Ghost traffic (ME) - iFly GPS for Android - iFly EFB

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HomeHomeDiscussionsDiscussionsiFly GPS for An...iFly GPS for An...Ghost traffic (ME)Ghost traffic (ME)
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4/14/2016 2:14 PM
 
I'm running iFlyGPS for android on a Samsung Galaxy Tab A and a dual tuner Stratux with AHRS/GPS. No ADS-B out.

The other day, I was doing some steep turns a few miles south of the airport, when all off a sudden I got a traffic alert 5 O'Clock 60Ft same altitude. Puckered like mad, dropped 2000ft/min and turned to look, but no one was there. When I realized it was following my flight path by 50-500 ft, I realized it was me.

Now there has been a lot more ADS-B out traffic in the area lately, and I'd guess that I was in someone's hockey puck, with my transponder on alt squawking 1200. I do have ghost traffic filtering enabled and the ability to add my own identifier to the stratux feed, BUT, since it's only mode c reporting, there's not really any way to tell iFly it's me.

It's not really a deal breaker, but I would find it pretty distracting if it were to pop up in the pattern. Is there anyway to filter it more aggressively, or could iFly's filtering be tweaked to minimize this issue?
 
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4/14/2016 4:01 PM
 

The "Ghost Filtering" uses an algorithm to exclude yourself, "the ghost" from the traffic screen.

This is achieved by trending your aircraft speed, direction, altitude, etc and then comparing it to that nearby traffic target. When at cruise on a cross-country, this filtering works well. However, when you start making steep turns or aggressive altitude changes, the algorithm starts to break apart and can prompt a traffic alert.

Being that you do not have ADS-B out, it's somewhat laggy as we are trying to filter your Mode C or Mode S target. We are also looking at additional ways to filter based on an aircraft number, ICAO, etc, but this is limited when an ADS-B Out is not present.

Currently, I believe we are much more aggressive on Ghost Filtering or reducing Traffic Alerts when inside the Traffic Pattern. Otherwise it would be going off all the time. We are continuing to work with pilots and ADS-B partners to reduce these "known" ghosting issue. It's inherent to the ADS-B system, at least unit more have ADS-B out and ATC starts using ADS-B as the primary report. I hope this helps.


Shane Woodson
Vice President | Adventure Pilot LLC.
 
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4/14/2016 10:48 PM
 
Well, I was out of the pattern AND doing some steep turns, so that would make more sense. I'll continue testing, and assuming it doesn't happen when I'm on a real flight with a destination, that should be fine.

I agree there is no way to identify my traffic other than position trend without ads-b out, I just thought that at the proximities it showed me to... well, me, it seems to be a little strict. Thanks.
 
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4/15/2016 5:51 AM
 

If you'd like to help improve iFly GPS, please do the following. Each time, before you fly, do this:

Menu => About => Connected Devices => Wireless Device => ADSB Logging (check the box).

Then go fly and try to reproduce the issue (steep turns, climbs, etc). One you reproduce the faulty Traffic alert, upon landing and connecting to the internet, do "Menu => About => Send Bug Report => Select Log => then select "AdsbRaw.bin" file.

Once you do this, I'll be able to reproduce your entire flight from that log file, and reproduce the faulty alert here at my desk, and hopefully find an adequate remedy for this issue.


Brian Knox, Sr Software Engineer
 
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4/15/2016 8:13 AM
 
I think the question is what discrete aircraft identifying information does the FAA ground station transmit back to ADS-B in for mode C traffic? If there is some identifying information such as the transponder Mode S Code (base 16 / hex), you could add a way to enter that into IFly and use it as a filter.
 
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