Aeronautical Mobile Contact

[kg4kww]

Today (3/29/05) I had a contact on 2 meter simplex freq 146.520 with a ham that was flying his own plane from Ohio to the Outerbanks. I was outside walking the dog and had brought an HT with me, something I don't normally do, but I was trying to track down the source of some electrical noise that I was receiving on 2 meter ssb and simplex. I put the radio on 146.520 and hear KA1PRT aeronautical mobile put out a call. I made contact and rushed back to the house and turned on the IC910 and peaked up the aeronautical station on my 2m5wl beam. I was able to continue the contact from Richmond Va to NC where he was starting to make his decent. I recorded the qso and sent the guy a copy. This was cool.

This is something that you just don't do everyday.

[wu3u]

Working an aeronautical mobile is rather rare.

I think I have done it once or twice in 20 years of hamming and only on VHF.

I hae never heard an aeronatucial mobile on HF although I am sure they are heard from time to time.

Neat tho.

73,

Tim
N8LXR

[KC0LFV]

I have had one once with a guy flying on a business trip.

[K9STH]

Back during the late 1960s there were a number of amateurs who were flying various cargo aircraft, and even a few B-52 bombers, that would get on 20 meters using the airborne SSB equipment and break into QSOs. Usually they were flying somewhere in the Middle East, but once-in-a while someone would call in while flying to, or from, an attack in Viet Nam.

Also, I used to work a friend of mine on 146.940 MHz when it was primarily a simplex frequency. He was usually on his way down to Austin or Houston in a Cessna 150. I would use my Motorola H13NBC transmitter and H03ANC receiver (the old "two gun" portables). The H13NBC put out 500 milliwatts (0.5 watts) into a quarter-wave whip. The H03ANC had an arrangement that utilized the battery as part of the antenna circuit. This was well over 200 miles.

Glen, K9STH

[KC9ECI]

I worked K7SEL last year aeronautical mobile on 2M simplex. I'm on the West coast of Wiscowsin and at the time, whoever was working the callsign was in a private jet over Michigan. I've got the QSL card in my collection.

[WA2ZDY]

I remember attending a hamfest held at the local "small" airport near here. Several guys flew in to the fester. One airplane seemed to have several extra antennas. Upon investigation, it was found that there was Icom equipment mounted very professionally into the panel. I specifically remember the IC735, but not what the 2m rig was.

My oldest son's Godfather is also a ham and a pilot and I can't remember a time we went up without getting on 52 simplex. Hang the little portable rig on the thermometer and have at it. Lots of fun.

[G7HEU]

You are all lucky boys. Aeronautical contacts are not allowed here in the U.K.

Steve.

p.s. Nor phone patches.

[W3MIV]

Mar 5, 2005, air mobile QSO with N4GVA in a Cessna 310 over Florida. Add by edit: This was on 20m.

What made this contact unique was the mode: PSK31!

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

No joke. He was riding in back at the time.

[K7FE]

When I was private flying a lot, I used a 2 meter rig in the plane and had quite a bit of fun working simplex and some distant repeaters in other states. While on the ground, I worked other flyers on HF like Senator Barry Goldwater and General Curtis Le May, "Father “of the Strategic Air Command. I have a good friend who is a major airline pilot who operates 6M and HF during his breaks at 35,000 feet and hears a lot of stations.

73,
Terry, K7FE

[KC7UP]

I worked NQ4I Aeronautical over the Canary Islands last summer. It was a Gruman Gulfstream. Real pretty picture on his card.
Curt

[KG4YUV]

Being a student pilot, anytime I go up in our twin-engine Cessna 310 I try to take the HT along with me. If I'm too low for any real line-of-sight I'll usually put my call on local (>100) miles repeaters. If we're cruising for some cross-country around 8500 ASL then I'll usually go simplex on 52.

[K9STH]

HEU:

At least all you amateur radio operators over in the U.K. will soon be able to have third party traffic with those of us over here in the "colonies"!

Glen, K9STH

[kb2vxa]

Hi guys,

"At least all you amateur radio operators over in the U.K. will soon be able to have third party traffic with those of us over here in the "colonies"!"

Yeah, BT finally wised up to the fact that hams aren't telephone pirates and won't take away any revenue. Then again the UK is following our lead and with the advent of better services BT is dead in the water if they don't come up to speed.

