![]() ![]() One of the dangers of the PCL system is the 15 minute on-time. In other words, the whole field will light up, or it could be just a simple landing strip – It all depends on the size of the airport the pilot is heading into. This airport lighting can consist of all or some: ![]() When it receives a series of 5 or 7 pulses (depending on if it’s a Type J or K) of the carrier wave it operates the airport lights and will keep them on for 15 minutes before automatically turning them off.Īerodrome Lighting Is Required on Foggy Days Too! The PCL system just listens for the carrier wave signal. Because the PCL system only needs the carrier wave clicks, the pilot does not need to speak, just click the radio transmit button. Think of the carrier wave of a pilot’s radio transmission like a boat and the people on the boat is the spoken message from the pilot. Normally when the pilot is talking to air traffic control or another aircraft the carrier wave is also transporting the voice communication with it. When the pilot radio is tuned to the correct PCL frequency and the pilot presses the radio’s PTT button, the aircraft radio will send out a carrier wave signal for the entire time the button is held. Each airport will have a designated frequency for the pilot-controlled lighting or it will be monitoring the regular airport radio frequency. The system works by monitoring a specific radio frequency ‘Carrier Wave’. Once the lights are on the pilot can then click a further 5 clicks to reduce the lights to medium intensity, and 3 clicks for low intensity. Seven clicks will put the lights on to maximum intensity. To activate the PCL lighting system, the pilot clicks their radio transmit button up to seven times in a 5 second period.
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