Dan_Bloch@transarc.com (09/27/90)
The recent discussion reminds me of a question I've been wondering about for a while. How do the pay phones on airplanes work? I assume they must be some kind of cellular with a very large cell. How many cells are there nationwide? What wavelengths do they use? What capacity does the system have and how much use does it get? Who runs them? And, for that matter, why don't they interfere with the pilots' radio communication? Answers to these questions, or any others I may have forgotten to ask, will be appreciated. Dan Bloch dan@transarc.com
John Higdon <john@bovine.ati.com> (09/29/90)
On Sep 28 at 0:14, Dan_Bloch@transarc.com writes: > The recent discussion reminds me of a question I've been wondering > about for a while. How do the pay phones on airplanes work? I assume > they must be some kind of cellular with a very large cell. Correct. > What wavelengths do they use? They operate around 950 MHz. This is a thorn in the side of broadcasters, since every service and his brother seems to be trying to cut a piece out of this frequency region. Radio broadcasters use the band from 944 to 951 MHz to relay program material from studio locations to transmitter sites. Mention "AirPhone" in the presence of a broadcast engineer and see what kind of reaction you get. > capacity does the system have and how much use does it get? Who runs > them? And, for that matter, why don't they interfere with the pilots' > radio communication? Don't know the lastest figures on how successful "AirPhone" is these days. Last time I even thought about it, GTE was trying to get its "experimental" license extended (it did manage to do that). They don't interfere with pilots' radio communication because the frequencies are different. Also, and more importantly, the units are designed and installed as an intregal part of the aircraft's communication system. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !