There are now several varieties of ADS-B available for GA aircraft and pilots. These are
• 1090 MHz ADS-B-in and ADS-B-out. This is “classical” ADS-B, as used by commercial air transport but now also being trialled in the Project EVA consisting of NATS, AOPA, Funke, and Trig, in the form of the LPAT – Low Power ADS-B Transceiver. (EVA stands for Enhanced Visibility by ADS-B.)
• Power FLARM. Although mainly used by glider pilots, it can be carried in any GA aircraft.
• Pilot Aware. A more recent development aiming mainly at usage by lower end GA aircraft
Bob,
It's very creditable for the CAA, NATS, etc. to 'Champion' the use of ADS-B on 1090Mhz, after all it's a universally accepted protocol, which has been in use by UK and Worldwide commercial interests for some time. Unfortunately, until suitable equipment for the transmission
and reception of 1090Mhz ADS-B becomes commercially
available in the UK
at a realistic price and in a manner which will allow 1090Mhz ADS-B to be received, displayed and acted on universally by all UK aircraft and Air Traffic Control Units the considerable reluctance already exhibited by a major proportion of the broader UKGA community to spending the kind of money currently charged for straight Mode-S Transponders, let alone ADS-B equipment, will in my opinion continue.
Despite flying a relatively modest flexwing microlight safely for over 8 years, including a trip in my early days from my home base in Scotland to the Pyrenees, I finally decided last year to spend a significant amount of money in relation to the value of my aircraft on a Mode-S transponder, simply to make my aircraft 'visible' to ATC,
knowing that most other UK aircraft would still be unable to see me and that I would still be unable to (electronically) 'see' any of them.
I then heard about the NATS Non-Certified ADS-B trial, which for a modest sum would, I was told, increase the visibility of my aircraft to other aircraft, including commercial TCAS, and to ATC, so decided to spend even more money to 'enhance' my Mode-S transponder to transmit ADS-B out.
Imagine my disappointment when I found that:-
a) Not living in the South of England, I was unable to get my installation verified and therefore could not get it approved - thus rendering the whole exercise pretty futile.
b)The insistence by the CAA and NATS that such a system must transmit a System Design Assurance (SDA) and System Integrity Level (SIL) of
ZERO, effectively ensures that my expensive ADS-B out signal
will apparently be completely disregarded by ATC and commercial aircraft TCAS systems. making it at that point in time viewable by the silent mass of FlightRadar 24 'geeks',
but not by other aircraft (no insult whatsoever intended to FlightRadar 24 or its users - other ADS-B viewing systems - with similar delays and gaps in the receipt of the received signals - and users - are, as they say, available).
c) NATS can apparently only receive ADS-B in the South of England, and reportedly in any case
do not currently allow it to be utilised (at least officially) by any UK ATC units - not that they would be allowed to see my SDA/SIL '0' signals anyway.d) With the exception of PowerFlarm and a very small range of other receivers - most of which have had an extremely small take-up in relation to the total number of UK aircraft - no other UK aircraft would be able to see me either.
So, other than to prove to the CAA that connecting a non-certified GPS to a certified transponder provides reliable positional information, can someone please explain what the point of the whole ADS-B TRIAL exercise was!
My next move in an attempt to salvage something from the whole mess and allow me to see all these 1090Mhz ADS-B Out (and Mode-S) equipped aircraft, was to buy myself a 'PowerFlarm', which with its various accessories cost even more than my Mode-S / ADS-B out transponder. Unfortunately, despite continuing attempts over almost 10 months, including a replacement core unit and a trip by the second unit back to Germany, it steadfastly refused to talk to my navigation display, so was unceremoniously returned for a refund.
Then finally, I came across...
• Pilot Aware. A more recent development aiming mainly at usage by lower end GA aircraft
(Not in fact factually accurate - PilotAware is aimed squarely at
all GA aircraft, including light aircraft, helicopters, gyros, fixed and flexwing microlights, SSDR (single seat deregulated) aircraft, gliders, paragliders, balloons and any other aircraft which can't currently see other aircraft because the equipment to allow them to do so is either not yet available, or only available at a price which is significantly beyond most people's pocket.)For not much more than I spent on postage sending PowerFlarm back and forwards to the supplier, PilotAware gives me: -
• Accurate, reliable display of moving 1090Mhz ADS-B Out equipped aircraft on my tablet, integrated to my navigation system of choice, with moving position, relative altitude and track information and associated audio warnings.
• Visual and audio warnings of nearby Mode-S transponder equipped aircraft.
• A simple and reliable method of broadcasting my own aircraft position and altitude and reliably and accurately showing the position, relative altitude and track of similarly equipped aircraft within a realistic range on my navigation device.
And all this available NOW (or at least as soon as the next batch of RF boards arrives from the manufacturer).
Please don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to belittle the efforts of the various groups and individuals working to increase the conspicuity of aircraft using 1090Mhz equipment, but until someone can
actually produce a reliable, readily available and cost effective 1090Mhz receiver system, I for one will continue to rely on PilotAware (as presumably will the estimated 600 people who built their own beta units, the 250+ who have already placed firm orders for kits and the many hundreds who have reportedly expressed interest via the Hardware Site).
Best Regards and good luck with your trials
As Steve says, perhaps making PilotAware 'inclusive' rather than minimizing the PilotAware Development Team's considerable achievements might gain your project more credibility on this forum.
Peter
