinook).

Remote Lighting Controller (RLC)
The RLC offers a flexible solution to the traditional Radio Pilot Controlled Lighting (PCL) solutions using the VHF radio control of helipad lighting and secondary circuits with its all new, fully digital design which integrates both traditional VHF with the addition of SMS control and monitoring.   

The RLC can be used simply to control the helipad lighting, or there is now the option of automatic weather reporting (wind speed/direction, temperature, dew point and pressure) from your helipad via SMS message to pilot.

THE RLC is easy to install and use.  The keypad and LCD display is IP65 rated making it suited to the harshest of environments.  The power source is 110-240V AC 50-60Hz or 12V DC making it ideal for solar and battery operation.