Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia to Trial New Jet Tracking System

'It's going to make, I think, the monitoring of aircraft over these oceanic areas much more effective'

Jakarta Globe – AFP, Mar 01, 2015

Indonesia Search And Rescue vessel navigation tools display a searching
 spot area in the Indian Ocean during a s search operation for the missing
Malaysian Airlines plane flight MH370 on March 15, 2014. (EPA Photo)

Sydney. Australia on Sunday said it was trialling a “world first” system with Malaysia and Indonesia that increases the tracking of aircraft over remote oceans, allowing authorities to quickly react to abnormal situations such as the disappearance of MH370.

It raises the minimum tracking rate for planes flying over remote oceans to 15 minutes from current intervals of 30 to 40 minutes.

The technology “can increase realtime monitoring should an abnormal situation arise,” Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said.

“In a world first, all three countries will trial a new method of tracking aircraft through the skies over remote oceanic areas,” Truss told reporters.

“Now this initiative adapts existing technology used by more than 90 percent of long-haul passenger aircraft and would see air traffic control able to respond more rapidly should an aircraft experience difficulty or deviation from its flight plan.”

The announcement came ahead almost a year after Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 went missing en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board last March. A massive air and underwater search failing to find any evidence of the plane.

While the system was “not a silver bullet,” it would help to improve current methods of tracking ahead of other solutions being developed, Airservices Australia chairman Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston said.

If an aircraft deviates more than 200 feet from its assigned level or two nautical miles from its expected track, the system would automatically monitor the jet more closely, such as every five minutes or almost continuously, he added.

“This is a big step forward. It’s not just changing things, it’s going to make, I think, the monitoring of aircraft over these oceanic areas much more effective,” the head of the air traffic control body said.

“We will have a datum close to where the aircraft ran into trouble, which is in marked contrast to MH370 where the last known position was in the Malacca Straits.”

The trial, using automatic dependent surveillance contract (ADSC) technology, will commence at the air traffic services center in the eastern city of Brisbane before being extended to Melbourne in the country’s south and to Indonesia and Malaysia.

Long-haul jets that use the existing technology include wide-bodied planes such as Boeing’s 380, 777, 330, 340 and 350 models, Truss said.

Agence France-Presse

Russia, China to combine efforts in satellite battle with US

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-06-26

A model of China's Beidou satellite navigation system on display
at the Zhuhai Airshow, Nov. 14, 2012 (Photo/Xinhua).

Russia and China are likely to sign a cooperation pact regarding ground operation stations for Russia's GLONASS satellite and China's Beidou satellite, reports Huanqiu, the website of China's nationalistic tabloid Global Times, citing Sergei Savelyev, deputy head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos.

Savelyev said that Russia expects an agreement with China, which will allow the countries to build three ground operational stations in each other's territory, with the number potentially increasing in the future.

At the St Petersburg International Economic Forum 2014 held in late May, Savelyev also said that Russia is preparing to discuss construction of GLONASS ground operation stations with both China and India and expects to reach an agreement of equal number construction by the end of the year.

The Moscow-based Voice of Russia reported that the number may be more than three, as China initially proposed setting up about a dozen Beidou stations in Russia from the Urals to the Far East, and to host a similar number of GLONASS stations.

A Russian researcher told Huanqui that China and Russia are highly likely to cooperate in a joint satellite navigation system, given that they share a common competitor — the US Global Positioning System (GPS). The wise choice would be for Beijing and Moscow to install each other's devices on the counterparts satellites, the researcher said.

During the 2nd Technoprom International Forum held in Novosibirsk in Russia on June 5-6, Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin said that cooperation between Russia and China in the field will not be limited to ground operational stations, but will also include reception devices and related infrastructure. "Our system is more suitable for northern, polar latitudes. The Chinese system is more southern. Their complementary natures would result in a biggest and most powerful competitor to any navigation system," he said.

Meanwhile, Sergei Ivanov, chief of staff of the Presidential Administration of Russia, said that in addition to ground operational stations in China, Russia plans to construct 50 GLONASS ground operation stations with 36 countries. He said that negotiations with Nicaragua, Vietnam, Iran and Indonesia are underway, while agreements with Cuba and Spain have already been reached.

Roscosmos also proposed to construct six ground operational stations in the US, but the plan was turned down due to national security concerns, while the US has already set up 11 GPS stations on Russian soil.

However, Russia announced in May that it would suspend the operation of all 11 GPS stations from June 1 due to poor progress in Russia-US talks over the construction of Russian ground stations in the US. The GPS ground operational stations will be permanently shut on September 1 if the two countries fail to reach a consensus by then, according to Huanqiu.

US air official says drone 'almost collided with plane'

BBC News, 10 May 2014

The FAA has allowed some hobby and law enforcement drone use in US airspace

A drone almost collided with a US commercial flight in March, an official with America's flight regulatory agency has revealed.

