I use them all the time.
Same here.
You should try Norcal on the SFO departure frequency. Or arrival for that matter, I did once have to bust my assigned altitude simply because I couldn’t get a word in edgeways and I needed to land. They were cool with it, just handed me off unbidden.
RobertL18C wrote:
but it allows the controller to vector instrument traffic
But if you are not actually working the unit then your Mode S altitude is still ‘unverified’ from their perspective, is it not? That being the case, I can’t see a traffic management advantage for them compared to you just squawking 7000 (other than the ability to call you up).
I often have a listening watch, I just don’t set the code. In any case, the Vagabond has no transponder. :-) In the TB10 I am more commonly dealing with Farnborough, and I guess my attitude is a reaction to their attitude in recent years. They once pretty much instructed me (in Class G) to stop climb when I was heading up through a layer of IMC. When I said no they vectored their inbound (as they should) and then unnecessarily told me how many extra track miles the jet had needed as a result.