I have worked a few /AMs on 2M FM simplex but haven't heard any for the last several years. Down here we might hear the plane having a round robin and copy a few locals but up there it's bedlam. When you work FROM a plane you find out quick what a rare DX station has to put up with.

I once sat and listened for over an hour to a commercial pilot on 20M SSB using the aircraft radio and antenna which in most large jets is the rudder assembly. Stands to reason since it's the largest bit of metal easily electrically isolated from the fuselage.

On a ground based note, the band was and maybe still is popular with truckers, don't hear much of anything since I moved into a high noise level area. Could it be that some of those mud ducks have the smarts to get a license and use something better than CB?

Plenty of /MMs too especially here at the shore, lots of boats with VHF/UHF rigs in them and sometimes even HF. I used to listen to the Baja Net and once told a sailor how to rig an effective HF antenna to his mast. Got back an interesting and thankful e-mail, his communications improved markedly using a simple wire hauled up on a lanyard with a tuner and ground plate.

My point is on ham radio you'll get the name "Radar" because you can pick up anything. BTW, got that from Amos Girard, the original Radar in WW2, Gary Burghoff was just a twinkle in Mr. Burghoff's eye.

[W0LPQ]

Gulfstream II, III, IV and V use the leading edge of the tail for the HF antenna. #It is electrically isolated from the airframe ... except at the top, where it becomes a shunt fed. #Our Collins stuff is pretty much standard on the Gulfstreams and has been for years. #Gulfstream had a problem with early II's in that the complete leading edge was bonded. #Naturally the HF did not work. #Seems as due to retirements, someone lost the recipe.

Lear 25, 35 series used a wire from the tail to mid fuselage. #The wire was grounded at the top of the tail, however some 35A's had a wire from just aft of the door up to the tail and forward to mid cabin where it was grounded (much the same as the Hawker 700's).

Falcon 20, 50, 2000 use the leading edge also.

Falcon 10's used the nacelle on the left engine fed from the Collins 548S-5 PA in the wing root.

Hawkers 800's use the leading edge, while some -700's used a wire similar to the Lear 35A's. Some early -700's used a wire from just aft of the door, up to the tail and forward to mid cabin where it was grounded.

Challenger 600/601/604 uses the leading edge, fed by a strap from the Collins PA in the Hell Hole (where the hydraulics and stuff is .. hot in there).

Leading edge antennas have been popular for quite some time and are fairly efficient .. compared to a wet noodle. #Some of the B-707 aircraft used a probe out the front of the tail at the top. #Similar to the Convair aircraft (and similar to the BAC-1-11). #Most corporate operators used the Eastern Air Lines STC to convert to the leading edge configuration as it was much quieter than the probe.

While I was in Wichita, Cessna was working on an F-406, which was to have been a Caravan II (built in France) that used our HF-230 (100W) system. They had real problems tuning the system. What we found was, the wire was too long and the coupler would not handle it. We basically cut the wire down to almost emulate the wire on the Lear 35A's (which Cessna did not like). However, the system then performed as designed. When we pointed out that they were not the only one using that configuration they calmed down somewhat.

C-130's have 2-3 long wires fed by (usually) the Collins 618T-3 400W radio.

I know several guys who fly G-IV's or G-V's that hang out on 20M or 40M. #Several other airline guys do 17M when they have time.

HF in an aircraft can be a real bear to make work, but when it does, it works great. You can listen to the commercial HF bands for aircraft all over Europe and the Atlantic and note how good they really sound. Most of the US built aircraft use Collins, and it is usually 400W. Some use 100W systems. The European aircraft use (usually) an HF system from Europe.

73

Bill, W0LPQ
Collins Avionics Field Service, Retired




Commercial stuff uses the leading edge.

[K3UD]

When I was flying a lot in the early and mid 70s I would usually take a 2 meter HT along, and sometimes a battery powered 6 or 2 meter AM unit that was sold by Lafayette Radio. It was a lot of fun and also amazing how well they worked using the built in whips on the Lafayettes and the duck on the HT. Made lots of contacts. Many times the air mobile aspect was the only reason for the flight. Never did try HF, as I was renting planes back then

The most unusual air mobile contact I ever had was with a sport parachutist in free fall. He had publicized that he was going to do it and to listen for him. Almost impossible to read while he was free falling, but much better after the chute opened.

