Has someone got ADS-B in and sees actual ADS-B traffic?
So I now have the GTX345 from Garmin, which is a full ES, ADS-B IN/OUT, AHRS Bluetooth solution. I’ll report fully on it but I’m surprised that during my first two flights with it (London – Clermont – Cannes) I saw no ADS-B traffic (with registration number and trajectory trend) at all. Before diving into whether my installation’s ok, I’d like to hear some feedback from others. I thought all airliners had it.
I flew from Hamm to Luxembourg using my Pilot Aware system displaying traffic on Sky Demon and Sky Map. Although not ADS-B out myself, t showed me quite a few airliners and a couple of light GA aircraft, all transmitting ADS-B, displaying Call sign / reg number and track / altitude trends – even though I limited the alerts to +/- 2000 feet vertical of my altitude. It also showed me quite a few Mode C and Mode S targets so was pleased with the test. My passengers thought it was cool to see aircraft on the iPad and then try to spot them. I pointed out it would be more advantageous if they could spot the aircraft first, just in case they were transponder-less ;-)
In one instance, one GA aircraft was heading for Dahlemer Binz, emitting ADS-B out (or PAW, but here in Europe it’s not so widely spread so I doubt it), was about 1 NM from me, 300 feet lower and descending. Could I see it? Even though I knew it was there, none of us saw it……
Edited to add: not all Airliners have ADS-B, I had the traffic page of PAW open and it showed around 25% CAT as being non ADS-B…. still….
I thought all airliners had it.
It will only become a requirement in 2020 in Europe. Before that, some have it, some don’t. Same for all other aircraft. Of the three that I fly within my company only one has ADS-B. If and how and at what cost it can be installed is still not clear today. My employer is actually considering to sell the plane before it may become unflyable in two years. And I guess the same applies to many airliners bulit pre 2010 or so.
I fly a full Garmin environment, including the ADS-B In transponder, and I see Reg, Altitude, Trend and all sorts.
So I would suggest that you do indeed have a configuration problem.
Thanks. At least I still see the TAS traffic so it’s not an issue with the merging.
There are a number of gotchas with the GTX345 when installed with the GTN750 which I hope are fixable, I’ll report fully.
The first is that if you use a GTN to provide GPS to the GTX, Bluetooth is disabled on the GTX. This is because all the info provided by the GTX is now routed via the Flightstream 510 in the GTN (including AHRS), but it means you need to buy a FS510. That wasn’t clear to me when I choose the GTX345. But at least I can see the logic in that, it means you have only one Bluetooth to connect to.
The second one is really annoying: the GTN treats the GTX345 like the GTX3R5, the remote version, so you loose two super useful data fields at the top of the GTN screen for xpdr controls which are wholly useless since you have your actual transponder panel next to it.
I think, and pilot reports support this, that ADS-B emissions (outside airliners and bizjets) are very country dependent and probably correlate to (a) mandatory Mode S and (b) how much money gets spent on avionics. And Mode S is basically irrelevant to the vast majority of GA in UK, France, Spain.
A good place to test would be e.g. under the EGKK approach path.
I have only flown two long flights since I took delivery, IFR from Straubing to Cannes and Cannes to Blackbushe. So, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Italy, France and UK.
I wasn’t looking at ADS-B In very much, but whenever I did look, it was there.
What sort of aircraft type profile did you see, and what altitude range?
I ask because the Ryan/Avidyne active TAS boxes can be configured to plus or minus 3000ft (the usual mode) or 9900ft (or so) and the latter shows up a lot more commercial traffic.
There is no doubt that ADS-B is widely radiated.
I’ve tried the unlimited mode and didn’t see any ADS-B there. I did see a lot of airliner TAS traffic.
I’ve managed to find a GTN install manual and hopefully I’ll be able to get rid of the transponder remote issue.
denopa wrote:
The first is that if you use a GTN to provide GPS to the GTX, Bluetooth is disabled on the GTX. This is because all the info provided by the GTX is now routed via the Flightstream 510 in the GTN (including AHRS), but it means you need to buy a FS510.
The FS510 still has issues. In the US, Garmin is telling its customers to turn on the BT in the GTX345 to get traffic and weather on the iPad. It is not covered in the STC, but the BT is really a non STC feature. You should see traffic from airliners almost anywhere in the world. In the US, only about 10 or 15% are ADS-B Out with the compliant DO260B version, but there are many older air carriers with non compliant DO260 or DO260A systems. All versions of ADS-B, compliant or not, will show up on the GTX345 ADS-B In as targets.