Jim Williams of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) unmanned aircraft systems office said it showed the risks posed by such aircraft.

The near collision was reported to air traffic control as a pilot approached a Florida airport.

The FAA currently only allows non-commercial and police uses for drones.

But it requires drone pilots to alert an airport when flying it within five miles (8km) of the airport.

'Catastrophic' results

"The airline pilot said that the UAS [unmanned aircraft system] was so close to his jet that he was sure he had collided with it," Mr Williams said at a drone conference in San Francisco.

"Thankfully, inspection of the airliner after landing found no damage."

American Airlines, which owns the aeroplane, said it was aware of the report and was investigating.

A FAA investigation was unable to identify the drone's owner or pilot, the agency said in a statement.

The use of drones has increased dramatically in the past few years as the aircraft have become cheaper and more accessible, putting the FAA under pressure to develop broader rules.

"Our challenge is to integrate unmanned aircraft into the busiest, most complex airspace in the world," the agency said in a statement.

"Introduction of unmanned aircraft into America's airspace must take place incrementally and with the interest of safety first."

Mr Williams said on Thursday the "risk for a small UAS to be ingested into a passenger airline engine is very real. The results could be catastrophic."

Dangdut and Phone Sex Fly Into Cockpits

Jakarta Globe, Rizky Amelia, May 12, 2012

Indonesia's air frequencies are often muddied by
 crossed signals that cause Indonesian radio and
cell phone conversations to crowd out radio
communication, a senior Indonesian pilot said. (Agency Photo)

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A senior Indonesian pilot said that unwanted dangdut songs and even phone sex often clog radio communications as pilots enter Indonesian airspace, distracting them from their work.

“Foreign pilots entering Indonesian airspace often say ‘we’re flying into hell,’” Jeffrey Adrian, a senior pilot working with flag carrier Garuda Indonesia Airways, said on Saturday.

Jeffrey said “frequency leakage” has caused phone conversations and radio broadcasts to be heard in the cockpit.

“We often hear dangdut songs, drama and jazz music when entering certain regions,” Jeffrey said. “Phone calls between people can also be heard — I even once heard people having phone sex.”

Jeffrey said that the frequency leakage often disturbs pilots, especially while they’re listening to Air Traffic Control.

“[Pilots] have to work extra to listen to the guidance from ATC.”

In the wake of the tragic Sukhoi passenger jet crash, speculation has been swirling regarding the cause of the accident. Roy Suryo, a telecommunication expert, denied rumors that a cell phone might have interfered with the plane’s navigation system.

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Govt to focus on port, railway projects

Aditya Suharmoko, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 05/03/2008 11:14 AM 

The government will prioritize the development of port and railway infrastructure this year to ease the flow of goods and reduce high transportation costs in the country, a minister says.

"Our priority is to reduce bottlenecks in ports and railways, including at Tanjung Priok port, and railways on Java island," Transportation Minister Jusman Syafii Djamal said after a meeting with economic ministers on Friday.

Among development plans for this year, he said, was the modernization of navigation systems in three international airports: Kuala Namu airport in Medan, Lombok airport in Lombok and Hasanuddin airport in Makassar.

He also said the ministry would develop ports designed to load crude palm oil (CPO) as the commodity had become the country's main export.

In the first quarter of 2008, CPO was the major contributor to the rise in the country's non-oil-and-gas exports, which increased 47 percent to $4.4 billion compared to in the same period last year.

To help secure domestic distribution, Jusman said the ministry would fast track permit issuance for coal railway transportation projects to help secure distribution, particularly to state power plants.

"For port and railway projects under development by coal producers, we will speed-up permit issuance," Jusman said.

The ministry stated its budget this year was reduced to Rp 14.11 trillion (US$1.53 billion) after a 7.76 percent cut aimed to reduce state expenditures in response to a surge in global oil prices.

The Finance Ministry has cut the budget allocation to all government offices by a maximum 10 percent to safeguard the state budget, which is burdened by oil subsidies.

Despite the cut, Jusman said the ministry would try to improve the country's transportation system, including by restoring trains and modernizing navigation systems.

He also said the country's transportation and logistics systems needed to be integrated so the ministry could design a complete, multi-year infrastructure development strategy.

"Our transportation and logistics systems must be integrated. The Transportation Ministry will design a master plan to rebuild the country's ports, airports and railways to support logistics," he said.

The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has repeatedly said inferior infrastructure would result in increased product prices and burdened customers.

Getting there quicker with GPS

Zatni Arbi , Contributor The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 03/03/2008 12:52 AM

A friend and I were in an office building in the Pondok Indah area, South Jakarta, and we were about to leave for the airport.

I had just powered up the Global Positioning System (GPS) device I had in my hand. While the device was busy determining our location, I selected our destination from the list of Points of Interest: Cengkareng Airport (Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International Airport).

I had to wait for quite some time before the system finally zeroed in on our exact location. Once it knew where we were and where we wanted to go, it began to blow us away.

