Fall 2002 Issue

Flying Amateur Television
Some Dos and Don’ts

Last issue N6CL highlighted the use of ATV while airborne, describing the fun and benefits of aeronautical mobile ATV. In this article Features Editor Gordon West comments on these issues and gives advise on what can and cannot be done with your air-mobile ATV station.

By Gordon West, WB6NOA
 

The author prepares the ATV equipment for a disaster
preparedness flight.

The summer issue of CQ VHF presented an exciting photo review of the Tulsa, Oklahoma Amateur Radio Club’s ATV operation during Field Day (see the sidebar by N6CL on p. 76 in the feature “What is ATV?”—ed.). Air-mobile amateur television is not only fun and educational when it comes to propagation, it is also potentially life saving during a widespread emergency. Every emergency team should try to include airborne ATV in its disaster-preparation plan. No other mode can truly show the disaster area as well as television aloft, and sometimes the news choppers might be hours out before they can hover over an affected area.

In this article we will look at aeronautical ATV from both a technical and a legal perspective. Not only are ATV ham-band transmissions regulated by FCC rules, the equipment inside the aircraft is governed by FAA rules, as well.

First, The Rules

“The FAA says that anything that is fastened to the aircraft must be approved and signed off,” explains Tom O’Hara, W6ORG, with P.C. Electronics.
“The ATV equipment all can be put into a plastic milk crate or into an open suitcase and strapped into one of the seats. A gel-cell can be used to power the equipment,” advises O’Hara, who is an expert in flying with ATV in his own helicopter, and who also set up airplane ATV during recent Rose Parade events.

Here in southern California, our local city helicopter mechanic (KF6EGL) works closely with an air-frame inspector, giving us the capability of “semi-portable” ATV installations. Everything you do from within the helicopter must be approved by the pilot, and the pilot needs to know when you are transmitting ATV to ensure that there is no interference to onboard radio equipment.
There are also FCC rules that must be met before ATV is installed on an aircraft. FCC Rule 97.113(b) prohibits one-way transmissions done simply by turning on the ATV equipment and flying with it always on. You should transmit only when a ham on the ground directs the ham in the aircraft to start transmitting, and then you should stop transmitting. This can be done on a 2-meter simplex ATV liaison frequency.

Another rule, 97.101(d), requires that the ATV control operator in the aircraft monitor the channel before transmitting to ensure that the frequency is clear. This is accomplished easily with the ICOM R-3, a very handy device for keeping a check on your ATV transmit audio and video levels.
FCC Rule 97.l19(b) requires identification. This might be done on the ATV camera, or by panning to a white card with callsigns, or putting the call letters on the skid of the helicopter, or saying your callsign over the audio link. Most hams do video ID constantly, because audio added to the video is not much more than the constant engine noise of the aircraft.

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Flying Amateur Television Some Dos and Don'ts.

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