New Colour For The Cockpit

The parent company Rockwell-International, is well known for just about everything from the building of America’s Space Shuttle to being the world’s biggest supplier of advanced technology communications equipment and systems for defence, and the communications market.

Product Support for Collins Avionics has been given a genuine boost since a dedicated service facility has been put into operation near Tullamarine International Airport. Basically, the support and service system involves Collins Dealers around Australia handling the first repair. Collins handles calls for parts or service back-up and operates a pool of rental units; there is also an exchange system in operation. With a significant shift from boxes to integrated avionics systems, in line with a new generation of light and business aircraft in this country, Collins is catering to the operator’s cry for minimising system interfaces and simplifying support through standardization in avionics.

It’s no surprise that Collins radars are flying in Bandeirantes, Citations, King Airs, Lears, Merlins, Shorts and Westwinds in Australia.

The main thrust has naturally been in the commuter and corporate aircraft market, they add.

In the light aircraft field, Collins GA Division last year took advantage of a flattening in the GA aircraft sales graphs to further refine and develop its new Micro Line equipment.

The first off-rank as far as the Australian market is concerned is the Collins VHF-253.

The first member of a new family of avionics· specifically designed and developed for piston or turbine-powered aircraft and chopper operations, the Collins Micro Line VHF-253 comm. The receiver is microprocessor-controlled and offers some unique features.

It is the first panel-mounted radio to feature direct and remote control access to six VHF frequencies, while active and preset frequencies are simultaneously displayed at all times.

The VHF-253 is the first of its kind on the market to feature the use of LCDs (liquid crystal displays) to provide sunlight reliability claimed to be unparalleled. It is backlit for night-time operation.

Extensive use of LSI (large-scale integration) is another feature of the VHF-253, according to Collins.

As a result, parts-count is significantly reduced in comparison to other systems. In turn, reliability and maintainability are markedly improved.

It is claimed to be lighter and uses much less power than other TSOd systems. This reduces internal heat.

Tests have shown the VHF-253 to burn up to 50 per cent less power on a 28-volt system, and up to 27 per cent less while transmitting, than comparable systems, claim Collins.

This little gem, which will undoubtedly lend credence to Collins’ claim to being the technology leader in GA avionics, enhances the Collins Micro Line tradition of quality and performance.

It provides six frequencies – the visible active and preset frequencies plus four other frequencies in store – at the touch of a button.

You can pick and input frequencies in the 118,000 to 135,975 MHz range in 25 KHz or 50 KHz steps.

What one normally does is to have the selected frequency shown in the preset display (right side) first. Touch the store button, then touch the desired storage location number – and that puts the frequency into that memory for future use.

When you push the transfer button, the preset frequency flip-flops with the active one, with a brief beep confirming the transfer.

The frequency can then be recalled into the preset window by pressing the appropriately-numbered button.

Or the pilot can cycle through the stored frequencies and transfer to the “active” via a remotely located switch on the yoke – or in the case of a chopper, the cyclic.

This remote-frequency management has already proved ideal for chopper jockeys and others operating in what would be called a busy cockpit environment.

There’s an easy override if you want to tune the active frequency directly instead of tuning the preset frequency and then transferring it to the active.

There’s no risk of losing the lot if power to the unit is lost or interrupted for any reason. A non-volatile memory keeps all six chosen frequencies in mind at all times.

The choice of LCDs in the Micro Line unit is a winner. Liquid Crystal Displays reflect light rather than emit it – so readability actually improves as the cockpit light level increases.

And because LCDs consume minimal microwatts of power, they significantly reduce heat build-up which could demolish the reliability of any radio.

Collins’ VHF-253 has already been field-tested in a wide range of fixed and rotary-wing aircraft. Collins GA Division engineers predict the VHF-253 will provide vastly improved reliability over existing panel-mounted radios.

The set includes audio tone control, mike gain adjustment and “stuck mike” protection.

There are options for the basic unit. Known as the VHF-253S version, this is intended for places where the ground frequency transmitter can vary as much as 13 KHz from nominal. There’s also a five-watt speaker amplifier which drives a 3. 2 ohm speaker with up to six different isolated input sources. The provisions for sequencing through the stored frequencies and transferring any of them to the “active” mode via a push button or toggle switch mounted on the yoke or cyclic, though, are standard.