The sleek device I was playing around with this time was Mio C320. It was designed as a car navigation system, although it can easily fit into a shirt pocket.

What makes it stand out is its text-to-speech feature, which uses a woman's voice to guide the user turn-by-turn through the confusing maze of Jakarta's roads and alleys.

The Bluebird driver who took us to the airport was amazed at how accurate the instructions were every time.

"In three hundred meters, turn left." Or, "In two hundred meters, keep right". It was truly impressive!

The screen also showed some visual clues, too. On the upper left corner it had an arrow telling us where we should go next -- left, right or straight ahead.

The name of the next street we were to turn down was displayed at the top of the screen. The system also provided some trip statistics, such as the distance traveled.

We took a back street to avoid congested Jl. Sultan Iskandar Muda, which took us through a residential area. The intelligent software inside the device didn't mind.

On the contrary, it continued to tell us to turn left or right. It conformed to the route the taxi driver was actually taking.

At one point, we didn't follow the instructions and stopped at a mini mart to get some bottled drinking water. The system forgave us for our disobedience and recalculated the route to make sure we were back on the right track to the airport.

The name "Mio" may not be as familiar to us as Panasonic or Samsung, and it definitely has nothing to do with Yamaha motorcycles. Still, Mio is the market leader in GPS devices in the Asia-Pacific region.

Garmin, which may ring a bell when talking about GPS gadgets, is still the market leader in the U.S., but Mio is the No. 3 there, says Sonia Chan, Mio's sales manager.

Frankly, I wasn't aware of the Taiwanese brand Mio before I was given the opportunity to interview Sonia Chan from Mio Technology Limited, Yo Yoe from PT Tele Atlas Indonesia and Kemal Toha from Kahar Duta Sarana right after the product launch in Indonesia.

However, when I checked the Web, I realized I had been missing a lot. Luckily, I was able to play around with a Mio C320 to really see how great the Mio GPS device is.

Mio kicked off its official arrival in Indonesia by introducing six different models, including the Mio C320 car navigation system. My review unit was priced at around Rp 5 million.

The other models included the A701 and A501, which are GPS devices with PDA and GSM phone functionality, as well as the P560 and P360 -- two GPS-cum-PDA-only models. And there was also the C230, a compact car navigation device. All these devices run Windows Mobile 6. The A701 and A501 also come with a 3.2 MP camera.

The digital mapping data is compiled by Tele Atlas, a global company based in the Netherlands.

"We use 50,000 data resources worldwide to ensure the highest level of accuracy," said Yo Yoe, Tele Atlas Indonesia's General Manager.

Kahar Duta Sarana has been appointed by the Taiwanese company as the authorized distributor of Mio products for the Indonesian market.

"We provide the logistics and user training for these products," said Kemal, the company's director.

A GPS device uses signals from a network of GPS satellites. There is no charge for using the signals beamed by the 24 satellites that were put into orbit by the U.S. Department of Defense.

A GPS device needs at least three satellite signals to be able to determine any location on earth through a method known as triangulation. The results are shown on a digital map.

What are the things that I especially like about the C320? First, the large 4.3-inch touchscreen TFT is very bright and sharp. Secondly, the speech is very clear and the system uses remarkably simple English.

I didn't have the chance to measure the life of the integrated battery, but it should be more than enough for a long trip inside the city without crawling traffic.

Mio Technologies comes with the necessary accessories to attach it to the car's windscreen. There is a car power adapter as well, so we can use it for a trip all the way to Bali. Yes, Bali, folks.

Mio has preinstalled Tele Atlas' map for Jawa and Bali, Singapore and Malaysia. If I wanted to use it in Spain, for example, I would have to purchase the maps from Tele Atlas. It should be worth every cent, as the maps are very detailed. It even has addresses of nearby cash dispensers, gas stations, hotels, galleries, restaurants, etc.

By the way, if you use the device in countries like Singapore, the C320 will even alert you if there is a speed camera ahead.

There are a few shortcomings, of course. First, the screen tends to get washed out and unreadable outdoor under the sun. You can use it inside the car with no problem.

Second, the screen keypad is a bit too small for fat fingers like mine. This is something that Mio can learn from LG Mobile; in Viewty and Prada phones, I have no problem pressing the correct characters on the phones' touchscreen although the screen keys are pretty tiny.

Another item on my wish list is a mechanical volume adjustment. As it is now, turning the voice assistance up or down requires a lot of steps, which can create a dangerous distraction to a driver.

Finally, I think the system should also allow us to make some correction in street names. I came across Duri Kepa that should have been Duri Kelapa.

Despite these minor weaknesses, it will be very difficult for me to part with the C320. It's a very useful device, especially when you need to go to a place that you are not familiar with. It's no wonder someone once said "GPS is one of the most fantastic utilities ever devised by man".

Try using one of these Mios, and you'll be trying to convince your wife that you need it.