Aviathor wrote:
Pretty obvious, isn’t it? To make TCAS and other traffic information and collision avoidance systems useful for manned as well as unmanned aerial vehicles
If it were ADS-B – yes. But it’s not, its radar. At least here in Norway, and I would think, Switzerland, Austria and any other hilly places, flying VFR in G is below the radar for the most part, literally speaking. Avinor is dismantling all their primary radars, the only radars left are SSR at larger airports. I just don’t get it. There will be no radar coverage left. Avinor is installing new systems. This is a ground based system, a combination of something called WAM (Wide Area Multilateration), ADS-B (Automativ Dependent Surceillance-Broadcast) and ARTAS (ATM surveillance tracker and server). It seems to me it will be all ADS-B?
what_next wrote:
And the number plates were plainly visible to everybody, just as the mode S returns!
That is a very good point, but unlike your Citroen, one can search for your tail number on the internet and find out where you were. I would assume that a lot of people would object to the ability of doing the same with car registrations.
what_next wrote:
think I can count the occasions where I have received a 1000 squawk on the fingers of one hand since this was introduced 2 or 3 years ago…
I would need two hands. Almost always get it out of Schiphol. Less common elsewhere.
I have had it 1x, in S France.
I’ve had it a couple of flights on IFR flights originating from France.
NCYankee wrote:
They would in the US. Although one can enter a bogus call sign, if it does not match the ICAO ID which is a one to one relationship in the US to N number, they would get tagged as a mismatch. I have heard of pilots receiving a letter from their FSDO for this. One would also have to enter a bogus ICAO ID and if they did so, they could be subject to fraud charges.
I have seen this in the Netherlands as well, in some instances where transponders where misconfigured, these people received a letter that they should have their transponder checked and report back. It’s not a good idea to do something like that, especially with risk of duplicates.
Peter wrote:
Whether FR24 etc gets the tail number from the 24-bit code, or from the tail number programmed in the TXP, I don’t know.
They know both, for airliners you can see the 24 bit code, registration and flight ID (Registration comes from a database, which in some countries like USA is easy, as it is algoritm. In The Netherlands these are issued when requested, so you must use a database lookup and can not use algoritm.). 24 bit and FID are transmitted. Where FID = registration for most general aviation aircraft.
They also can give you a call without calling them first. To facilitate this more, they are researching the possibility to give certain squawk codes for different frequencies. when flying VFR you wouldn’t have to make any call, while they can give you flight information as they know your listning to a certain frequency.
Jesse wrote:
They also can give you a call without calling them first. To facilitate this more, they are researching the possibility to give certain squawk codes for different frequencies. when flying VFR you wouldn’t have to make any call, while they can give you flight information as they know your listning to a certain frequency.
The UK has this already (“listening squawks”) but with mode A/C also. Of course with mode S it would work even better.
I doubt many of the listening squawk units have Mode S capability.
And the main unit taught in the PPL – London Information, not appearing in the above diagram – has to even pretend they don’t have radar because their staff are not ATCOs but FISOs, to save on salary!
I like simplicity, and flying versus diverting attention towards communication for no strong reason. On most flights in my Mode C equipped plane in the US, flying VFR, I don’t even touch the transponder. Recent FAA recommendations include having altitude reporting turned on at all times, including during taxi. So I now leave the transponder in Mode C with VFR squawk code selected and turn it and the radio etc on/off with the avionics master. Only occasionally do I need to set a different code or select ident, even while operating from one of the busiest air traffic areas worldwide.
My other plane has no electrical system or transponder (locally exempted from the requirement, as it will be for ADS-B Out) and that is fine for me too. A little more work and radio chatter is required to deal with radar equipped airport ATC.
what_next wrote:
Hey! I have driven a Citroen (CX) for 13 years, the best car I ever had. Still dream of it occasionally. More hydraulics than a Boeing 737. Much more comfortable ride than any business jet. About as may hours of maintenance per hour of flight/road as a Concorde. And the number plates were plainly visible to everybody, just as the mode S returns!
A joke of course what_next – for reference I do not drive a 90K£ car either :-)
