Aeronautical radio

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Antenna carrier with vertical dipole antennas of the mobile aeronautical service on the Deister near Hanover

Aeronautical radio refers to the mobile aeronautical radio service , i.e. a radio service between ground radio stations and air radio stations or between air radio stations among each other.

Frequency ranges

Civil aviation radio

Civil aviation radio is operated as voice radio in parts of the VHF frequency range that are assigned to mobile aviation radio services worldwide in the Radio Regulations (VO Radio). The radiotelephone procedures to be used are uniformly regulated worldwide by Annex 10 of the Agreement on International Civil Aviation .

Aviation radio uses the frequency range from 117.975 to 137 MHz. The original rasterization of the radio devices with a channel spacing of 50 kHz resulted in 360 speech channels in this frequency range. In the 1970s this was expanded to 720 channels by reducing the channel spacing from 25 kHz. The much higher demand for channels has meanwhile led to the development of radio devices with a channel spacing of only 8.33 kHz; this results in a tripling of the usable radio channels. The new frequencies of the 8.33 kHz grid were introduced across Europe in 2018 in controlled airspace.

Aeronautical radio is amplitude modulated . As a result, the quality of the connection is poorer than that of a frequency-modulated connection, but radio messages can still be understood with a relatively poor signal-to-noise ratio ( see FM threshold ). The radio communication is carried out in the operating mode "intercom", which means that only one radio station should transmit at a time, since simultaneous transmissions from different points on the same frequency are usually incomprehensible.

Two radios are required for aircraft that fly under instrument flight rules .

Military aeronautical radio

See also

Research on digital aeronautical radio

The EU research project SANDRA (Seamless Aeronautical Networking through Integration of Data links, Radios, and Antennas) examines digital communication channels compared to conventional analog aeronautical radio.

Language and pronunciation

The radio language agreed worldwide in international air traffic is English ; Correspondingly, the English language is also the standard for radio communication in the area of ​​German air traffic control. In visual flight range (VFR) in Germany and German can be spoken.

The ground radio stations of the uncontrolled airfields (callsign "INFO") are not operated by an air traffic control provider. German is the standard language there; English can also be spoken on the frequencies allocated for this purpose.

Individual letters, for example from aircraft registration numbers, taxiway names or airspace categories, are pronounced using the ICAO alphabet , even when German is used as the radio language.

The pronunciation of digits and numbers follows special rules: two becomes "two", three is pronounced as "tri", nine as "niner" and thousand as "thousand". Whole hundreds and whole thousands are spoken “naturally”, so it means “altitude two-thousand-four-hundred feet” or “altitude two-thousand-four-hundred feet”. Other numbers must be expressed by their individual digits: Piste two-seven / runway two-seven; Heading two-one-zero / heading two-one-zero, QNH one-zero-one-nine / QNH one-zero-one-niner.

Since aeronautical radio has a form of language that is uniformly formalized worldwide in English, but is still organized in a country-specific manner, problems can arise if pilots use the national language, which, however, is not understood by other non-national pilots. In addition to English, languages ​​typical for the country are permitted in many countries, so that radio communications with air traffic control in the relevant countries may also be in these languages.

Radiotelephone ground station / air station

Voice communication from ground radio stations at civil airfields to air radio stations in aircraft is usually carried out on radio frequencies or radio frequency channels from the VHF aeronautical radio band 117.975-137 MHz. Every civil airfield in Germany is usually assigned at least one radio frequency for ground-to-board / air-to-ground voice communication by the Federal Network Agency for Telecommunications. Every assigned frequency is coordinated across Europe by the ICAO and thus protected from unintentional interference.

A place controlled by air traffic controllers is called in Germany with the place name and the addition TOWER (or TURM for German-speaking radio traffic), an uncontrolled place is called with the airport name and the addition INFO , uncontrolled places with AFIS with the addition INFORMATION .

The handling of radiotelephone traffic generally follows fixed rules and so-called speaking groups (fixed formulations for certain message types), knowledge of which must be proven in the examination for a radiotelephone certificate . The high level of standardization serves to simplify radio communication. In this way, the necessary information is transmitted with the greatest possible security against errors and misunderstandings.

