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Technology Stocks : KVH Industries, Inc.

KVHI 5.970

+1.4%

Oct 31 3:59 PM EST

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To: Sector Investor who wrote (1236)	6/4/2002 1:31:12 AM
From: Michael Dunn	Read Replies (2) of 7249

Just as a point of reference: There have been several posts in the past which state the cost advantage of KVHI gyros. Part of this cost advantage is due to the fact that KVHI gyros are open loop, this means that there is no feedback used to monitor how much/if the gyro measurements drift. As a KVHI shareholder and an AF officer doing R&D I have an application requiring gryos or an IMU. The application is ground-to-space laser communication from a parked vehicle. I researched the specs of KVHI gyros and talked to the company. In short the open loop nature meant that the angular drift in the gyros was unacceptable for this application. Granted we aren't an application requiring huge numbers of gyros, but when considering the market for this product folks should keep in mind that for many military applications where ranges are long (>50 km) these gyros will be unacceptable. In todays world of "smart weapons" collateral damage gets alot of press and the associated political pressure. The open loop drift associated with these gyros may be unacceptable for many applications. Having the secretary of defense say "we got gyros for 1/3 the cost which decreases our weapons price by 3% so the 10% of the time that we miss the target and sometimes kill civilians is acceptable" would work fine 20 yrs ago but doesn't work in todays world. To KVHI's credit they advertise their gyros as having "tactical accuracy". For the initiated the translation for "tactical accuracy" is "only good for short ranges". As a result their gyros and IMUs will be unacceptable for many military applications. Something to keep in mind when folks guesstimate the market for these products. A KVHI long, Mike

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