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Category:
Miscellaneous Issues and Topics Topic: Member Opinions &
Questions |
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Synopsis:
System Planning Corporation's Command Transmitter Systems (CTS)
provide remote control... |
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Source:
various |
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Published: December 7, 2003 Author: self |
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For Education and Discussion Only. Not for
Commercial Use. |
Dov Zakheim. Not many Americans know who he is, but they ignore him
at their own peril. If for no other reason, a dual Israeli-American
citizen as Comptroller and Chief Financial Officer of the United States
Dept. of Defense should raise some eyebrows. He was also President
Bush's senior foreign policy advisor during the 2000 campaign.
He was (is?) Corporate VP1 at System Planning Corporation,
a major player in the "Homeland Security" industry. One of the products
that SysPlan sells is the Command Transmitter System, a remote control
system for planes, boats, missiles and other vehicles2 . It's
highly customable and configurable to interface with an almost limitless
number of vehicle types.
The remote control theory of 9/11 looks a little better every day.
System Planning Corproation's Command Transmitter Systems (CTS)
provide remote control and flight termination functions through a
fully-redundant self-contained solid-state system.
Exciter
The exciter incorporates state-of-the-art
Direct-Digital-Synthesis technology to simultaneously generate
an RF carrier and up to 6 of 20 available standard IRIG-B tones.
It has 20 watts of output power and an internal ferrite
isolator. The exciter may also be used as a standalone unit.
High-Power Amplifier
The high-power amplifier (HPA) is solid-state, dependable, and
cool running, allowing continuous 1-kW output power at
temperatures from 0o to 50oC, and from sea
level to 30,000 feet AMSL. The Command Transmitter System is
MIL-STD-461C qualified and designed to military standards for
high MTBF and continuous 24-hour-per-day operation.
State-of-the-art CMOS micro-controllers provide full fault
detection and reporting. High-power ferrite isolators allow
full-power operation with antenna VSWRs up to 2:1. The HPA is
designed for graceful degradation, which allows high-output
power operation even with several amplifier modules inoperative.
As an optional feature, each HPA sub-system is provided with an
RF switch matrix that allows real-time replacement of HPA units.
External modulation inputs may be used to modulate the
transmitters with externally-generated tones from 10 Hz to 100
kHz.
The system can be switched automatically or manually between
transmitters. Automatic switching to the redudant system is
completed in less than 5ms upon detection of an internal fault
or at preset RF power thresholds. The system is mounted in two
standard 60"-high racks for easy installation in mobile
platforms. The roller-bearing, tiltable rack slides allow easy
access within the chassis for low MTTR. CTS generally ships with
front panel button operation for broadcast frequency and tones.
Add-on options are available from SPC for remote control
features. For more information on an integrated control system,
see SPC's
Flight Termination System Download a
CTS brochure.
CTS Specifications |
Performance Feature |
FTS Specification |
Frequency Range: |
400-550 MHz in 100-kHz steps |
RF Output Power: |
Exciter: 20 Watts; HPA: 1 kW |
RF Power Control: |
1-dB steps, 60-dB total range |
Permissible Antenna VSWR: |
> 2:1 continuously, 50 ohms nom. |
Harmonics: |
< -50 dBc at 1 kW |
Spurious: |
< -80 dBc at 1 kW |
Modulation: |
FM |
Deviation: |
± 300 kHz |
Modulation Range: |
Internal: 7.5-73.95 kHz (IRIG-B tone frequencies) |
Prime Power: |
180-228 VAC 3-phase Wye connection, 47-63 Hz; 5 kVA
maximum per rack, two connectors required (supplied);
entrance at bottom center of each rack
Local Control, RF Power Monitor, and Exciter are
supplied 120 VAC nom. single-phase by the HPA power
supply |
Cooling: |
Forced air; all exhausts through rear panels |
Controls and Indicators |
Local Control: |
- Automatic or manual
- Either transmitter as primary or secondary
Local/Remote
- Alarm reset and audio alarm disable
- System fault
- Overtemperature fault
- Power on/off
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RF Power Monitor: |
- Forward and reflected RF output power level
- Forward and reflected RF output power fault
- Overtemperature
|
Exciter: |
- Local/Remote
- Carrier enable, carrier on
- RF output power attenuator
- RF carrier frequency
- Selected audio tone (up to 6 of 20)
- Deviation
- Deviation monitor
- Compressor on/off and limit set
- Overtemperature fault
- Power on/off
|
HPA: |
Overtemperature |
HPA Power Supply: |
- Line power (indicators)
- System power (circuit breaker/switch)
- HPA 28-volt power (circuit
breakers/switches,Indicators)
- Overtemperature
|
Dimensions: |
2 standard 19" racks, 32" deep and 60" high |
Antenna Connectors: |
Female type LC, mounted on left-rear upper rack
surfaces |
Weight: |
Approx. 800 lb/rack |
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bluegrass writes: "
1
Dov S. Zakheim:
Dov S. Zakheim is Corporate Vice President of System Planning
Corporation (SPC), a high-technology, research, analysis, and
manufacturing firm based in Arlington, Virginia. He is also Chief
Executive Officer of
SPC International Corporation, a subsidiary of SPC that specializes
in political, military, and economic consulting, and international sales
and analysis. In addition, Dr. Zakheim serves as Consultant to the
Secretary of Defense and the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. He
is an Adjunct Senior Fellow for Asian Studies of the Council on Foreign
Relations, Adjunct Scholar of the Heritage Foundation, and a Senior
Advisor at the Center for International and Strategic Studies.
