Backhaul: Industry happenings of yesteryear

25 YEARS AGO. The cover of the February/March 1992 issue of What’s New in Radio Communications featured the Marconi 2955B radio test set family, with a feature set that improved on the earlier 2955A and R test sets. Inside the magazine we reported on Radio Frequency Systems winning a $30m contract from Telecom to supply antenna technology for the Jindalee over-the-horizon radar; OTC was advertising its Fleetcoms Business Radio Network, and was also set to introduce the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System to Australia (served by coastal radio stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Darwin and Townsville). The British Approvals Board for Telecommunications was reported as approving for use, Ericsson Australia’s ACP1000 Automatic Call Distributor system. Mobile One Australia and Exicom were collaborating to produce noise environment headsets to suit the Midland range of transceivers. And we also published articles from Tait and McLean Automation/Adolon Computer Services on choosing the right technology for telemetry systems.

10 YEARS AGO. The cover of the January/February 2007 issue of Radio Comms Asia-Pacific featured the radPro2 advanced EME modelling software from ICOMMS Australia — making a break from hardware on the cover. In fact, it’s interesting to see how things had developed since 1992, with many more mentions of the word ‘digital’ throughout this issue. Stealth also gets a mention, with The Bridge Networks becoming the exclusive agent for Stealth Concealment Solutions. The ACMA announced it would auction a 10 MHz lot and a 5 MHz lot between 2010 and 2025 MHz for wireless broadband. The ACMA also announced that it had commissioned  SpectrumWise Radiocommunications Consulting to provide an independent review of government spectrum holdings — “We need to be forever mindful that spectrum access is emerging worldwide as a ‘key enabler’ for information economy,” said Chris Chapman, introducing two more of those fancy new terms.

Pictured: The Marconi 2955B.