FALL 2004 DANIELS ELECTRONICS NEWSLETTER

Daniels goes to extremes to meet customer requirements. One of our extremes has been the Antarctic. The Antarctic is renowned for its cold temperatures where lows of -50ºC (-58ºF) are common and winds can exceed 185 km/h (115 mph). A Daniels transportable VHF repeater has been operational in the Antarctic since the mid 1990s providing communications from summer research camps a mile (1.6 kms) up on the Ross Ice Shelf back to McMurdo Station.

In this harsh environment the survival of scientists and other workers in these camps (like the one in the photo to the right) requires dependable communications with McMurdo Station, more than 50 miles (80 kms) across the Ross Ice Shelf. Helicopters provide the only access to these field camp sites, and very-high-frequency (VHF) transceivers provide the only communications.

VHF transceivers have proved to work well when the line-of-sight propagation limitation is overcome with transportable mountaintop repeaters. The repeater supports multiple communications channels and meteorological equipment. The system can be assembled easily and flown to the repeater site. At the site, the repeater is unhooked from the lifting rigging, the antenna and accessory cables are installed and connected, wind braces are rigged and the repeater is turned on. The system is then in operation and ready for use immediately. The open-frame structure has solar panels on all sides and an equipment case with four structure-leveling jacks, four deployable outriggers, and equipment shock protection (see photo below.) The equipment case contains a 19-inch equipment rack, the Daniels VHF repeater, the solar power subsystem the meteorological monitoring subsystem and the RF distribution subsystem.

The Daniels repeater includes a receiver, transmitter, 30 Watt power amplifier operating in the 136 – 150 MHz band and an audio control card. The solar power subsystem is composed of four 83W solar panels, a 30A charging controller, two adjustable low voltage disconnects and six sealed lead-acid (gelled) batteries. Each solar panel (side-mounted, to maximize sunlight incidence) provides power to the charging controller and then to the 12Vdc bus and storage batteries.

Since its first season (1993-1994) of deployment the repeaters have performed flawlessly and carry both aircraft and field party communications. For more information on how Daniels can meet your requirements for transportable repeaters contact the sales department at Daniels. Sales@danelec.com.

This story is extracted from an article written by Tom Reiff for Mobile Radio Technology Magazine.

At the APCO International Tradeshow in Montreal this summer, Daniels launched its new generation of P25 Digital Base Stations supporting secure (encrypted) communications. As with all Daniels products, the MT-4D P25 Digital Base Stations feature a flexible modular design to enable custom configurations and ease of maintenance. The new P25 Base Control Module, Transmitter and Receiver are shown in the picture to the right.

Daniels P25 Base Stations allow VHF or UHF communications in secure (encrypted) or clear digital mode as well as in narrow or wideband analog modes. The Base Station automatically detects analog and digital signals as well as encrypted and non-encrypted transmissions. AES 256 bit or DES-OFB 64 bit encryption is supported using cryptographic modules compliant with the security requirements of FIPS 140-2. Further details are contained in the Secure Digital Base Station Brochure.

Daniels has developed a comprehensive P25 tutorial over viewing the standard and the capabilities offered by Digital P25 technology. The tutorial can be downloaded from the Daniels website. http://www.danelec.com/pdfs/P25%20Training%20Guide.pdf

In November, Daniels Electronics announced the expansion of their VHF AM radio product line to operate with narrowband 8.33 kHz occupied bandwidth in the 118-136 MHz aviation band.

The aviation industry in North America is moving from 25 kHz wideband channels to 8.33 kHz channels. This follows the European trend where aircraft there have been using 8.33 kHz channels for several years. Therefore, Daniels is responding to a growing need in the marketplace.

Daniels manufactures ground stations that can be used in several applications such as ATICS transmitters or as crossband repeaters to extend coverage from airports to distant aircraft.

With a crossband repeater, the radio signal from the control tower is transmitted to the Daniels repeater on one frequency band (UHF FM), and then the repeater retransmits the signal on another band (VHF AM) to the aircraft.

New Daniels Website

Daniels has a new look! This fall we launched our new website http://www.danelec.com/ The address remains the same but our website has a new look bringing it in line with our corporate appearance and providing easier to navigate menus to simplify access to the wealth of information our site has always contained. We hope it will make it easier for you to access the information you need and we welcome your comments on how we can make it work even better for you.

Daniels on the Road

Daniels Electronics is planning a Canadian Roadshow in the Spring of 2005. The roadshow will provide a 1/2 day seminar on technological developments in the field of Land Mobile Radio including P25 standards, new frequency bands and multi vendor interoperability as well as new Daniels product developments. Details will be mailed to you shortly with seminars planned in Victoria, Vancouver and Calgary in January (17-21) and Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal in March (7-11).