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Do transponders have to be large? Obviously most current ones are made to fit avionics racks, but is there a reason why one couldn't be made as small as a cell
by tlb 13y ago
Do transponders have to be large? Obviously most current ones are made to fit avionics racks, but is there a reason why one couldn't be made as small as a cell phone?
- zik 13y agoThis is one of the smallest transponders on the market. It still weighs much more than a textbook and requires an even larger power supply. http://www.garrecht.com/index.php/en/mode-s/vt-01-uav http://www.garrecht.com/index.php/en/mode-s/vt-01-uav
- jjwiseman 13y agoThat weighs 800 grams, the TT21 Mode S transponder is 440 grams: http://www.trig-avionics.com/press081127.html http://www.trig-avionics.com/press081127.html
- leoedin 13y agoThe principal issue appears to be broadcast power. The smallest one linked below (weighing ~400g without a power supply) has a burst power output of 130W (compared to a cellphone which might have an output power of ~2W). The actual amplifier itself wouldn't be huge (although heat dissapation could be), but there's a lot of capacitors and power supply circuitry needed to deal with that sort of power output. The size of all the components basically depends on what the duty ratio is - if it's a few uS every second, then it would be much easier to shrink than if it has to broadcast ten or hundreds of times a second.