In the case of uncontrolled airfields, the flight control only gives traffic information, but no instructions. Exceptions are possible, however, in order to avert immediate danger. When approaching, the pilots report at least five minutes in front of the space, announce their landing plans, find out the landing direction and then report their position in the traffic area .

At controlled places, the traffic on the runway and in the control zone around the airfield is directed by the tower controller. Controlled airfields often also have apron control to coordinate movements on the apron and, in most cases, taxi control for taxiing traffic to and from the runways. Tower , taxi control and apron control each have their own radio frequencies.

At larger airfields , under the abbreviation “ATIS” ( Automatic Terminal Information Service ), there is automatic space information broadcast on an airfield-specific ATIS radio frequency (weather, active runways, air pressure QNH and possibly other current features). Pilots who want to take off or land in accordance with instrument flight rules (IFR) must observe the current ATIS advice; Pilots who fly according to visual flight rules (VFR) do not have to, but at least should. Each new ATIS announcement is identified by a consecutive letter from the ICAO alphabet when updates have taken place.

In Germany, aeronautical radio is subject to telecommunications secrecy . Holders of a radiotelephone certificate have a duty of confidentiality to maintain telecommunications secrecy.

Radiotelephony certificate

This article or paragraph presents the situation in Germany . Help us to describe the situation in other countries.

Radiotelephony certificate

Main article: Radiotelephony certificate (aviation)

A radiocommunication certificate is required to use radio communications .

The radiotelephony certificate has been introduced in Germany as a "restricted radiotelephone certificate for aviation radio service" (BZF I and BZF II) and as a "general radiotelephone certificate for aeronautical radio service" (AZF) .

The BZF II is only tested in German, so it only entitles you to use visual flight radio within Germany.

At the BZF I, the ability to carry out aerial radio in visual flight ( VFR ) in English and German is tested, as well as understanding of English technical texts.

The AZF also authorizes the conduct of radio communications in instrument flight ( IFR ); it requires the examination for BZF I or BZF II.

There is also the BZF E and the AZF E. These correspond to the BZF I and the AZF, respectively, but only entitle them to radio in English.

The following are exempt from the requirement to provide evidence:

  • Air radio stations on board free balloons , air sports equipment and gliders within airspaces G, E and F.
  • Air stations during training,
  • Radio stations in motor vehicles that are operated exclusively for connection with air radio stations in free balloons, air sports equipment and gliders,
  • Ground stations that are used exclusively for the transmission of flight operations reports,
  • Holders of appropriate valid military permits.

The Ordinance on Aeronautical Radio Certificates regulates further details.

Navigational radio service

DFS VDF direction finder on the Deister near Hanover

In addition to the aeronautical radio service, there is also a navigation radio service in aviation. Signals from specially set up ground transmitters are used to display navigation instruments on board.

The signals of the non-directional radio beacons ( NDB ) are sent on frequencies between 255 and 526 kHz, i.e. in the range of long and medium waves.

The VOR (Very High Frequency omnidirectional radio range - VOR) and the localizer (Localizer) of the instrument landing system (Instrument Landing System - ILS) Send in the VHF range. The frequencies of these transmitters are between 108 and 117.975 MHz, i.e. directly below the voice radio frequencies.

The glide slope transmitters, which are also part of the instrument landing system, operate in the UHF range of 328.6 and 335.4 MHz.

See also

literature

  • J. Hinkelbein, S. Berger: Exam preparation for the private pilot license, Volume 2: Radiotelephone certificate with limited validity. AeroMed-Verlag, Hördt 2007.
  • NfL I 7/12 . Announcement on radiotelephone procedures. In: German Air Traffic Control (ed.): Notices to Airmen Part I . Langen January 12, 2012.

Web links

Live (excluding Germany, see telecommunications secrecy ):

  • Live ATC - information on international airports and radio traffic to listen in from many locations around the world

Other:

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ homepage of the DAeC
  2. ↑ homepage of Eurocontrol
  3. ↑ Minimum equipment of aircraft approved for flights according to instrument flight rules (IFR) , FOCA , with appendix: Appendix: Minimum equipment and requirements - 1. Required instruments, transmission and navigation systems , p. 2
  4. ↑ SANDRA Seamless aeronautical networking through integration of data links, radios, and Antennas
  5. ↑ Text of the Ordinance on Aircraft Radio Certificates