[Scan-DC] 233.75, 249.95, 268.65 & 360.4

[Jeff]

Folks,

I am fishing for some thoughts on this one. In the past I have heard =
audio
on this freq that I have chosen to call "COCKPIT RECORDER". I'll =
explain:
Usually the comms seem to be fed from a mic that appears to be =
constantly
on. I would not go as far to say it is a HOT MIKE because you can =
audibly
hear every little background noise in the cockpit, like the alarms, =
engine
noise, you can even hear the voice coming over the radio in the =
background.

In the past, the only comms I have heard on this one were from the =
cockpit
of the FA-18 E/Fs at PAX River undergoing flight test. To the best of my
knowledge, I personally can't say I have ever heard any other flight =
test
program use this type of transmission.

For lack of knowledge on what this is for, over time, through listening =
I
have made the following educated guess. I am "assuming" that since =
Military
fighters do not have a "Black Box", that they use this to transmit all
cockpit audio to a voice recorder on the ground for various purposes, =
just a
guess.

Some additional detail on it is that I can hear the cockpit talk to =
"DATA",
(the flight test coordinator) and I can hear Data's response. Then I can
hear the pilot switch to PAX ground to advise of engine start-up and =
hear
grounds response as well. And it goes this way throughout the test =
flight. I
can hear the pilot switching freqs but can hear both sides of audio no
matter which freq he switched to.

I have several freqs noted for the same type of use at PAX 233.75, =
249.95,
268.65 & 360.4. Today I had 2 different flight tests doing this on =
268.65 &
249.95. I have a lot of audio on it and will review again later and take
notes and repost anything interesting.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone has ever heard comms like this and =
might
be able to offer up some additional thoughts on this from past =
experience.
It is kind of neat to listen to because you can listen to all comms from
beginning to end for a particular flight with on one freq, pretty cool. =
:-)

Have a good one,

Jeff