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ModeAandModeCCodes

MODEAANDMODEC
THESTRAIGHTSCOOPONHOWITWORKS
by
DarrylPhillips
Whathappenswhenyoudial"1200"intoyourtransponder?Howisaircraftaltitudetransmittedtothe
controller?WhatisModeAandModeCanyway?
Tofindanswers,perhapsweshouldbeginwithalittlehistory.TheAirTrafficControlRadarBeacon
System(ATCRBS)isanoutgrowthoftheIFFequipmentdevelopedduringWorldWarII,atthesametime
radaritselfwascomingintouse.Theproblemwasdifferentiatingbetweenthegoodguysandthebadguys,
andIFF(Identification,FriendorFoe)wastheanswer.Theequipmentonboardeachalliedaircraft
receivedtheradarpulses,andtransmittedasecretcodeinreply.Therewere64possiblecodes,andtheidea
workedquitewell.
Afterthewartheconceptwasadaptedforairtrafficcontrol.Improvementsweremade,andtheinterrogator
wasseparatedfromtheradaritself.Itstillrotatesaroundonthesamedish,lookinginthesamedirection,
andisdisplayedonthesamescope,inthesameshadeofgreen.(EverwonderwhytheFAAneverlearned
theadvantagesofcolor?I'vewonderedthattoo.)
The64codesconsistedoftwodigits,calledAandB.(ThesearenotModeAandB,thatissomethingelse
altogether.)Thereweretwoknobs,AandB.Eachdigithas8possibilities,from0thru7.8X8=64,so
therewere64possiblecodes.
Figure1showstheoriginal64codeformat,andtoday's4096codeformatunderit.Eachreplyconsistedof
aframingpulse,somecombinationofthesixpossibledatapulses,andanotherframingpulse.Italltook
placein20.75microseconds.Atthespeedoflight,aradiosignaltravels3.35NMinthatmuchtime.Like
ripplesinapond,thesignaltravelsoutwardfromtheplane,andwhenthelastofthesignalleavesthe
antenna,thefirstis3.35millesaway.

Figure1

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Thepulsenumbersarebinaryweighted,soitiseasytodeterminetherelationshipbetweenpulsesandthe
numbertheyrepresent.TheAdigit,forexample,lookslikethis,with1representingapulse,and0
representingnopulse:

A1
A2
A4

0
0
0

1
0
0

0
1
0

1
1
0

0
0
1

1
0
1

0
1
1

1
1
1

Thesamepatternappliestodigits(knobs)B,C,andD.
Prettysoon64squawkcodesweren'tenough,andaschemeevolvedtoplaceapulsebetweeneachofthe
originalpulses.Thisgaveus8X8X8X8=4096,thesystemwehavetoday.TheCdigitnestedintothe
Adigit,likewisetheDinterdigitatedwithB.IntheprocessthenewXpulseappearedandcouldhavebeen
usedtodifferentiatebetweenSquawkandAltitudereplies,butitwasn't.Xhasneverbeenusedfor
anything.
Sotodaywehavetransponderswithfourknobs,whichrepresentA,B,C,andD.Eachcanbesetto
anythingfrom0to7(theswitchesdon'thaveaposition8or9.)Tosquawk1200,theAknobissetto1,B
issetto2,CandDaresetto0.
IfthetransponderreceivesaModeAinterrogation,ittransmitsthesquawkcode,assetbythepilot.Ifit
receivesaModeCinterrogation,ittransmitsthealtitudecode,assuppliedbytheencoder.It'simportantto
understandthatATNOTIMEdoesthetranspondersendboth.It'soneortheother,ifthegroundstation
sendsaModeAinterrogation,thetransponderreplieswithastringofpulsesthatarethesquawkcodeonly.
IfaModeCinterrogation,thereplyisaltitudeonly.
Figure2illustratestheinterrogationpulses.Thesepulsesaretransmittedon1030Mhz.Allinterrogators
usethesamefrequency.ThespacebetweenP1andP3definesthetypeofrequest,ModeA(thefedscall
this3/A),orModeC.IftheP1P3timingis8microseconds,leadingedgetoleadingedge,aModeA
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responseisexpected,andif21microseconds,therequestisforModeC(altitude)data.P2isusedfor
sidelobesuppression,sothatthetransponderwillonlyrespondtotheprincipalforwardlobeoftherotating
antenna,evenwhenflyinginstrongsignalneartheinterrogatingsite.Longrangeradarinstallations,the
kindCenteruses,typicallyalternateA,C,A,C,onaonetooneratio.ASRusuallylookslikethis:A,A,C,
A,A,C,withtwosquawkrequestsforeachaltitudeinterrogation.

