Dennis, this was just posted on AK. Is this in your area of expertise??
[HR][/HR]A little bit of an offbeat request, which I'm hoping a wire chaser might be able to help with:
My company is looking for a wireless solution to communicate between a 737, a tug operator, and the tower. We've looked into commercial solutions, but all of them require a backpack sized base station, as they are meant to link multiple wireless headsets, and none seem to be able to communicate on two different frequencies (to select either the tower or the tug operator, and be able to monitor both).
What I would like to do is use the mic/speakers in the flight deck, with a battery powered wireless "box/transceiver" plugged into the ground maintenance jack/service interphone meant for a headset on the outside of the aircraft fuselage.
The tug would then have another wireless box which was on the same frequency as the first, along with an audio amp and a place to plug their headset into. Standard, unpowered headset/mics would be used in the tug.
Right now, a long extension cable is running from the service interphone jack, directly to the tug operator's headset. Despite this extension being robust, expensive, and full of strain-relief, the constant movement and vibration consistently kills solder joints at the connectors.
My GoogleFu was unable to find a ready-built solution. What i need is essentially a wireless version of the above extension cord which can receive and transmit audio on a frequency not used in aircraft communications (i.e. okay to use according to the FCC). Does anyone have any ideas as to how such a system could be created? The aircraft will be in tow with the APU running, so the flight deck mics and speakers will be energized.
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