I'm a student at an aviation college and I'm doing a presentation on ACARS. I've searched far and wide for technical info on the inner workings of ACARS (such as precisely which scheme is used to encode text as audio) and slightly less technical information, such as what the heck ACARS modes are used for.

Although I've turned up a lot of general information on the internet, I can't seem to find (m)any resources (legitimate or otherwise) that tell me what I need to know. I've used interlibrary loan to request a copy of the ATA Spec 100 (from guess which university), but who knows if it will get here in time for my report. The 3 institutions with a copy of Ed Flynn's "Understanding ACARS" won't lend them to me via ILL. I wouldn't mind taking a look at the ARINC standards relating to ACARS, but I don't have the hundreds (thousands?) of dollars to buy them. Any idea how I can get my hands on these documents, or other good, technical info (in less than 10 days)?

Any help would be appreciated, including firsthand knowledge from people who happen to know things.

Thanks!

 

Lots of luck with the pilot crowd. They know how to use them, not how they work, especially at the level of technical detail you seek. Plus, since security message can be sent by ACARS, you may find you are up against a stone wall.

 

MOD INPUT: On the off chance that anyone knows this info, please be careful with anything which has potential security ramifications.

Basic modes is one thing, but lets not discuss messaging or inner workings.

 

You might be able to get some basic information from this company...

Spectralux™ | Dlink+

 

I mean, discussing basic chemistry has potential security ramifications...I'm only asking for information (or pointers to it) which is publicly available (but happens to be hard to find)