Both aircraft received voice notification of the approximate location of each other, however the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of the crash was the failure of the 727 to maintain visual separation with other air traffic.

One of those killed in the crash is a friend of Dr. Gerard ("Jerry") O'Neill.

In September, Dr. O'Neill files a patent for a "Satellite-Based Vehicle Position Determining System." Called Triad, it is based on the use of three satellites to provide coverage to North America. It is eventually granted U.S. Patent 4,359,733 in 1982.

Application is made to the FCC in April for a license to construct the Global Satellite System (GSS). The system called for three geosynchronous satellites, located at 70° W, 100° W, and 130° to cover the continental United States and adjoining waters. The application indicated GSS would be able to locate an individual $200 transceiver as well as carry short (36-character) messages.

In November Geostar demonstrates a prototype system in the Sierra mountains of California using mountaintop pseudolite repeaters.

Dr. O'Neill is interviewed for OMNI magazine.

The following What's News appeared in the September issue of Radio-Electronics magazine:

Satellite services for individuals?

Geostar Corp of Princeton, NJ, proposes a satellite-communications system that would permit persons to send messages via satellite, using devices no bigger than pocket pagers. The system will locate the exact position of the sender, and handle messages of up to 36 characters.

In its application to the FCC, Geostar states that a person confronted by a mugger could press a single button on his communicator. That would send out a signal that would go to three satellites in geostationary orbit over the Equator, and from them back to a computer on Earth. The computer would determine instantly the exact location of the sender by noting the difference in the time it takes for signals to reach the computer from the different satellites. It would then notify the nearest police car or station.

The system would also be valuable to hunters and others lost in the woods, and would be of great value to trucking companies, who would make large savings if they could determine the location of - and communicate with - their trucks at all times.

The proposal has not found favor in all quarters. The cellular radio services - some of whose alloted frequencies Geostar proposes to use - are particularly unhappy. AT&T and Motorola Inc., both of whom are heavily involved in cellular radio, have opposed plans of Geostar's type, stating that such systems would waste frequencies in serving remote areas; such frequencies could be used better in urban areas.

An article appeared in the December issue of Data Communications magazine with the following abstract:

A new satellite data network using low speed analog cellular technology will allow users with hand-held transceivers to send and receive text or data from any location without ground-based connections. Aimed at tracking commercial airlines, this network will also be used in business for tracking a local auto or truck fleet. Message transceivers will cost $450. The monthly service charge will be $10 - $30 per month. The project has been developed by Dr. Gerard O'Neill, former physics professor at Princeton who now heads the Geostar Corp. Nearly $2 million have been spent in development; $200 million will be needed for the satellites.

In an interview with COMPUTE! magazine, the Geostar system is described as:

Despite his many other interests, it is the Geostar Corporation which currently occupies most of O'Neill's time and effort. Geostar, a development firm concerned with communication and navigation via satellite, is a perfect blend of O'Neill's farsighted vision and his make-it-work practicality.

The system which O'Neill and his colleagues are developing could revolutionize how we track and monitor aircraft and how we communicate with one another. Initially, the proposed system would have three satellites in geosynchronous orbit over North America. The Geostar central computer facility would use the satellites to route tracking and communication data almost instantaneously for everything from commercial airlines to trucking companies, taxi services, police departments, and even individuals. The key to the system will be a hand-held transceiver which can send and receive messages through the Geostar network.

During the interview, he remarked that an airplane thousands of feet above Princeton was in the process, at that moment, of testing the Geostar system.

The interview also contained the following exchanges:

COMPUTE!: There are predictions that by 1988 some 50 million homes in the U.S. will have personal computers. In what ways do you see this increased awareness of computers affecting America's technological edge in the world?

O'Neill: I think it will help a lot. It's already true, just because of the accident that we work on an alphabet and the Japanese work, of course, with a character-based system, that we as a people are far more familiar with keyboards than they are. Young Americans growing up nowadays, working with personal computers, are much more familiar with keyboards, much less scared of them, than the older generation.

Geostar is a digital system, a keyboard-type system. It's not a voice system. It could be connected to a personal computer anytime. The message transfer capability is entirely consistent with the kind of telecommunications that you like to carry out with your personal computer, from a portable computer. And, of course, by 1987, today's three or four pound computers that fit in a briefcase are probably going to be shrunk down to a quarter of an inch thick. You can carry those along with a Geostar transceiver, and be in instant touch with anywhere.

