Enabling Traffic on an Advanced Flight Systems EFIS

[AndrewButler]

The "Traffic" audio alert was coming from the EFIS. I could only disable it by turning off the GDL90 Tx on the PAW.

The EFIS was alerting to Traffic at a time when only ONE traffic item was being picked up by the PAW, a C/S Transponder. See here:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/bEdAAyG78d6aCtYK7

Question 1: Are C/S transponder traffic contacts transmitted in the GLD90 Tx data stream?
Question 2: If yes, how can they be filtered out of this stream or would using one of the other Tx settings do this by default?

If the answer to Question 1 is yes, I suspect this C/S traffic data arriving at the EFIS may be the cause of the NULL traffic being displayed under the aircraft icon.

See full transcript of query to Advanced Flight Systems below.

Thanks again for your help.

Andrew.
RV7
EI-EEO

----------------------------

ADSB Nuisance audio "Traffic" warnings
Hello,

I have this week hardwired a PilotAware (https://www.pilotaware.com/) unit into EI-EEO. It has ADSB traffic reception amongst its many capabilities. I have successfully connected it to the EFIS using one of the serial ports set to ADSB 115k.

The EFIS picks up the PilotAware Traffic and displays it correctly. Only issue is that it incessantly reports an audio "Traffic" warning - this may be because the EFIS is receiving traffic that has no bearing or range data (raw Mode C/S Transponder signals). See real example here that the EFIS was reporting as "Traffic". This was the only traffic the PilotAware was picking up at the time, and the EFIS was reporting an audio "Traffic" alert. The only way to stop the "Traffic" alert was to break the Tx GDL90 data stream from PilotAware.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/bEdAAyG78d6aCtYK7

Q1. Is there a way to filter the audio "Traffic" warning for this scenario?
Q2. If I cannot filter, can I disable the warning, or outright delete the audio file?

Secondly and related, on the EFIS I see some NULL data showing up behind the self yellow aircraft ICON. See below photo for a maxed zoom of what it looks like. In this maxed zoom level, the Yellow Circle and two sets of noughts are not stationary, they are moving forward slightly in a cyclical manner, starting from behind/underneath the aircraft icon every three seconds or so.
Could this NULL traffic data be caused by traffic data records received that have null fields for bearing and range? i.e. the Mode S traffic shown above?

https://photos.app.goo.gl/rC1yYnUPxN4WFiaV9

Q3.  Is there a way to filter this out, as I am about to resize my aircraft ICON (make it smaller), and this NULL traffic signal around it will be a distraction.

I am in contact with PilotAware about this to see if it does indeed Tx all Traffic types as shown above and if so, whether it can be filtered in some fashion.

The reason I am going to all this trouble is that AFS is now supporting Airmate mapping/charts & plates and I have just purchased a subscription from them - though I am having issues with this too that Ken Chard is working directly with Airmate. Another topic

Thank you for your help,

Andrew.
RV 7
EI-EEO

[PaulSS]

If it's anything like the Dynon SkyView, I am 99% sure I only get a 'Traffic' visual warning when it sees Mode C (possibly Mode S). I have got traffic warning audio switched off, as I get that from SkyDemon via Bluetooth iPad to headset.

I am pretty certain I don't get a 'Traffic' banner when it sees ASDB/PilotAware traffic. In other words, positional traffic good, non-positional traffic bad.

You could reduce your Mode C/S filters in your PAW or, of course, you could set it so it doesn't show non-positional traffic. This way the traffic will not get passed (or is it parsed......I don't know the jargon) to your EFIS and will, therefore, not appear on the EFIS and will not set off any warnings.

You might be able to see the two targets on the map below. One is Sandown's ATOM station and the other is ADSB/PAW. Note there is no 'Traffic' banner. The same thing on the PFD but I can't attach that because of the daft photo size restriction.

[steveu]

A couple of daft questions:

Have you got a transponder? If so, can you check that you have set the ICAO code correctly in both the PAW and the transponder. If the code does not tally in them both there'll an aircraft constantly warning close by...

For a mode S transponder, it is not enough to set the call sign - the ICAO code must also be set. Can't remember what to do for mode C.

Also, are you sure you are not flying with SafeSky or another Internet based form of EC on your phone? If you are, you'll get a ghost aircraft all the time.

Paul makes some very good points about Mode C/S notifications. PilotAware advises you do not turn on the Mode C/S alerts without reading through the detailed briefing to ensure you are ready for the situation it will put you in.

In my previous post I suggested how you could limit the amount of traffic alerts, by changing the ranges in the PAW radar screen. As Paul says, you can bin all Mode C/S alerts by looking in the config page. You will need to read the Mode C/S briefing page.

It's here:

The PilotAware Mode-S/3D October 2020

[PaulSS]

Also, are you sure you are not flying with SafeSky or another Internet based form of EC on your phone? If you are, you'll get a ghost aircraft all the time.

Very good point. We had a EuroFOX customer who did exactly that. It took ages to figure out why he was chasing his own tail, because all of his settings etc were spot on. It's only when he mentioned a new product he'd heard about that the lightbulb came on.