Affordable ADS-B out

[dstclair]

Or if you've not invested in an ADS-B In device you could go with the Skyguard transceiver (In and Out) for $1495, provided you like WingX or iFly.

[Flocker]

I ordered the SkyGuard ADS-B out transmitter last night. I guess I am a gadget freak, but this should be worth the money.

Looking forward to the PIREP on this. Where do you plan to put it in the 162?

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[drseti]

For those flying with the Bendix King KT-76A or Kt-76C mode A/C transponders, one ADS-B upgrade path (which I am considering) is the KT-74. This is a certified Mode S transponder which meets the 2020 ADS-B out mandate. It's not cheap ($3000), but Honeywell (they now own Bendix King) is offering a $300 to $500 trade-in. Best part is they are a plug-and-play, slide-in replacement for the 76, so installation is trivial. I've asked Evektor for an LoA for my SportStar, and they say it's on the way. Hopefully, since no recabling or new tray is required, other LSA manufacturers will approve such LoAs as well.

The only remaining issue for 2020 compliance is hooking the transponder up to a certified WAAS GPS. None of the portables we all use will satisfy the legal requirement, though perhaps FAA will approve them before 2020 gets here.

Along similar lines, anyone using the AmeriKing AK-450 121.5 ELT and wanting to upgrade to 406 digital should consider the AmeriKing AK-451. Same size, same tray, same RF cable and wiring harness. You do need to swap out the antenna and panel-mounted remote, but again, an easy swap. And Evektor has said they'll give me an LoA for that. The unit is $575 at Aircraft Spruce, including remote and antenna.

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[dstclair]

The applications I'm familiar with (Foreflight, iFly and Garmin) have algorithms that filter your own aircraft out based on knowing your own position and vector. I would think all the apps would have something similar since even without ADS-B out you could receive your Mode C position back from the ground station.

[dstclair]

I received my Skyguard ADS-B out transmitter today. I drove around a little in my car to play with it with my Dual XGPS170 receiver and Nexus 7 running Naviator. Of course, I was not receiving any ground stations, but I was seeing my own ADS-B out signal and getting traffic warnings as a result for the first 5 minutes or so. I am trying to find out if this is normal or not.

Did you set the ICAO address?

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[dstclair]

No, not yet. I receive my IPhone 4 Friday. I was hoping that was the reason, but since my car doesn't have a transponder, I didn't know if that was a factor or not.

I believe it is based on my experience with the Garmin 795/GDL-39. My own plane showed up as traffic on the ground and in the air on my first test flight. I didn't check the N-number fields ICAO code until I was airborne and didn't have the ICAO code handy but both were defaulted to null values. I set these correctly for my next flight and all worked as expected.

BTW -- you can get the ICAO Hex code from the n-number FAA registry sight (Mode S Transponder field).

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[Merlinspop]

Something I learned last night (interesting threads often send me off to research things, then I can't stop) about ADS-B Out.

Quoting the source (in this case the Wikipedia entry for ADS-B):

The ICAO 24-bit transponder code specifically assigned to each aircraft will allow monitoring of that aircraft when within the service volumes of the Mode-S/ADS-B system. Unlike the Mode A/C transponders, there is no code "1200"/"7000", which offers casual anonymity. Mode-S/ADS-B identifies the aircraft uniquely among all in the world, in a similar fashion as a MAC number for an Ethernet card or the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) of a GSM phone. However, the FAA is allowing UAT-equipped aircraft to utilize a random self-assigned temporary ICAO address in conjunction with the use of beacon code 1200. 1090ES equipped aircraft using ADS-B will not have this option.

Not that it matters to me because as statement points out, my phone and iPad are pinging out their unique identifier anyway.

I'm hoping that the 2020 mandate doesn't get pushed back. It would be nice, though, if VFR-only light aircraft were allowed to use non-certified, WAAS-enabled position sources. I know there are certain considerations that make this unlikely (integrity monitoring, etc).

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[drseti]

It would be nice, though, if VFR-only light aircraft were allowed to use non-certified, WAAS-enabled position sources.

If this isn't allowed, come 2019 every SLSA manufacturer is going to besieged with LoA requests for installation of compliant GPSs. At that point, I could make real money opening up an avionics shop!

[dstclair]

I hold out hope that the 2015 Small Aircraft Revitalization Act may relax some of these regs. I'm also under the impression that some avionics manufacturers are providing input such that a non-certified WAAS GPS may be used as a position source for VFR flight.

Also, Skyguard is in the process of testing their system, which includes a $32 WAAS GPS, and providing results to the FAA for ADS-B certification. It will be interesting to see what a $975 complete certified solution would have on the market.