COMPUTE!: You have already completed mountaintop and airplane emulations of the Geostar satellite functions. What's the timetable for the actual satellite?

O'Neill: So far, the company has met all of its milestones. We are looking to begin service to the entire continental United States in 1987.

One of the most critical items for that is the issuance by the Federal Communications Commission of what's called a "notice of proposed rule-making," which would allocate the spectra for the Geostar service. And that is going very well. There's a very strong possibility that something important will have happened in that area even before your magazine comes out.

The development of the transceivers actually takes just about as long as the development time for the satellites themselves. It's a different kind of technical task, but the time scales are about the same.

COMPUTE!: What types of services will Geostar provide?

O'Neill: In aviation, the kinds of services that would be provided would be, for example, positioning, very accurately.on the order of meters. We can technically provide what's called radio location, which means feeding back the location of a vehicle or an aircraft to a fleet dispatch headquarters. We can provide for aircraft terrain avoidance, because we will have the stored terrain map. So if we see an aircraft heading toward a TV tower or a mountain, we will be feeding warnings to the pilot at the time.

There would be, of course, a two-way digital message service, all provided through the same device. And you could send a message from any transceiver to any other transceiver with a typical delay of about six-tenths of a second. And lastly, it is also an emergency warning system, because the ground station computer will be tracking aircraft. And if you see an aircraft which is heading toward a collision with terrain, first of all, you'll be sending warnings, automatically generated by the computer, and if the aircraft does crash, you will recognize the fact from several confirming sources. And that's important, because the so-called emergency locating transmitters (ELT) that are now federally mandated and carried by aircraft have a horrendous false alarm rate.approximately 98 percent of all ELT firings are false alarms.

COMPUTE!: How would Geostar have an impact on aviation?

O'Neill: The way that Geostar would affect aviation is sort of generically the same way that it would affect a number of other situations in life and affairs. The difference is that in aviation, all the needs come together in one place. The fundamental thing is that the Geostar transceiver is a very light, simple, inexpensive thing, which in effect can run on double-A cells. It's a goal which the manufacturers regard as not at all impossible.

In August the FCC officially completed the rule-making process for the RDSS frequencies. They grant three licenses -- one to Geostar, one to MCCA Radiodetermination Corporation, and one to McCaw Space Technologies, Inc.

Eight transportation companies trial more than 100 user terminals, including Mayflower Transit.

Geostar moves their corporate headquarters and processing center from Princeton, New Jersey to K Street in downtown Washington, D.C.

Geostar begins commercial operation using Spacenet-3, with the capability of serving upwards of 40,000 users. (This was known internally as System 2.)

Users transmit a direct-sequence spread spectrum burst at 1618.25 MHz. The burst has an 8 MHz chip rate and a 15.6 kHz data rate. User terminals transmit their position, derived from an on-board LORAN-C receiver, to Geostar Central for delivery to the customer.

A return link at 2491.75 MHz is in the planning stages, but for now the Geostar service is one-way only.

Geostar acquires an 11.5 percent stake in Locstar, a consortium made up of European companies and government entities including British Aerospace and Alcatel. The consortium plans to provide RDSS in Europe, the Mideast and North Africa.

European patent EP 0174540 is granted to Geostar Corporation.

In November, San Diego-based Qualcomm, Inc. begins offering their two-way OmniTRACS mobile communications service via Ku-band satellite (two transponders on-board GSTAR-1). Qualcomm had purchased a smaller company called Omninet that had developed the system. The FCC granted Qualcomm an STA (Special Temporary Authority) in September for 2,000 terminals.

In October Geostar begins offering two-way service by transmitting an "outbound" signal (from the central hub out to mobile terminals) between 3700 and 4200 MHz (C-band). (This was known internally as System 2C.) Although the C-band frequencies were originally allocated for Fixed Satellite Service (FSS), the FCC allowed mobile operation in the band due to a lack of S-band satellite capacity in the allocated RDSS band (2483.5 to 2500 MHz).

Equipment is built by Hughes Network Systems (L-band transmitter), Kenwood Corporation (C-band receiver) and Sony Corporation (L-band transmitter).