Figure2

Theoutputofthetransponderisonthefrequencyof1090Mhz.Pulsepositionandtimingspecsareshown
inFigure3.TheSPIpulseispresentonlywhentheIdentbuttonhasbeenpressed,andlastsabout10
seconds.

Figure3

ThereisnodifferencebetweenaModeAandModeCreply.IfaModeAinterrogationisissued,aModeA
replyisexpected,andthepulseswillbedecodedthatway.Likewise,ifaModeCrequestismade,thedata
receivedfromtheaircraftwillbecalculatedasaltitude.Thisworkswellwithonlyonegroundstation,but
withseveralstationsinterrogatingthesameaircraft,mistakescananddooccur.
TheModeCdataispressurealtitude,i.e.,setto29.92".Thisisequallytruewhetheryouareusingablind
encoder,oranencodingaltimeter.(Ifitweren'tso,thecontrollerwouldhavetoknowwhattypeofencoder
youareusing.)Usuallytherewillbeasubstantialdifferencebetweenpressurealtitudeandthereading
shownonthealtimeter.Oftenhundredsoffeet.(Hint:Turnyourbarometricadjustknobonyouraltimeter
fromoneendtotheother,andseehowmuchdifferenceitmakesinthealtitudereading.Onmost
altimeters,it'sabout2700ft.)
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Thegroundequipmentautomaticallyaddsthenecessarybarometriccorrection,accordingtothelocal
pressure.Thecontrollerseesthesamereadingonhisscopethatthepilotseesonthealtimeter,ifbothare
usingthesamebarometricsetting.Itispossible,indeedlikely,thatanotherATCfacilityisindicatingthis
aircraftatadifferentaltitude,sincethebarometricpressurevariesfromonelocationtoanother.
Eachaltitudecodehasanequivalentsquawkcode.Thelistofaltitudecodesshowshowthatsamedata
woulddecodeasasquawkratherthanaltitude.Buteachsquawkcodedoesnotnecessarilyhavean
equivalentaltitude.Thereare4096squawkcodesbutonly1280altitudecodes,oneforeach100foot
incrementfrom1200to126,700ft.
Whydothealtitudesgoallthewaydowntoanegative1200ft?It'sthebarometricthingagain.Ifyouare
physicallylocatedatsealevelonadaywithpressureabove29.92,yourencoderwillbeputtingoutan
altitude(pressurealtitude)belowzero.Toaccommodatethepossiblehighpressures,therangegoesdown
to1200.
Altitudeencodersswitchfromonecodetothenextnominallyatthe50footpoint.Thusthecodeshould
indicate1000ft.atanyheightfrom950to1050ft.,pressurealtitude.Butdon'tdependonit,the
specificationsaresomewhatloose.
Butintherealworld,whendoestheencoderswitch?Thisisaquestionofpracticalimportancetothepilot,
becauseitcanmakethedifferencebetweenaviolationornot.Theanswerisn'tsimple.Encodersswitch
whentheyfeellikeit.Iftheencoderwasperfect(noneare)andtemperatureandhumidityandgravityand
barometricpressurewerestandard(theyneverare)andtherewerenovibrationorstaticsystemerror(andif
youbelieveinSantaClauseandtheEasterBunny),thentheencoderwillswitchasstatedabove,atthe50ft
point.Butconsiderjustonevariable,barometricpressure.Ifitwas29.93,justoneonehundredthofaninch
abovestandard,theencoderwouldswitchatthe40ftpoint(1040,1140,1240etc).At29.96,theencoder
wouldswitchnearthe10ftpoint,andat29.97reportedaltitudewouldswitchattheassignedaltitude.
Soyoucanseethatifyouareassigned6000ft,forexample,yourencoderwouldbejumpingupanddown
between5900and6000,whileyouarecruisingsteadyatyourassignedaltitude.Thisisonereasonwhyit's
importanttohaveareadout,soyoucanseewhatyourequipmentisreportingtoATC.
Thealtitudecodingpatternwasdevelopedwhenmechanicalencodersweretheonlywaytodigitizethe
data.Itissomewhatbassackwards,withD2asthemostsignificantbit,followedwithD4,A1,A2,A4,B1,
B2,B4,inagraycodethatchangesevery500feet.TheleastsignificantdigitisC,withC1,C2,C4
followingarecycliccodedifferentfromthegraypattern.Notethatonlyonebitchangesforeachincrement
ofaltitude.BitD1isneverusedandalwaysremainsa"0".Thereare3illegalcombinationsofCbits,000,
101,and111.
OnefurthernoteontheModeCcodes.Transponderdatainputsareinvertedlogic.Alogic"1"isground,
whilea"0"isallowedtofloattosomepositivevoltage,dependingontheparticulartranspondermodel.To
indicateanaltitudeof3500ft.,forinstanceagroundisplacedonA4,B1,B4andC2.

Figure4

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TableofModeAandModeCEncoderData
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