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An uncommon name for common communications
Manufacturer Profile:
An Uncommon Name for Common Communications Communications. The lifeblood of any aeromedical transport program. Vital for the requesting hospital or agency to summon helicopter-borne critical care medicine. Essential for flight nurses to keep updated on an unstable patient's condition. And a prerequisite for the pilot to get directions to the "north 40 on state road 161." It hasn't always been that way. My first introduction to aeromedical rescue/transport was with a helicopter that could not communicate with civil public safety agencies. We did what we could held a portable "walkie talkie" out the window to attempt contact with the ground. But often we did not have the right frequency, and even if we did, it was largely not an effective system. But there's a company that has changed all that. With an uncommon name, it has made interagency communications commonplace. The name: Wulfsberg. The communications: virtually every civil U.S. helicopter flying for hospitals or government contracts. Wulfsberg Electronics, Inc. was begun in 1970 in Overland Park, Kansas to develop and manufacture a premium line of air/ground communications equipment. In its first years of existence, it concentrated primarily on airborne radio telephones. In 1974 however, the mid-America company
The F l e x c o m m system provides f o r a single control panel to control as many as three separate F M transceivers and more than 1 8 , 0 0 0 frequencies.
developed its first VHF and UFH FM systems for helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft use. Two years later, Wulfsberg was named the "Manufacturer of the Year" by the aircraft Electronics Association for the company's "innovative design of cost-effective products and superior s u p p o r t . . . " Prior to 1976, Wulfsberg products were primarily crystal controlled. Depending on the system, a maximum of a dozen frequencies could be determined by installing the appropriate crystals. Thus, an operation could tailor-make its radios to fit the system - as long as it didn't need more than 12 channels and as long as communications needs didn't change too often. Helicopter operators found a
Prior to Flexcomm, many aeromedical helicopters had as many as three cockpit control panels to control only 18 F M frequencies as seen in this Alouette I I I . 10 HOSPITALAVlATION, MARCH 1984
tremendous drawback, however, if changing needs mandated constant changing of crystals. If an aircraft finished one contract and went to work for another agency or company, the frequencies almost always were different. And, as the hospital-based aeromedical helicopter concept developed, it often found itself faced with more than 100 different police, fire, sheriff and EMS agencies within its 100 mile service area. Enter the era of fully-synthesized radios. In 1977, Wulfsberg introduced the RT-9600 capable of selecting 9,600 VHF channels without switching crystals. The unit became so popular that the U.S. Forest Service requires it on most of its contracts. In addition, most American aeromedical helicopters have one installed. The company then introduced synthesized units for VHF-FM (low band) and UHF-FM, and in 1982 tied them all together with its FLEXCOMM system which utilizes a single control head in the cockpit to control three remote units. Last year Wulfsberg introduced a VHF-AM unit, compatable with FLEXCOM, enabling the pilot to control all his ATC and EMS communications from a single control head. The rapid development of new (and essential) communications products for aircraft makes one wonder what the company has on its drawing boards for the remainder of the decade.
An Uncommon Name for Common Communications Communications. The lifeblood of any aeromedical transport program. Vital for the requesting hospital or agency to summon helicopter-borne critical care medicine. Essential for flight nurses to keep updated on an unstable patient's condition. And a prerequisite for the pilot to get directions to the "north 40 on state road 161." It hasn't always been that way. My first introduction to aeromedical rescue/transport was with a helicopter that could not communicate with civil public safety agencies. We did what we could held a portable "walkie talkie" out the window to attempt contact with the ground. But often we did not have the right frequency, and even if we did, it was largely not an effective system. But there's a company that has changed all that. With an uncommon name, it has made interagency communications commonplace. The name: Wulfsberg. The communications: virtually every civil U.S. helicopter flying for hospitals or government contracts. Wulfsberg Electronics, Inc. was begun in 1970 in Overland Park, Kansas to develop and manufacture a premium line of air/ground communications equipment. In its first years of existence, it concentrated primarily on airborne radio telephones. In 1974 however, the mid-America company
The F l e x c o m m system provides f o r a single control panel to control as many as three separate F M transceivers and more than 1 8 , 0 0 0 frequencies.
developed its first VHF and UFH FM systems for helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft use. Two years later, Wulfsberg was named the "Manufacturer of the Year" by the aircraft Electronics Association for the company's "innovative design of cost-effective products and superior s u p p o r t . . . " Prior to 1976, Wulfsberg products were primarily crystal controlled. Depending on the system, a maximum of a dozen frequencies could be determined by installing the appropriate crystals. Thus, an operation could tailor-make its radios to fit the system - as long as it didn't need more than 12 channels and as long as communications needs didn't change too often. Helicopter operators found a
Prior to Flexcomm, many aeromedical helicopters had as many as three cockpit control panels to control only 18 F M frequencies as seen in this Alouette I I I . 10 HOSPITALAVlATION, MARCH 1984
tremendous drawback, however, if changing needs mandated constant changing of crystals. If an aircraft finished one contract and went to work for another agency or company, the frequencies almost always were different. And, as the hospital-based aeromedical helicopter concept developed, it often found itself faced with more than 100 different police, fire, sheriff and EMS agencies within its 100 mile service area. Enter the era of fully-synthesized radios. In 1977, Wulfsberg introduced the RT-9600 capable of selecting 9,600 VHF channels without switching crystals. The unit became so popular that the U.S. Forest Service requires it on most of its contracts. In addition, most American aeromedical helicopters have one installed. The company then introduced synthesized units for VHF-FM (low band) and UHF-FM, and in 1982 tied them all together with its FLEXCOMM system which utilizes a single control head in the cockpit to control three remote units. Last year Wulfsberg introduced a VHF-AM unit, compatable with FLEXCOM, enabling the pilot to control all his ATC and EMS communications from a single control head. The rapid development of new (and essential) communications products for aircraft makes one wonder what the company has on its drawing boards for the remainder of the decade.