Transponder (aviation)

A transponder (short for transmitter-responder and sometimes abbreviated to XPDR, XPNDR, TPDR or TP) is an electronic device that produces a response when it receives a radio-frequency interrogation. Aircraft have transponders to assist in identifying them on air traffic control radar; and collision avoidance systems have been developed to use transponder transmissions as a means of detecting aircraft at risk of colliding with each other.

Air traffic control units use the term "squawk" when they are assigning an aircraft a transponder code, e.g., "Squawk 7421". Squawk thus can be said to mean "select transponder code" or "squawking" to mean "I have selected transponder code xxxx".

The transponder receives interrogation from the Secondary Surveillance Radar on 1030 MHz and squawks back on 1090 MHz.

Secondary surveillance radar (SSR) is referred to as "secondary", to distinguish it from the "primary radar" that works by passively reflecting a radio signal off the skin of the aircraft. Primary radar determines range and bearing to a target with reasonably high fidelity, but it cannot determine target elevation (altitude) reliably except at close range. SSR uses an active transponder (beacon) to transmit a response to an interrogation by a secondary radar. This response most often includes the aircraft's pressure altitude and a 4-digit octal identifier.

A pilot may be requested to squawk a given code by the air traffic controller via the radio, using a phrase such as "Cessna 123AB, squawk 0363". The pilot then selects the 0363 code on their transponder and the track on the radar screen of the air traffic controller will become correctly associated with their identity.

Because primary radar generally gives bearing and range position information, but lacks altitude information, mode C and mode S transponders also report pressure altitude. Some lower-end altimeters do not normally have a built in encoder and so a modified Gray code, called a Gillham code, is used to pass altitude information to the transponder. Around busy airspace there is often a regulatory requirement that all aircraft be equipped with an altitude-reporting mode C or mode S transponders. In the United States, this is known as a Mode C veil. Mode S transponders are compatible with transmitting the mode C signal, and have the capability to report in 25 foot increments. Without the pressure altitude reporting, the air traffic controller has no display of accurate altitude information, and must rely on the altitude reported by the pilot via radio. Similarly, the traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) installed on some aircraft needs the altitude information supplied by transponder signals.

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