A secure, handheld satellite transmitter prototype built by a division of Motorola (now part of General Dynamics) is demonstrated.

Comsat was a Geostar creditor and had acquired much of Geostar's equipment from the bankruptcy court. This included the RDSS hub and computers as well as an inventory of Hughes-built mobile L-band transmitters and Kenwood-built C-band mobile receivers.

This effectively reinstituted Geostar's service.

As with the Newcomb license, this authorization was also set to expire when the first "Big LEO" began to operate. Motorola's Iridium satellite network was the primary concern.

The system was publicly described as follows:

Inbound

• The transmitter fires a direct sequence spread spectrum signal at 1.6 GHz (L Band) lasting no longer than 80 milliseconds.
• This signal is received by a geostationary satellite with L band capability (Spacenet 3R) and transponded to the ground station at Ku band.
• The signal is acquired and decoded at the ground station by one of two hub units. The decoded packet is then delivered to a pair of Hewlett-Packard 9000 series computers (known internally as "Ren" and "Stimpy") for further processing and delivery to the customer.

Outbound

• A packet destined for a mobile unit is uplinked to a geostationary C band satellite (Comstar D4). The mobile receiver is locked to the C band carrier and demodulates incoming packets in a manner similar to the inbound path.

Features and Benefits

• Transmissions have superior LPI/D (Low Probability of Interception/Detection) characteristics, making them an excellent choice for clandestine messaging in a hostile environment.
• Inbound and Outbound channels are available to all units at all times, allowing for instantaneous two-way messaging.

Mobile Datacom begins work on a vehicle tracking and messaging system for the United States Army. This effort will become the Movement Tracking System, a $419 million contract awarded to the company in 1999. Preliminary equipment and software is tested at Fort Hood, Texas and demonstrated at the US Army's National Training Center (NTC) at Fort Irwin, California, achieving some of the highest asset utilization scores ever recorded.

Also in September, Mobile Datacom completes an Advanced Concepts and Technology (ACT) II Program for the US Army Combined Arms Support Command (CASCOM) after a final convoy demonstration from Fort Stewart, Georgia to the Port of Savannah.

The ACT II demonstration integrates a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) interrogator, a SAE J1708/J1587 Vehicle Data Bus interface and a ruggedized laptop computer with a GPS-equipped satellite transceiver on a mobile military platform. The computer provides a moving map display and a two-way text messaging capability in a software program called MTS Messenger. Data transmitted from each platform is collected at a satellite Earth Station in Ellicott City, Maryland and made available on a series of web pages. Position and status information collected from each vehicle, processed in a software application called BField (short for battlefield), is broadcast back out via satellite to all vehicles.

Associated with the development of its next generation system are two major enhancements to the Mobile Datacom Network:

1. Multi-platform operation
2. Virtual Private Network Services

Through funding provided by a recently awarded contract from the U.S. Government's Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), as supplemented by investor funding, Mobile Datacom will develop its next generation system to be multi-platform capable. This will make Mobile Datacom the only service provider in the business able to offer customers the choice of which satellite system to use with the same hardware/software combination. This will be accomplished by designing the MDC spacelink and physical protocol layers to accommodate other satellite relays as they become available while leaving external interfaces to the mobile terminal and the satellite gateway the same. Systems through which the Mobile Datacom Network will be able to operate include American Mobile Satellite Corporation (AMSC) (available today), TMI of Canada (available today), Globalstar, Odyssey, and other systems in which the satellite functions as a bent pipe relay, permitting the transmitted signal to pass through the satellite without any processing.

Since many customers and VARs want their own private networks, the Company will provide a wide range of virtual private network services. The Company's network architecture allows it to offer customers their own piece of the system, to manage as they choose.

In April, technical work begins on the design of the next generation satellite transceiver, later named the MT-2010.

In September, the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) approved the operational requirements for MTS. Soon after the Program Executive Office (PEO) for Standard Army Management Information Systems (later the PEO for Enterprise Information Systems) received program management responsibility for MTS.

In October, Comtech Telecommunications of Melville, New York, purchases Mobile Datacom.

In April, MTS passes operational testing with the 180th Transportation Battalion, 13th Corps Support Command (COSCOM), at Fort Hood, Texas.

