That’s a great summary jwoolard. Is it true that new Mode C is illegal even in gliders?
Actually what I would do is a DIY Mode C installation, for maybe £500. Way better than nothing. Of course it depends on where one flies. Around a gliding site, probably not useful. Cross country, it would be effective.
Mid-airs GA-glider are rare/nonexistent but you never know how close you got. I got one near Shoreham a few months ago. He was very close. Under me and climbing fast. But he was Mode C.
jwoolard wrote:
Having thoroughly confused myself reading all this, I’ve put together a quick summary of the options here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Q_SplMSdkDMZDUztjH7rUj0VnE3GobQxIegmLeiP57Y/edit?usp=sharing
Cool. I still wonder about the safety effect of being able to “see” everyone though. There has been done research on birds flying in flocks. A flock can consist of several thousand birds. They never collide, and they fly in an organized fashion, perfect synchronization. The way they do it is that each bird keep track of up to seven of the closest other birds. Mode S and ADSB is for the ATC. For separation in GA, I think good look out and discipline and correct radio procedures is a better way. On the other hand, it could be combined with these HUD/glasses thing (don’t remember the name, so can’t google it 
)
I had a look at your spreadsheet, good summary. I think you are aware, but just to reiterate for the forum, Powerflarm has a little dipole antenna (can be mounted internally) which displays ADSB targets. You can connect ADSB out from your Powerflarm with a twisted pair flagged as a non certified source- there is a tag in the menu of your Trig transponder to show this. If you have a certified GPS receiver you can connect this up to your transponder and radiate proper ADSB out but this is nothing to do with Flarm. (But not sure if there is some avionics paperwork “sign off” problem doing this). Then you would have ADSB in and out.
Interestingly on my trip a few days ago from the Midlands straight down south at approx 4,000 feet my Powerflarm seemed more useful than normal. No gliders on that trip but two of the people radiating direction and height info were GA type aircraft so I am not sure if people are slowly connecting Garmin navigators to their transponder or they also had Powerflarm. (Most mode S I see are normally Easyjet , small biz jets and brand new GA types).
I have the butterfly wi-fi connect so see traffic on Sky Demon but a dedicated panel mounted display (high up) is 100% essential.
Most mode S I see are normally Easyjet , small biz jets and brand new GA types
I think you are seeing ADS-B emissions, not Mode S. Does any GA product see Mode S? Only an Avidyne TAS box wired via RS232 to an old Avidyne MFD and then you can see tail numbers (for N-regs only) and these probably come from the 24-bit Mode S ID.
Yes sorry – I am definitely seeing ADS-B from Easyjet etc not mode S
I would like to update my observations running a Powerflarm Core. I have a dedicated panel mounted display and also Butterfly Connect (Wi-Fi) to Sky Demon.
It seems that more and more GA are connecting ADSB out. I assume as people are putting in modern Navigators, their avionics shops are connecting a couple of wires to their Transponders and are radiating ADSB out.
In the South of England VFR below 4,000 feet it is always busy. This week during my last two flights I was warned about 3 potential conflicts from ATC (all within 1 Nm) All three were displayed by Powerflarm. I saw only one of those Aircraft but in all cases there was a decent vertical separation between us.
Over the last 3 years since it was fitted, my impression is it seems to be becoming more useful.
Useful table by jwoolard.
On the assumption that both parties can avoid a collision, we only “need” one party to detect the other. The combination of ADSB-out and PAW seems to cover that requirement at little cost… except for the 80%(?) of GA which is Mode A or non-transponding.
But I guess we can avoid most of them by flying in or above cloud, or in controlled airspace.
In the UK you can avoid nearly all of them by flying in IMC or above cloud, and most of them by flying above about 3000ft
Outside UK, you can have a lot of traffic, even above noosebleed altitude.
That target 800ft above me was an A320.
How do you get FLARM showing on a GNS box?
Was the A320 radiating FLARM?