With its black-on-gold display, the VHF-253 is obviously a strong overall challenger in Australia’s light aircraft avionics market by sheer virtue of its efficiency.

Collins GA Divisions’ two new radars are sure-fire winners if market interest is any criterion.

They were first shown at the NBAA (National Business Aircraft Association) convention in California last September.

Their names? The Pro Line WXR-270 and WXR-220. They each offer the smallest colour indicators on the market – four inches tall and 6. 25 inches across.

Collins design engineers have used a microprocessor in the indicators for these two new products; this in turn achieves many advanced colour weather radar features in an indicator 30 cubic inches smaller than competitive models.

The Pro Line WXR-270; has a 250-mile range, while its smaller sister the WXR-220 has a full 200-mile range.

Collins claims the two new models, taking advantage of microprocessing control, are the first in the general aviation market to incorporate built-in diagnostic aids.

In the words of Collins experts, proper microprocessor operation is assured quickly and easily with a test sequence displayed on both models’ indicators.

A built-in alignment generator permits complete alignment of the CRT (cathode ray tube) without an external generator’s help.

And – no specialised test gear is required. This is expected to chop down time and repair expenses.

There’s a host of other advanced features in both the WXR-220 and Big Brother WXR-270. They include:

A lot of radar experts go for specifications featuring high-performance indices. The specs for Collins’ new lines are 116. 3 db for the WXR-270 and 113. 6 db for the 220, based on the US Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics formula.

Both models have push-button mode and range selection. A calibrated, stepped gain control enables the pilot/operator to perform consistent weather analysis, and there’s also a “target alert” that flashes to warn of contourable weather up ahead.

A patented range-adjusted contour shows contouring weather, up to the full ranges of both the 220 and 270 models.

There’s a dual pulse-width facility in both models. That’s 5. 5 microseconds for increased weather detection at long range, and one microsecond for sharp definition at closer ranges.

Then of course one has a hold mode that “freezes” the display for in-your-own-time study and analysis, plus cyclic contouring.

If you opt for the 220, this can be installed with either a 10-inch or 12-inch flat-plate antenna, which is pitch-corrected to wash out the need to adjust tilt with each aircraft pitch alteration.

A low-cost 12-inch dish without pitch correction is also available with the WXR-220. In the bigger model, the WXR-270, the buyer can get either a 10-inch, 12-inch or 18-inch flat-plate antenna, all fully stabilised in both pitch and roll. The phased-array radiating elements of these antennas give you high gain through a narrow beam width, resulting in maximum avoidance range coupled with the minimum of clutter.

Both models are capable of giving the pilot up to 17 “pages” of programmable data – the rule rather than the exception these days as weather radars gain in sophistication and memory banks expand – such as emergency procedures, performance tables or sequential operating notes.

To achieve this, the radar has to be married to a Collins DCP-300 display control panel. Any information on any of the 17 “pages” can be changed by the pilot/operator using an RDP-300 remote data programmer.

Roy Pollock, US Director of Marketing for the Collins GA Division, is enthusiastic about the new range.

There seems little doubt of Collins’ place in the Australasian marketplace. Collins’ front-row Pro Line electronic flight instrument systems have already been chosen for a variety of bizjets, turboprops and three new-generation commuter types – the Brasilia, Shorts 360 and the SAAB-Fairchild 340. The Boeing 767 and 757 – claimed to be the world’s most advanced airline cockpits – also heavily features Collins in the panels.

Collins’ commuter avionics are already well-known in Australian operators’ cockpits, – comm. nav. , ADF, RMI (radio magnetic indicators), pictorial nav. Systems, transponders, DME, LAN (long-range nav. i. e. VLF/Omega), radio altimeters, colour weather radars, flight director systems and autopilots, to name a few systems.

With Collins GA Division dealers and the Collins Avionics Sales and Service Centre at Tullamarine (open since May 1980), the new products are set for what may be a long and profitable exposure. While the new VHF-253 is obviously aimed at the tight and sophisticated piston range, the two new up-market radars are carefully slotted into the Australian piston twin through to the turbo-prop bracket.

We were told that new Collins electronic flight instrument systems would be seen in Australia from late this year (1982), following current certifications taking place now.