[The article] is very interesting and confirms my view of what the future holds for systems such as Comtech's. To our very great credit, the satellite system, and the operating software and applications worked. Now, the warfighters have a taste for what is available, and a very clear idea of shortcomings. That is to say, they see what is being done, and now they understand how it can work for them, were it to have been designed with their specific needs in mind. While this always comes down to questions of time and money, there is going to be a big push to put in place the systems that work the way the warfighter wants them to work, since now it's only a matter of, as I indicated, time and money. Time isn't a factor, since they can use what they've got in the interim, and money, well, there's a lot going to be spent, so why not on bandwidth and software.

The challenge comes from the possibility that the future system will not be a derivative of the exisiting system, but the result of a totally new development, like JTRS [Joint Tactical Radio System]. That could come out of NG [Northrop-Grumman], or GD [General Dynamics], or any of the large (or small) systems integrators. Comtech will need to get on board, somehow, or the train will leave them at the station. [This] article is the first I've seen, and undoubtedly not the last, reflecting the real needs. And those needs will be met. The Army isn't going to grow, so it's the systems that will have to maintain the effectiveness of the small fighting force. Great selling point if you can make the connection.

J. Preston Windus, Jr., a Comtech corporate financial officer, takes over management of the Mobile Datacom division.

"Dan Wood has the ideal background and skill set to take over the reins from Pres Windus at Comtech Mobile Datacom. His strong operations and finance experience is very similar to that of Pres."

Like Mr. Windus, his background is financial rather than technical and is lacking in any significant mobile satellite industry experience.

[C]ommercial L-band bandwidth, network management services, engineering design and development services, and L-band satellite transceivers for Fiscal Year 2007 (FY-07) and beyond supporting US Army FBCB2 BFT operations Worldwide.

The notice includes the following request:

Optional - A source of supply for engineering services capable of reverse engineering the firmware contained within the CMDC MT-2011 and CMDC hub and packet switch equipment to provide a more secure and more capable waveform to support FBCB2 BFT operations. NOTE: The Government does not own the design rights to the CMDC MT-2011 transceiver, CMDC hub equipment, or CMDC packet switch, nor does it have any drawings or documentation that describes the design and operation of this equipment. The Government does own CMDC MT-2011 transceivers and CMDC packet switch equipment that can be provided for purposes of reverse engineering.

Also in May, Comtech corporate tells the Government that it had not agreed to allow CMDC to license any proprietary information to the Government at any price for use in future competitive procurements. At time, CMDC estimated that the value of their ongoing business operations, and the potential risks associated with releasing the proprietary data to competitors in the industry would be valued (if a value were to be assigned) in excess of $100 million.

In August, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issues a Letter of Inquiry ("LOI") regarding whether CMDC violated section 301 of the Communications Act of 1934 and sections 25.102, 25.117, 25.136(d) and 25.276(a) of the Commission's Rules by modifying and operating its MET [Mobile Earth Terminal] system without appropriate authorization.

The Enforcement Bureau ("Bureau") and Comtech Mobile Datacom Corporation ("CMDC"), by their authorized representatives, hereby enter into this Consent Decree for the purpose of terminating the Bureau's investigation into whether CMDC violated section 301 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended ("Act") and sections 25.102, 25.117, 25.136(d) and 25.276(a) of the Commission's Rules by modifying and operating its mobile earth terminal ("MET") system without appropriate authorization.

As part of the consent decree, CMDC makes a "voluntary" contribution to the United States Treasury in the amount of $25,000 and is required to make regular reports regarding technical parameters of system operation.

Respondent proposes the adoption of the Battle Command Product Line (BCPL) Logistics software variant, Movement Tracking System. Enhanced Software (MTS-ES), (currently undergoing test), to stand up a new NOC [Network Operations Center] to host MTS running MTS-ES software, to ramp up the system as quickly as possible, and to undergo a transition period from legacy NOC to the new proposed NOC. Separate and apart from this proposal, the current plan is for MTS to adopt MTS-ES as its future software (assuming successful testing and user acceptance). However current schedules do not project the availability of MTS-ES until second quarter FY2011. The current MTS contract ends July 2010 which is 6 plus months before MTS-ES is projected to be available.
[...]
With successful testing, acceptance, and availability of this software, MTS will no longer need to sole-source CMDC's proprietary components or require a prime contractor to use CMDC as its sub-contractor. Once the BCPL software is released, it will allow for MTS to have open standards, and this is expected to significantly increase competition for future contracts.