The last air mobile contact I had was with a guy on a C-140 Starlifter just off the eact coast over the Atlantic. He was using the plane's HF radio.

73
George
K3UD

[N5BO]

Quote[/b] ]C-130's have 2-3 long wires fed by (usually) the Collins 618T-3 400W radio.


The ARC-190 produced by Collins is great, and almost never failed on me when I was in the USAF. #The antenna coupler was usually the only thing to go wrong within the HF system on the C-130's I worked on. The ARC-190 is used widely within the USAF, and you can find it used in almost every airframe in the air today.

On a side note, one of the MC-130H's I use to work on while assigned to the 352nd in England crashed today. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

[kb2vxa]

Hi again,

Thanks LPQ for all the great antenna info! Oh yeah, aero HF antennas are like that proverbial loading of the bed springs, difficult, not the greatest effeciency but they work and that's the main thing. "You can listen to the commercial HF bands for aircraft all over Europe and the Atlantic and note how good they really sound." I do and they do, have been listening for years to all sorts of things besides the usual Amateur and SW b'cast bands.

Re 3UD:
"When I was flying a lot in the early and mid 70s I would usually take a 2 meter HT along, and sometimes a battery powered 6 or 2 meter AM unit that was sold by Lafayette Radio."

I knew those neat made by Hallicrafters 15W rigs well. Halli/Laffingyet sold a CB rig of the same design, the Halli number was CD-5A but I forgot the one the marquis (De Lafayette) went under.

[N5PVL]

I've made several aeronautical contacts here in south Texas ( the southern tip ) on VHF... Two were on the local repeater, and there was one contact on simplex.

I used to have a Ham buddy way up in north Texas ( 650 miles north! ) who was an airlane pilot. They had HF equipment in the aircraft he flew, and we managed several HF QSOs that way.

That's a great combination... The antenna is up high - but with a short feedline.

Charles Brabham, #N5PVL

Director: USPacket (http://www.uspacket.org)
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[W0LPQ]

N5BO: The ARC-190 is one great unit. This has been the "standard" for several years now. The commercial version, the HF-190 was standard on the Gulfstream IV/V aircraft, but have since gone to the HF-9000, which is a fibre optic controlled system.

Think the C-140 had the ARC-190 as well.

Feedlines have to be short ... they radiate. Any length at all inside the aircraft shoots efficiency in the tail, litterally. The Challenger 600/601 aircraft used to have about a 3 foot length of tubing inside the tail off the antenna coupler. That was the only way it would go in.

The old "Swing Wing" FB-111 used a slot HF antenna with out military stuff driving it. The slot was in the tail. We used to converse with the guys in Australia doing air shows for the old Tactical Air Command. Amazing, talking to an Air Force Bomber on 13 Mhz while they were pulling 2 "G" maneuvers.

73

Bill, W0LPQ
Collins Avionics Field Service, Retired

[XV2PS]

8,942Khz here I get the SouthEast Asia traffic control easily between the planes and the control. They throw out a lot of numbers. I do not know what happens if once I Tx XV2PS 59... http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
Might be my only aeronautical qso... QSL direct to the local prison....

[kg4kww]

The guy flying the plane posted a recording of our QSO on his web site, click to hear QSO (http://joelglickman.com/aero-mobile.mp3)

This is the flight path he took (http://joelglickman.com/trip.pdf)

His Web Site (http://www.joelglickman.com)

I'm looking forward to getting a QSL card from him.

[ys1cf]

i GOT TO DO THAT 3 OR 4 TIMES AND IS EXCITING.
ONCE ON 14.300MHZ (NET) A GUY CALLED ME AND ASKED ME IF I WAS IN SAN SALVADOR ANF IF I WAS NEAR THE PRINCESS HOTEL.
I SAID YES ,THEN HE TOLD ME THAT HE WAS GOING TO LAND IN SS AT 7.30 PM AND WE COULD MEET FOR A CHAT AND A BEER. SO WE DID HE WAS A COMERCIAL PILOT FROM AMERICAN AIRLINES. THE DO THAT QUITE OFTEN HERE. AND IS EXCITING EVERY TIME TO KNOW THAT YOUR VOICE IS BEING HEARD ON THE PILOTS C-PIT.
CISCO