ADS-b traffic alerts - iFly Owners Q&A - iFly EFB

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HomeHomeDiscussionsDiscussionsiFly Owners Q&AiFly Owners Q&AADS-b traffic alertsADS-b traffic alerts
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10/12/2012 9:34 AM
 

Correct, the original SkyRadar units used the GDL90, and traffic seems to work when available. The newer units are where they made a change, according to SkyRadar and the "piggy backed traffic". Keep in mind that since this is only an ADS-B Reciever, your traffic will be very limited at best, especially when outside Class B. Your 530 is picking up Transponders, correct, not ADS-B. Also the iFly Traffic is shown when alerted in close proximity, dependend on Collision Settings, not long distance like your 530 or TCAS.

An ADS-B receiver will only pick up from the ground TIS-B station or from an ADS-B out equipped plane. The SkyRadar, even dual band will not give the same coverage of traffic, when outside the Class B or TIS-B broadcast area. ADS-B Traffic is not a complete picture and should not be compared to your 530 or TCAS using transponders. As more aircraft are equipped with ADS-B out (closer to 2020) or your plane is equipped with ADS-B Out, then the traffic picture will be more respectable.

There have also been reports that the TIS-B broadcast signals have be up and down in area. Unfortunately there is no Status page from the FAA to see what is going on. We are in contact with ADS-B makers like SkyRadar, NavWorx, Clarity and others. ADS-B has developed nicely for WX, but is still in it's infancy for Traffic.

With also this said, we are testing the ADS-B with the SkyRadar units as there may be a communication issue or fix needed. Walter will be taking readings from several units, early and newer to see what is going on. More soon.


Shane Woodson
Vice President | Adventure Pilot LLC.
 
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10/12/2012 10:06 AM
 
Shane,

Thanks for the information and I hope you can make the modifications to keep up with the change that Radena put in their new units.

Just for clarity, the airspaces you said that the traffic alerts would work are in the busy airspaces and that is exactly where if is important to know about those alerts. Maybe I'll change my mind after I see how it works in the airplane. Of course, en route alerts are also useful but I don't think that there are many ADSB-Out airplanes flying below the flight levels.

Maybe your next project (requiring a LOT of money) is to develop hardware (and you are basically a software company, right?) that has TCAS, ADSB, and GPS all in one box. Never mind, in 2020, all airplanes operating in the "major" airspaces will be required to use ADSB-Out.

Thanks again,

S. Morgan
 
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10/12/2012 10:22 AM
 

We've entertained this and looking at other partners to develop other hardware with. The issue with putting it all in one box, is the cost goes up and if one piece fails or you want to upgrade, then you are replacing a very expensive "all-in-one" box. If the GPS, ADS-B, AHRS, etc are separate, then it is much more affordable to upgrade one on them. It's unlikely that the AHRS and ADS-B would really need to be upgraded. Making the iFly GPS a much lower cost unit to update from time to time. After all, the iFly is used as the display to show all the functions, making it most important to keep updated. Hope this helps.


Shane Woodson
Vice President | Adventure Pilot LLC.
 
New Post
10/12/2012 12:27 PM
 
Thanks Shane,

I completely understand what you are saying and didn't mean to necessarily compare the traffic being picked up by each unit (ie TIS from my transponder on the 530 vs ADS-B from Skyradar on the iFly). I found it more interesting that the communication from Skyradar had changed and was only suggesting that maybe something along the way has played a factor in why it's gone all together.

It's a shame that ADS-B doesn't broadcast to everyone all the time, regardless of having ADS-B out or not. It certainly would make it safer as we all transition to nextgen in 2020. Until then, it's wait until "out" becomes affordable or even better, start saving now so when your hand is forced it won't be such a impact :-)

As always - thanks for the fantastic support.

Dave

Dave K
 
New Post
10/12/2012 12:54 PM
 

Dave,

No worries. There may be something underlying with the TIS-B coming into ADS-B. There is the 978 and 1090 and several scenarios to look at. We are actually doing some test with Receivers and have a customer that has an Out and he is helping as well. The TIS-B side of the ASD-B is very inconsistent on other devices too. Might just be part of the network or there may be a bug that was introduced. We'll get to the bottom of it.

I completely agree on sending TIS-B out to all. They claim its a bandwidth issue, but I think we all know better. ADS-B Weather jump into the Market and accelerated it, where Traffic features from the TIS-B broadcast is still sorting itself out. It's very vague and changing.

Thanks again for keeping us informed and testing out the new features. There is just allot of information from all over the place on ADS-B Traffic. WX is more ironed out. We couldn't do it without our owners like yourself. Have a great weekend.


Shane Woodson
Vice President | Adventure Pilot LLC.
 
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