Air-to-air communication and the FCC/FAA

Here, Here!

I raised this issue in a previous post but don't believe I got any meaningful response.

US Rules Committee: How do we implement this without "blowing up" our access to what little bandwith we do enjoy?

Tim McAllister EY

On Thursday, April 4, 2013 9:56:06 AM UTC-6, wrote:
Here, Here!



I raised this issue in a previous post but don't believe I got any meaningful response.



US Rules Committee: How do we implement this without "blowing up" our access to what little bandwith we do enjoy?



Tim McAllister EY

Basic questions: What information would team flying pilots need to routinely communicate? Is a voice channel the best way to do it or would a digital radio modem link automatically exchanging basic data like position, altitude, airspeed and vario in real-time be a better option leaving voice for more strategic discussions?

As for air-band frequencies, as I understand it, the FCC has assigned it to the FAA to use as it sees fit. Of the available 760 frequencies in the air-band, only a handful are used in any given geographic area. The FAA has been known to assign frequencies for a limited time specific purpose. I expect a 10 day contest would have no difficulty getting a dozen or so frequencies temporarily assigned for its use.

In case of team flying, the intent of air-to-air communication should be voice only. Please do not promote any more "eyes to the panel" electronics; there are two many already.

Best case would provide a private voice frequency for each team. Therefore, the most case scenario would be total entries divided by two. For a big regional or a national contest a reasonable number would be 35 frequencies. An international contest would require more.

Again, no more "eyes to the panel" electronics please.

Ben

On Apr 4, 12:22*pm, wrote:
In case of team flying, the intent of air-to-air communication should be *voice only. Please do not promote any more "eyes to the panel" electronics; there are two many already.

Best case would provide a private voice frequency for each team. Therefore, the most case scenario would be total entries divided by two. For a big regional or a national contest a reasonable number would be 35 frequencies. An international contest would require more.

Again, no more "eyes to the panel" electronics please.

Ben

123.5 and 122.75 are fully legal. What others can be used varies from
location to location.

My hope is that for smaller contests 123.5 can emerge as a general
chat frequency.

Two-pilot "pair" flying is very difficult, and not that productive
until you get a lot of practice. I hope that p-p communication will
evolve to larger groups and more informal communication and mentoring,
where a common chat frequency would work.

FM walkie talkies are cheap and work in the air. Pairs who want to
talk all the time might try those, so they can monitor contest
frequencies and also not drain their batteries.

John Cochrane