CRD™ and miniCRD™ for FirstNet®​

Any vehicle equipped with a Class III (3), Class IV (4) or Class V (5) trailer hitch rated for at least 600 pounds of tongue weight. Requires a 2” square hitch receiver to install the CRD hitch adapter that connects the CRD to the vehicle.​

The miniCRD was designed to be ultra-flexible for transport. It can be rolled like a suitcase and transported in the back of any vehicle (even an ATV). It even has removable batteries, so you can check them on an airplane, ship to a location, or transport by helicopter or boat.​

The CRD and miniCRD for FirstNet can support up to 64 Simultaneous LTE Users at one time, using a typical satellite connection. If the FirstNet CRD or miniCRD is provided with high-speed ethernet or fiber, it can support up to 600 simultaneous FirstNet users.​

The CRD can run continuously for 60 hours on one tank of gas. It can run up to 240 hours off-grid before re-fueling when power cycling between the generator and re-chargeable battery. The miniCRD can run off battery for 2 hours but is designed to be used with a customer provided power source. It includes cables to connect to DC and AC power.​

Yes, with the provided guying kit for windy weather, and the lightning ground kit, the CRD will perform in all weather conditions. Although internet speeds can change depending on climate conditions and terrain, the heated and air-conditioned CRD has proven to work through wind, rain, sun, and snow. The miniCRD is also IP54 rated.​

Yes, setup is simple and can be accomplished within 15 minutes. Turning on the CRD and miniCRD requires pushing just 3-4 buttons. Multiple User Guides are provided for step-by-step setup, as well as an Owner’s Manual and Inventory Sheets for all included components. However, because the CRD and miniCRD contain computer equipment, it is recommended to have an IT specialist on staff become familiar with the equipment for simple troubleshooting and user questions.​

Yes. For CRD, Expedition Communications can work with you to charge data used in a cost recoverable incident directly to the incident, so you don’t have a negative impact on your budget. For miniCRD, Starlink bills in monthly increments, so you can separate out the billing for that month of service.

The customer will need to purchase a High-Speed First Responder Priority Viasat® data plan through Expedition Communications. Information on these data plans can be found in the Product Brief.

The customer will need to purchase a Business plan w/ Portability directly from Starlink© through Starlink.com/business. There is no commitment for this plan and monthly service can be cancelled at any time, so you are not billed. Information on these data plans can be found in the Product Brief.

Multiple-user slowdown typically occurs with the old Ku-Band satellite systems (it’s called “contention”), but that doesn’t apply to the modern Ka-Band Viasat® “First Responder Priority” Plans and modern satellite spot-beam technology. Your data rate is always at full speed and has priority on the satellite over all other users, except for certain government use. You will get high speed internet and cell service even in the middle of a major incident. And you don’t have to pay extra for it. For miniCRD Business Starlink© plans, users will have one terabyte of priority access to the network. However, data speeds are not guaranteed and can fluctuate.​

Yes. Simply set up the CRD in the parking lot (or put the removable satellite dish on the roof), run an ethernet cable (supplied) from the CRD into the building and plug it into your router/switch where your normal ISP cable plugs in. The CRD also produces a Wi-Fi Hotspot out to several hundred feet. You can view a short video at Instructional Videos | The PodRunner