An Independent, Autonomous Monitor for Over-the-Air Flight Termination Commands

The Independent Flight Termination Monitoring (IFM) System consists of a personal computer or laptop running the GUI-based application, operating on either a Linux or Windows platform. The IFM interfaces to the Command Destruct Verification Receiver (CVR) via Ethernet communications (UDP/IP), with a verification antenna connected to one of the input ports on the CVR.

Independent Operation

The IFM is entirely independent and autonomous from the ground FTS, having no direct links to the system. Any FTS command that is transmitted over the air and received by the verification antenna is decoded by the CVR, which results in certain parameters of the transmitted command being displayed on the IFM’s GUI.

Displayed Parameters

For IRIG mode, displayed parameters include carrier frequency, tone frequency, tone frequency error, and tone deviation, shown in numerical format. The received RF signal strength level is also displayed, in a bar graph format. Additionally, decoded tones are displayed as strip charts on the IFM’s display.

For users who have prior knowledge of the FTS command definitions, the CVR allows the user to define the command — enabling the CVR to display not only IRIG tones but command tabs as well.

Event Logging

Just like the FTS Programming System (FPS), the IFM logs all events to the computer’s hard drive, with each event time-tagged to the computer’s clock — which can optionally be referenced to either IRIG-B or GPS time. Also like the FPS, the IFM includes the LogViewer application, which allows during- and post-mission review of all time-stamped logged events in both text and graphical form.

Available Versions

The IFM is offered in two versions: IRIG only, and IRIG/EFTS — the latter configurable to monitor both FTS modes of operation.