Backhaul, March 2016: the industry 25 and 10 years ago

25 YEARS AGO. The cover of the April/May 1991 issue of What’s New in Radio Communications featured RAND Version2 Data Link Controller, developed by Transcom Australia, that enabled “small and large radio users to transmit full eight-bit ASCII data via any HF, VHF and UHF radio system … with total privacy, total accuracy and no transmission costs”. Elsewhere in the magazine, Motorola’s Spiros Nikolakopolous and Martin Cahill (Motorola Communications) opined on the importance of performance in trunked networks, and Andrew Mowat (Expertech) describe a scheme for using programmable logic controllers and simple radio data interfaces in developing remote control and data acquisition systems. And, if you were in the market for a 76-metre-high transmission tower at Eastern Creek in Sydney, it’s too late now — expressions of interest closed in June 1991.

10 YEARS AGO. The cover of the March/April 2006 issue of Radio Comms Asia-Pacific featured the services of EMC Technologies; specifically, NATA-endorsed assessments for EMR compliance under ARPANSA standards. Elsewhere in the magazine we had a case study on the use of GPS to improve a community bus service, where passengers could book via the internet and the GPS system would select the optimal route for each bus. We also covered a humanitarian aid HF network established in East Timor, PNG and the Solomon Islands. David Cox (Pacific Wireless) contributed an opinion piece on the perils of outsourcing too much comms knowledge to providers who might then lock you in to their own ecosystem. Ian Miller let rip about some of the problems facing dealers and the need for everyone to help grow the market. And we also published a profile of Sir Angus Tait, who began his career in the electronics business in 1969 and by 2006 had built it up to be Christchurch’s largest commercial employer.