Hi Peter Thanks for your post
Firstly let me answer your points in turn.
The last update was around 10 months ago and, to be honest, I haven't been able to use some of the new features (the multilateration doesn't seem to work for me in the Far SW,
I notice that from earlier posts you are based at Dunkswell EGTU. The SW is one of the least serviced areas by the ground network although the guys recently installed a great site at Western Zoyland.
The OGN-R site at EGTU has been up and down since the unfortunate death of Chris Parsons, who maintained the system. So perhaps when you went flying and couldn't see the gliders it was possibly because it was down at the time.
When flying you can check if you are in-range of an OGN Station as this will be shown on the top right-hand side of the PilotAware RADAR screen. Obviously if you are not in range then you will not see gliders nor Mode-S 3D.
It would be great if we had more sites in the SW such as Bodmin, Perranporth, Truro or even on folks houses to improve the network range. All offers gratefully accepted.
I rarely see Mode C traffic, even when I am flying alongside them. I seem only to pick up Mode S, ADSB and PAW.
There is no reason why you should See Mode-S and not Mode-C as a bearing-less target. Both need to be interrogated by 1030MHz and this may not happen at low levels in remote areas. There are however considerably less Mode-C than Mode-S transponders installed.
SD does produce more regular updates and their version history now shows forthcoming developments. Is this a practical thing for PAW to do?
SD has more resources than PilotAware but I will produce an update to let you know what we are up to which is considerable.
Finally, could the PAW team bring us up to speed as to what they are working on and the direction of travel of PAW, as far as they can.
Yes I will put it in the to-do list.
Regards
Keith