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KMD 550/850 Pilot's Guide
35
Rev 7 Sep/2005
WX-500 STORMSCOPE
®
OPERATION
INTRODUCTION
The Bendix/King KMD 550/850 is capable of being interfaced to an L3
WX-500 Stormscope
®
Series II Weather Mapping Sensor. The WX-500
detects electrical discharges associated with thunderstorms within a 200
nm radius of the aircraft. The information is then sent to the KMD
550/850 and will display the location of the thunderstorms both on the
map displays and on a dedicated Stormscope
®
display.
For a detailed description of the WX-500 and how to interpret the light-
ning display and a list of error codes, please reference the WX-500
Stormscope
®
User’s Guide.
FUNCTIONAL DESCRIPTION
The antenna detects the electric and magnetic fields generated by intra-
cloud, inter-cloud, or cloud-to-ground electrical discharges that occur
within a 200 nm radius of the aircraft and sends the resulting "discharge
signals" to the processor. The processor digitizes, analyzes, and con-
verts the discharge signals into range and bearing data then stores the
data in memory. The WX-500 processor then communicates this infor-
mation to the KMD 550/850 as 'strikes' and 'cells'. The WX-500 updates
the KMD 550/850 every two seconds.
OPERATION
As mentioned earlier, the WX-500 is controlled through the KMD
550/850. The focus on this section is to provide both background infor-
mation and a more detailed explanation of the operating procedures.
The following text assumes you have both the WX-500 and the KMD
550/850 switched on and that you have selected the Stormscope
®
dis-
play using the WX Function Select Key on the KMD 550/850.
SELECTING STORMSCOPE
®
OR WEATHER RADAR
Pressing the WX Function Select Key will toggle between Stormscope
®
and/or Weather Radar, depending on available options.
The weather radar function is only available in the KMD
850. For operation of the weather radar, see the sepa-
rate section on weather radar operation if provided.
WX-500 Stormscope
®
Operation
KMD 550-850 PG R8 3/6/07 11:22 AM Page 35