In April, the FBCB2 BFT Project Manager issues a Market Survey seeking sources for:

L-band bandwidth, network management services, engineering design and development services, and the procurement of BFT-2 L-band satellite transceivers, during the years 2010 - 2015 and beyond supporting PM FBCB2 BFT operations worldwide.

The PM seeks to procure the hardware and acquire the services, using multiple awards of Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts.
...
The total dollar value of each contract would be $477M.

Starting in 2010 thru 2015, the Army wants to replace the current BFT-1 CMDC equipment with improved equipment that provides an order of magnitude improvement in data throughput.

In September, CMDC repeats to the Government that the value of its ongoing business operations, the Government-wide application of Government Purpose License Rights, and the potential risks associated with releasing the proprietary data to unlimited industry competitors, would necessitate a minimum license price of $125 million with any data, documentation or other information provided in an "as is" condition with no warranties or guarantees associated with the license.

The Government immediately determines that these terms and conditions are unacceptable.

Also in July, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is signed that places the Movement Tracking System (MTS) office under PEO C3T, and thus under FBCB2.

For the fiscal year ending July 31, revenue from the BFT-1 and MTS contracts accounted for 40 percent of the Comtech's revenue. Since 1999, Comtech delivered about 139,000 BFT-1 mobile satellite transceivers and 47,000 MTS units.

In August, Comtech corporate offers to sell the rights to CMDC's intellectual property to the Government for $120 million. The Government declines.

With the Army indicating it would contract for satellite capacity directly rather than through Comtech, during a September conference call to investors, Comtech officials indicated they would charge the government a separate fee for the use of the company's intellectual property.

Comtech makes "The GMI Risk List" for October, 2011 with the following analysis from GMI Ratings:

The defense industry in general poses social concerns for some investors. At defense contractor Comtech, the average director tenure is 18 years and only one director is under seventy; the board also lacks diversity with regard to gender. High average tenures and ages, taken together, suggest entrenchment planning concerns. Remuneration decisions are only loosely linked to performance, which has lagged peers and the S&P 500 for the last five years. Finally, a number of accounting flags suggest that expenses may be understated or possibly capitalized.

Also in October, Dan Wood resigns as President of Comtech Mobile Datacom. Operation of the division is to be handled by Comtech AeroAstro, a sister division located in Ashburn, Virginia.

According to a Schedule 14A (Proxy Statement) filed in November 2010 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in addition to his $314,140 base salary,

Mr. Wood received a 2010 non-equity incentive award of $750,000 which was primarily based on the level of fiscal 2010 pre-tax profit achieved for the business operations for which he was responsible and the ECC's [Executive Compensation Committee] evaluation of his overall performance.

The ECC considered the fact that the subsidiary Mr. Wood supervises was not selected as the program manager and vendor for the Blue Force Tracking 2 ("BFT-2") program because a third party vendor bid a price that was 50% lower than the price submitted by Mr. Wood's subsidiary. Ultimately, as a result of the expected future decline in sales and profits related to BFT-2, the Company recorded a goodwill impairment charge in its fiscal 2010 results.

Mr. Wood was also awarded 20,000 shares of CMTL stock in June 2010, with an estimated value of $216,354. His total reported compensation for the 2010 fiscal year was $1,451,726. In addition, at the time of his departure Mr. Wood sold 42,000 shares of CMTL, netting $1,332,240.

Later in October, Comtech corporate tersely announces his departure and names his replacement as Paul Lithgow. From the press release, Fred Kornberg, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Comtech Telecommunications Corp., said:

"As President of both CMDC and AeroAstro, Paul is the perfect candidate to further reposition our mobile data communications segment. I believe that Paul's experience in establishing AeroAstro as a leader in the emerging microsatellites industry will be beneficial as we continue to adjust our mobile data communication segment's business strategy."

"I believe that the people and technology at CMDC are second to none and I am confident that Paul and the team will position our mobile data communications segment for future growth and continued profitability."