RT-200/400 Family

BLOS Airborne Transceivers
for Fixed-Wing Aircraft and Helicopters

Extensive research and development activities carried out in the HF field have led to the design and production of a new family of advanced HF/SSB transceivers for fixed-wing and rotary-wing avionic platforms.

These transceivers provide voice/data communications over the 2-30 MHz frequency range with ALE 2G/3G (automatic link establishment) according to MIL-STD 188-141B (App. A, B, C) / Stanag 4538. Designed to meet the most severe requirements, the family is composed of 2 systems with different outputs power (200 or 400 Watts) and a wide range of voice/data services in the USB/LSB/AME and CW modes.

Data communications capabilities include MIL-STD 188-110B Serial Tone Modem, High Data Rate (MIL 188-110B App. C), and Stanag 4285 Modem. The transceivers are also Stanag 5511 (Link 11) compliant.

The RT-200/400 combines high flexibility and simplified operations in a reduced size and weight package, achieved through innovative electrical and mechanical design.

The RT-200, including receiver/exciter, pre-post selector, and RF amplifier, is assembled into a single ½ ATR short-sized LRU. The RT-400 includes all the RT-200 characteristics with a 400 W amplifier into a single 3/4 ATR short-sized LRU.

Voice and data operations
Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) 2G/3G
Embedded data modem
High-efficiency power amplifier
Embedded Pre-Post Selector
Use of wire, loop, or structural antennae by using appropriate ATU
Modern SW architecture, able to install future applications

General

Frequency range: 2 to 29.9999 MHz in 100 Hz step
Tuning Time: Typical 1s (including ATU) 50 ms on pre-stored channels
Modes of operations: Half Duplex on any available channel
Modulation: USB and LSB voice and data, ISB data, CW, AME voice
Embedded Data Mode:
- MIL-STD-188-110B STM
- MIL-STD-188-110B HDR (app. C)
- MIL-STD-188-110B Narrow/Wide
- Shift FSK
- STANAG 4539 ISB
- STANAG 4285
- STANAG 4529
Data interfaces: MIL-STD 188-114/RS232/RS422 selectable
Automatic Link: MIL-STD-188-141B App. A (2G)
Establishment (ALE): STANAG 4538 (3G)
Frequency stability: 1e-8 per day
Power supply:
- RT-200: 28 VDC
- RT-400: 115 Vac/400Hz 3-phase
Power consumption:
- RT-200: Rx 60 W max (Tx 350 W max)
- RT-400: Rx 60 W max (Tx 900 W max)
Dimension and mass:
- RT-200 ½ ATR short 8.7 Kg
- RT-400 ¾ ATR short 15 Kg
MTBF:
- RT-200 6000 h AIC
- RT-400 4500 h AIC

Transmission

RF Output Power:
- RT-200 200W PEP / 100W avg.
- RT-400 400W PEP /400W avg.
RF Power Selection: ¼, ½, full RF power
Intermodulation (linearity): Better than 30 dB below either tone, Two equal tone test
Harmonic attenuation: Below -63 dBc
Spurious Suppression: Better than -80 dBc for |f-f0| > 5%f0
Carrier suppression (SSB mode): Better than 50 dB below PEP
Undesired sideband attenuation: Better than 60 dB below PEP
Duty cycle with forced air cooling: Continuous for both RT-200/400
w/o forced air cooling (RT-200 only): 1 min. TX, 5 min. RX
Baseband input: 0 dBm 600/150 ohm (selectable)
RF Output Protection: Automatic protection against short or open circuits and over temperature

Environmental Conditions

General: In accordance with DO-160F
Operating temperature: -40°C to 70°C
Altitude: Up to 50,000 ft

Reception

Input Impedance: 50 ohm (nominal) unbalanced
Sensitivity for 10 dB (S+N)/N
CW/SSB: Better than -113 dBm (1 μV emf)
AM: Better than -99 dBm (5 μV emf)
Selectivity: Between 3dB from (fo+300 Hz) to (fo+3050 Hz)
Image rejection: Better than 100 dB
IF rejection: Better than 100 dB
Desensitization: 100 dB for 1 dB degradation (|f-fc| greater than 5% fc)
In Band Intermodulation: Better than 35 dB below either tone
AGC (figure of merit)
Voice: +/- 3dB max for input variation between -103 dBm to 13 dBm
Data According to MIL-STD188-110B
AGC time constants
Voice:
- Attack time less than 30 msec
- Decay time between 800msec and 1.2 sec
Data: According to MIL-STD188-110B For QAM data modulation voice time constants applies
Audio Output: 0 dBm 600/150 ohm
THD: More than 25 dB below the rated output level
Squelch: Adjustable 10 to 25 dB SINAD