From 1985 until March 1987, Dr. Zakheim was Deputy Under Secretary of
Defense for Planning and Resources. In that capacity, he played an
active role in the Department's system acquisition and strategic
planning processes and guided Department of Defense policy in a number
of international economic fora. He also successfully negotiated numerous
arms cooperation agreements with various U.S. allies.
Dr. Zakheim served the Reagan Administration in a variety of other
senior Department of Defense posts from 1981 through 1985. He had served
previously as Principal Analyst with the National Security and
International Affairs Division of the Congressional Budget Office.
A graduate of Columbia University, New York, where he earned his B.A.,
Summa Cum Laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, Dr. Zakheim also
studied at the London School of Economics. Dr. Zakheim earned his
doctorate in economics and politics at St. Antony's College, University
of Oxford, where he was a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow, a
Columbia College Kellett Fellow, and a post-doctoral Research Fellow. He
has served as Adjunct Professor at the National War College, Yeshiva
University, and Columbia University and as Presidential Scholar and
Adjunct Professor at Trinity College, Hartford, CT.
Dr. Zakheim served for two terms as a Presidential appointee to the
United States Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage
Abroad. In 1997 he was appointed by Secretary of Defense Cohen to the
Task Force on Defense Reform. In May 1998 Secretary Cohen named him to
the first Board of Visitors of the Department of Defense Overseas
Regional Schools. In February 2000 he was appointed to the Defense
Science Board Task Force on the Impact of DoD Acquisition Policies on
the Health of the Defense Industry.
Dr. Zakheim writes, lectures, and provides media commentary on national
defense and foreign policy issues, both domestically and
internationally, including appearances on major U.S. network news
telecasts, CNN's Newshour, Larry King Live, BBC Arab and World Service,
and Israeli, Swedish, and Japanese television. He is a columnist for the
Jerusalem Post, a regular contributor to Defense News, and an editorial
board member of Israel Affairs and of The Round Table (the Commonwealth
Journal of International Affairs). He serves on review panels for the
Wilson Center for International Scholars, the United States Institute of
Peace, and the U.S. Naval Institute. He is the author of Flight of the
Lavi: Inside a U.S.-Israeli Crisis (Brassey's, 1996), Congress and
National Security in the Post-Cold War Era (The Nixon Center, 1998), and
numerous articles and chapters in books. Dr. Zakheim is also a trustee
of the Foreign Policy Research Institute; serves on the Board of
Directors of Search for Common Ground and of Friends of the Jewish
Chapel of the United States Naval Academy; and is a member of the
Council on Foreign Relations and other professional organizations. Dr.
Zakheim is a member of the advisory boards of the Center for Security
Policy, the Initiative for Peace and Cooperation in the Middle East, and
the American Jewish Committee.
Dr. Zakheim is the recipient of the Department of Defense Distinguished
Public Service Medal (1986), the Bronze Palm to the DoD Distinguished
Public Service Medal (1987), Congressional Budget Office Director's
Award for Outstanding Service (1979), and the SPC Director's Award for
Outstanding Service (1997).
2
COMMAND TRANSMITTER SYSTEM (CTS)
The CTS at the Sea Range provides safe, controlled testing of unmanned
targets, platforms and missiles, including ballistic missiles and other
long-range vehicles.
The CTS is a tunable UHF FM transmitter designed for ground use in
controlling guided missiles, pilotless aircraft and pilotless boats.
It delivers a nominal 750 watts of RF power to the antenna (rated at 1
kW with a minimum of 500 watts). The RF signal is frequency modulated by
selected tones (IRIG 20 tone format) that correspond to particular
control functions of the missile, aircraft or boat. Four of these
systems are located at Laguna Peak and three are located on SNI. The
fourth system at SNI is expected to be operational in fiscal year 1997.
Control of target vehicles allows a specific test or threat geometry to
be produced for weapons systems tests or Fleet training. The CTS may be
controlled at the site or remotely from the OCRs at Point Mugu. This
allows an operator to control a pilotless aircraft or drone throughout
the Sea Range or control boats and ship targets within about 40 miles of
the active transmitter site. Area of coverage is shown in Figure 7-5.
The CTS is used for control of airborne targets such as VANDAL, AQM-37C
and aerial tows, and seaborne targets such as the SEPTAR and Mobile Ship
Target (MST). The BQM-74E is sometimes flown using the CTS when
shortages of DKW-3 equipment occur.
In addition to the fixed site capability, the Test Wing's NP-3D aircraft
can be configured to provide airborne CTS functions as an
over-the-horizon repeater or "stand-alone" transmitter." |