I regularly receive warnings of traffic close by, either above, or below, and rarely see anything. I have switched off the 3D mode and configured everything to the shortest range possible but I have to admit, I am also losing faith in the equipment. I really appreciate the efforts of everyone involved in its' development but so far I am yet to be convinced!
Hi Andy,
What type of warnings are you talking about here - on-screen or audio?
As a long term PilotAware Tester and co-developer of the original detection and trigger levels for ‘Pure’ Mode-S and Mode-C, I can assure you that the system generally works extremely effectively, provided the unit is correctly installed (with antennas having a good view of the surrounding sky) and filters are set appropriately in both PilotAware and the associated display system.
For known position targets (P3i, ADSB or FLARM / Mode-S/3D via OGN-R Uplink) received Aircraft
will be visible on screen within the limits set in your Nav System /EFB. You should note that the known position traffic filters in PilotAware are designed for use only with EFBs which don’t have their own horizontal or vertical filters. For this type of traffic, you need to leave the filters in PilotAware ‘Wide Open’ and use the filters in your Nav System to determine what Traffic you see / hear, though I would urge you to get used to the system(s) with fairly wide open filters, then restrict reported traffic later when you are comfortable with the system performance.
For Bearingless (Pure Mode-C or Mode-S) Traffic, you need to set the Mode-CS Range in PilotAware. For general use, I recommend Short or Medium Range. If you set this Range too tight, you may not in fact get warnings at all until it too late. Bearingless Target display is BTW ‘Off’ by default in Sky Demon.
The one exception to this is when receiving Bearingless Mode-S alerts from Commercial Traffic using high-power Mode-S transponders (when you are outside the range of OGN-R Ground Stations). Because these signals are so strong, they trigger bearingless alert warnings when the aircraft can be still well outside visual range. Unfortunately, there is very little we can do about this, though you will fairly quickly recognise the unique ‘signature’ which results in an extremely rapid progress from ‘Green to Amber to Red’ or even straight to ‘Red’ with no preliminary warning. The same applies to the associated ‘Traffic Notice / Traffic Alert / Traffic Danger’ audio alerts. I suspect this may be what you are experiencing.
Please let me know if this helps.
Best Regards
Peter
