Hi Smaragd,
That is certainly the 'obvious' conclusion from what has been reported, though as Alan has been using Vector for some time I had ruled that out as unlikely - at least until I had done some more extensive tests.
I also received the following by email yesterday from another 'Non-PilotAware' Trig and PowerFlarm user who advised...
Peter,
I have adsb out via a trig and power Flarm with no PAW fitted.
Hex code 40xxxx
Perhaps you can use mine as a comparison. I am definitely showing more Flarm hits, 41,000 as opposed to adsb 8,000 hits over five days.
I have just run checks on both the Database and Vector for this second aircraft, with the same end result - Lots of Flarm and ADSB Data (as expected), but again NO PilotAware data (as no PilotAware fitted to the aircraft).
I attach the (again anonymised) Vector reports from this second aircraft for comparison (I didn't post the combined one but the result was the same).
Bearing in mind that the principal purpose of Vector is
not to report long range transmission, but to help identify obvious gaps in the aircrafts' transmission pattern due to obscuration or poor antenna placement, the fact that Vector has reported a higher level of Flarm contacts is not unusual. This is primarily due to two factors - firstly, the Flarm receivers on the ATOM Stations are using higher gain antennas, and usually more sensitive receivers than the ADSB side and secondly, to avoid swamping our server drives with ADSB data from high power transmissions, we have set a range limit for ADSB reporting at a maximum of 60Km - while Flarm data continues to be received (and stored and reported) from greater range where this is the case - as demonstrated by the coverage charts.
Alanr,
Although I can't completely rule out any possibility that there may have been a 'glitch' in the system when you tried to carry out your recent Vector analysis, I hope you can now accept my explanations as to why in my opinion Vector couldn't have
reported that you were receiving PilotAware reports via your PowerFLARM Fusion (even if for some reason you were - see below) and that Vector is working as intended.
I am of course aware that due to ongoing developments, the OGN Network
can now receive and display PilotAware Equipped Aircraft - as can Stratux Flarm (Europe Edition) - due to upgrades to their receiver software. The Flarm side of our ATOM software also incorporates the same provision (though we had to disable the PilotAware Reporting function from the OGN side of ATOM as it was misreporting the ATOM transmitters as aircraft). Under our agreement with the OGN we send all our Flarm / OGN data on to the OGN servers to supplement their own receivers, though
we don't use OGN data from the OGN Network for our rebroadcasts as we use the data directly received by our own ATOM Stations. OGN data
is however used by other systems such as the 'SafeSky' App to advise their users of the presence of Flarm, OGN Tracker, Fanet and PilotAware aircraft - so this is a potential source of PilotAware aircraft positions, which is why I asked if anyone in the plane might have been running SafeSky.
Edit: Sorry, just realised I hadn't asked you this - I must have got mixed up with another thread
. It is of course possible that Flarm have developed their software to add PilotAware (or SafeSky) reception, though I am not aware of this. If you send me your Flarm ID, (assuming it is different from your ICAO Hex) I can also check for that on our database and if you have any screenshots or other evidence to show that Vector (or your Flarm Tool) is reporting you
receiving PilotAware via your PowerFLARM Fusion, I would be very interested in seeing them.
Best Regards
Peter