Through The Earth Communications--MagneLink offers another option for emergency response

摘要

The MagneLink Communications System (MCS) is a Through-the-Earth (TTE) communications technique developed by defense contractor Lockheed Martin in conjunction with NIOSH. It is defined by two systems, an in-mine and surface unit. The in-mine MCS consists of a transceiver, receiver antenna and large loop antenna. It's about 400 ft, intended to wrap around a coal pillar.The surface unit uses the same antenna as the in-mine unit, but it is comprised of a smaller suitcase size transceiver. The unit's capabilities are low-bandwidth text and voice. The voice is voicemail, not real-time voice, much like a satellite phone. It also has a periodic emergency beacon system. In addition, it has been tested with miner emergency radios (MERs). It allows the in-mine unit to communicate with MERs then uplink the voice data to the surface unit and then another radio system.