Howard CBTD Grad Develops Vest Antenna for Military

Syntonics LLC, a Columbia-based company and a graduate from the Howard County Center for Business & Technology Development's (CBTD) NeoTech Incubator, has developed a low-profile vest antenna which helps safeguard military radio operators from identification by enemy snipers.
Syntonics developed the HTA SINCGARS vest antenna in response to an e-mail from a United States Army sergeant who was stationed in Baghdad, Iraq.
"The sergeant wanted to be able to communicate with other soldiers around him without the telltale aiming stake of an antenna sticking off his shoulder," said Ray Madonna, Syntonics' vice president of sales and marketing who is a retired Marine and Vietnam veteran. "He wanted a low profile antenna that would not be obvious to an enemy. After finding nothing on the market that would fit his needs, he contacted Syntonics."
In response, Syntonics built two prototypes. Satisfied with the prototypes, the sergeant wanted to purchase the antennas with his personal credit card.
"We gave them to him at no charge in return for his comments on how they worked," said Bruce Montgomery, president of Syntonics. "Within about 10 days, his response came in the form of a picture, followed some time later by a purchase order from his unit for 30 more antennas."
Since March 2007, Syntonics has sold more than 300 of the vest antennas; mostly to Army units and Navy Special Operations groups, but also to some senior non-commissioned officers on their personal credit cards.
"The concept is simple," said Madonna. "The antenna attaches to the antenna port of the radio and threads through the loops on the upper body armor worn by the soldier." The antenna is intended for short range communications, up to approximately 500 meters. Syntonics has supplied the military with SINCGARS Vest Antennas for use in Iraq, Afghanistan and South America, as well as here in the continental United States.
In each case, the users made a different point when asked why they were interested in the vest antenna. Two examples are that a whip antenna marks the radio operator; it also gets tangled with and torn-up by jungle vegetation (and, after a while, stops working).