Backhaul, August 2014: the industry 25 and 10 years ago

Backhaul takes you on a trip down memory lane as we look at developments in the critical communications industry 25 and 10 years ago.

25 YEARS AGO. The August/September 1989 issue of What's New in Radio Communications featured the Sigtec Fleet Manager computer-aided despatch system on its cover. No fancy screen graphics back then; it was all text based, although at least the text came in different colours.

The issue had a bit of a microwave focus, with an article from Murdoch University (WA) on building a microwave industry in Australia, along with news that MEL, part of the Philips group, was proposing microwave manufacturing as a spin-off of the ANZAC frigate project.

Elsewhere in the magazine, Maurice Burnett, Inspector, Communications Engineering for the NSW Police, presented a profile of the force's radio communications network and the equipment it used … including state-of-the-art Fluke touch screens on operator consoles.

And this issue presented a preview of the Professional & Commercial Radio Communications Product show - the forerunner to today's Comms Connect conference and exhibition.

10 YEARS AGO. Coaxial cable from Andrew Australia graced the cover of the August/September 2004 issue of Radio Comms Asia-Pacific. Lots of satellite and GPS news and articles in this issue, including remote monitoring in Antarctica using GPS positioning. There was also an article from the then ACA (now ACMA) on 802.11b and the implications of its growing use. HF was covered too, with an article from Rod McDuff (Q-Max Electronics) on HF antennas for fixed and mobile installations. In a related piece, the magazine had an article on an HF system used by the US Air Force to send emails to aircraft in flight.

This issue also had a marine emphasis, with articles on changes to regulations and the issuance of operator certificates to small boat users, and products with a marine focus - such as an Icom transceiver (IC-M802) and antennas from Pacific Aerials