Drake Electronics Limited
7400 Beach Drive
Cambridge Research Park
Cambridgeshire, CB5 9TP

Tel: +44 (0) 1223 815000
Fax: +44 (0)1223 815099
Web: www.drake-uk.com

Drake 24 x 7 User Support
For technical assistance please call:
Tel: +49 40 6688 4040
www.drake-uk.com/Support.asp

THE COMPANY

For over two decades, Drake Electronics have been leading the field in the development and manufacture of high performance digital voice communications systems, to a diverse range of industries that include Air Traffic Control, broadcast and live voice networks.

Operating from its international headquarters in Cambridge, Drake is part of a multinational group of companies quoted on the London Stock Exchange.

Drake's International Headquarters in Cambridge, U.K

With the ability to provide system configurations on local and wide area network schemes, Drake equipment continues to be installed in environments that require instantaneous, on-demand communications, with minimum user fatigue and CD quality audio performance.

Today all products are manufactured to the internationally accredited ISO 9001:2000 quality standards and have the proven reliability to meet the high demands of modern voice communications requirements.

SYSTEMS

Drake’s state-of-the-art Voice Communications System (VCS) provides a fully digital, non-blocking system architecture allowing identical technology to be utilised in both large and small system installation.

With its modular design, the system supports many features including mixed outputs, multi listening capabilities (including split-ear operation) and multi-channel recording. This flexibility ensures that economic solutions can be provided for all requirements from small airports, through large single sites to nationally networked operations.

Drake’s 4000 Series II VCS

The fully redundant power supplies, processor and switching elements ensure that fail-safe operation is maintained at all times, whilst the built-in-test (BIT) and monitoring facility detects failures in the redundant system before vital communications are affected. If any fault does occur, Drake system assemblies are “hot-pluggable” and can be replaced quickly and easily without any disruption to communications.

Interfacing to external equipment is available via a wide range of standard interfaces that include DTMF telephones, ISDN, X.21, radio and fibre optics, as well as configurable touch screens and push button keypanels.

With Windows^® based programming available for both operational and system administration functions, a fully flexible software interface permits a high level of system integration.

COMMUNICATIONS AT WORK

Safe and reliable operations are the primary requirements for ATC communication installations. Operators spend a large amount of time in a demanding and arduous environment, putting extreme pressure on the equipment used.

With this in mind, DFS (Deutsche Flugsicherung), the German Air Traffic Control Authority who have the largest en-route air traffic centre in continental Europe, chose Drake to provide a country-wide voice communications solution.

The project required Drake to supply a network of systems serving 22 major airports in Germany. Three Area Control Centres (ACCs), each with a number of linked communications towers required high quality, on demand network connections.

Drake provided DFS with a flexible solution that gave the operators a seamless connection between systems at the push of a button.