Aeronautical communications

Summary form only given. A preview of the constitution of the Professional Group on Comritunications Systems (PGCS) of the IRE reveals that the scope of the group will encompass the following: Communications Systems and related problems in the field of radio and wire, telephone, telegraph, and fascimile, such as practiced by commercial and governmental agencies in marine, aeronautical, radio relay, coaxial cable, and fixed station service. One of the areas in which the PGCS has been very active is aeronautical communications. The question might be raised as to what is meant by "aeronautical communications." A military aeronautical communications system would include everything necessary to allow the pilot of a military aircraft aqywhere in the world to communicate with his command headquarters. The ground/air radio link, radio, wire, microwave, or forward scatter point-to-point links are included. In some cases the associated navigational aids, and possibly some vehicular communications, such as crash fire communications, might become a part of this system. An aeronautical communications system for civil use would be similar to the above but somewhat smaller in scope since the sphere of operations of most civil aeronautical communications systems is not world-wide, as is our military operation. The technical program presented at the recent "Symposium on Aeronautical Communications," held in Utica, New York, gives another indication of the scope of aeronautical communications. The majority of the papers presented at this symposium are included in this issue of the PGCS Transactions. Four general areas are discussed in these papers: (a) communications systems concepts; (b) equipments and system components; (c) communications system considerations; and (d) communications techniques. Guided missiles, complex electronic "brains" and other eleectronic "marvels" are, at the present time, attracting more attention than basic communications systems. The members of the FOCS c- - an take pride, however, in the fact that without the associated basic communications systems, these electronic marvels would be of extremely limited value.