Hobbies And Interests
Purpose
In avionics, transponders are used to let air traffic control (ATC) locate and identify aircraft. It is important for a transponder to be working correctly so that the information ATC receives about your altitude is accurate, and ATC can effectively prevent air collisions.
Federal Aviation Regulation
Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) 91.413 designates that transponders in aircraft must tested every two years.
Certification
Requirements for transponder certification include the radio frequency must be between 1087 and 1093 megahertz, the transponder must respond to less than 1 percent of interrogations sent to other aircraft, and the peak output power must be within the specifications for the class of transponder.
Training
Transponder certification training courses are available for people interested in performing the inspections as a profession. Courses cost between $199 and $349 as of January 2011 and cover regulatory review and step-by-step transponder inspection training.