Datron / Transco Brings Live, In-Flight TV to Airplane Screens

Travelers who are still amazed that technology allows movies to be shown on airplanes may find themselves completely baffled by in-flight entertainment over the next couple of years.

Now even cable television is making its way onto airplane screens.

And a local company, Datron / Transco Inc. of Simi Valley, is among the companies at the forefront of the video advancement.

Datron / Transco, a wholly owned subsidiary of Datron Systems Inc. of Escondido, manufactures and markets an airborne satellite reception system--a dish antenna and associated electronics--that can be mounted atop an aircraft to bring live broadcast television to passengers.

Delta Air Lines is in the middle of a test-marketing campaign to determine passenger interest in watching CNN, the Discovery Channel and Nickelodeon aboard its commercial “Spirit of Delta” 767. The cable networks are being aired via Datron’s DBS-2000 direct broadcast satellite system.

“Passengers have expressed a strong preference for live television programming, especially sports and news, and our hope is that in the not-too-distant future, most aircraft will have that,” said Bill Weaver, vice president and general manager of Datron / Transco’s DBS Products Division. “I think at least one airline will be operating with this service in 1997.”

Weaver said Continental Airlines has announced plans to introduce live television this year.

In addition to in-flight television, Datron / Transco is manufacturing direct-broadcast satellite systems for in-motion recreational vehicles, trucks and buses, a marine satellite system and a combined television and telephone satellite system. There are also existing products for stationary vehicles.

The systems sell for about $2,500 to $6,500.

Weaver said the power of the satellites used by broadcast services such as DirecTV has enabled satellite dishes to be manufactured in smaller size and therefore suitable for moving vehicles.

“There have always been DBS satellites, but they used to broadcast on 6- to 8-foot dishes. Now they are receiving the same quality programming on 18-inch dishes,” he said. “That’s part of the DBS phenomenon.”

For its direct-broadcast systems, Datron / Transco is taking advantage of technology similar to what it has developed to enable the military to track satellite and aircraft.

“We just reversed the technology that [enables] a dish to track something flying across the sky. Now the satellite remains stationary and we move the dish on the vehicle,” Weaver said. “It’s a product line which is actively replacing some of the company’s military business, which has been downsized.”