L3 just announced a rather interesting new piece of avionics, the Lynx. Actually its a series of ADS-B boxes but one model is a transponder replacement that integrates ADS-B Out and In (both UAT and 1090ES) ADS-B traffic, ADS-B weather, active traffic (as in what the SkyWatch does), includes its own position source and has its own display for all of that information and can pass traffic to a PFD, MFD or GPS. If you have a skywatch installed you could re-use the antenna and cables. This model, the NGT-9000+ costs $9,200. Quite a nice upgrade with wiring work only in the panel if you can sell a Mode S transponder and a SkyWatch if the weather features don’t work in Europe.
Very nice indeed, that sounds like a much better offer than the Avidyne TAS! Hopefully it will create some competition in the TAS market which is way too expensive.
It does look amazing!
Looking at the brochure it isn’t clear what “boxes” make up the system but on the basis of what I can see, they appear to have packaged an active TAS box into very little space. Not that a lot of space is required for that, but for some perverse reason all existing products are massive. This is the Avidyne box which is about 8" tall
and both the Garmin and the old Honeywell one are bigger still.
Also they omit to mention that the built-in GPS will need an antenna and that is sure to be a pricey “WAAS certified” one. So if you already have a WAAS GPS (which is practically the future) then you will need two of these antennae, or three if you have two GPSs. They all have to go somewhere, and unless they have done something amazing they will also have the four-antenna arrangement for the active TAS function and they will have minimum spacing requirements from everything else. Already, any IFR aircraft in Europe has antennae sticking out everywhere and this will need an extra one. So the devil is in the detail…
I wonder what the NGT-9000 costs… if it is “cheap” they have a winner, because I paid GBP 12k for the Avidyne system, including the bodged installation by one of UK’s two biggest shops. But if they “priced it for the market”, all you save is a bit of space and you end up with more eggs in one basket.
Regards ADS-B, we have had many debates on that here already. My view remains that almost nobody in GA has got it, it will not be mandatory before maybe 2022 at the earliest (and probably a lot later, and then only for IFR), and for TCAS purposes it will remain near-useless because the biggest danger by far (traffic below ~2000ft) mostly does not have transponders, or keeps them switched off for “privacy”, or they set them to Mode A (almost useless). And they will not be installing ADS-B until the last possible moment which will be close to never because ADS-B will never be mandatory for VFR in Class G (Mode S isn’t either but is required for practical touring in much of N Europe). However I would not do anything major which is wasted from the ADS-B POV – or from the LPV/RNAV1 POV, etc). Which comes back to how “cheap” this product is for a Mode S TXP + active TAS because those functions are all that actually works in Europe.
the built-in GPS will need an antenna and that is sure to be a pricey “WAAS certified” one
Compared to the paperwork requirement of EASA when you want to couple your (E)TSO 146 box to your (E)TSO transponder for ADS-B out (latency analysis, for example), that additional antenna looks like a bargain.
I wonder what the NGT-9000 costs
The 2 models making sense in Europe
NGT-9000+ is $9,200
NGT-9000D+ is $11933
Retail price w/o installation.
If it is certified and installed you can pay easily GBP 12k+
Actually its a series of ADS-B boxes but one model is a transponder replacement that integrates ADS-B Out and In (both UAT and 1090ES) ADS-B traffic, ADS-B weather, active traffic (as in what the SkyWatch does), includes its own position source and has its own display for all of that information and can pass traffic to a PFD, MFD or GPS.
Do not get fooled by the brochure. As UAT isn’t used in Europe you won’t be able to have ADS-R (traffic uploaded from a ground station) nor FIS-B (flight information such as weather). It will only get your ADS-B out (basically transmit your position) and ADS-B in (receive ADS-B information from others directly). With this solution you still won’t be able to see.
As mdoerr wrote, only the 9000 models make sense in Europe, as others won’t show non ADS-B traffic in Europe.
I believe indeed only the 9000+(D) is useful in European airspace it offers TAS (based on a skywatch TAS antenna NY164 directional antenna ) and combined ADS-B traffic. I think this must be cheapest solution to combine ADS-B in-out and TAS upgrade in one package. For those having a SN3500 it would be possible reading it correctly to show TAS traffic over the ARINC429 outputs (need to get more info on this). The additional optional aural audio is a nice to have when very busy.
So at the end the choices become even more complicated when still not having WAAS , only one 8.33 radios. TAS seems to be a serious safety feature when flying in OCAS, specially in Belgium where VFR traffic is very dense down low and Bru information is just saying a lot of traffic around have a close look out …:-). What give the most safety and operational benefit….?Airborne collision avoidance is a major one..IMHO .WAAS (LPV) well nice to have….but I guess different opinions available. Now if some manufacturer would build a simple WAAS version of a KLN94/90 format that would be nice…there are only two players currently in the GA market not enough choice.
Actually I have been thinking about the LYNX for some time now, it would replace BOTH my GTX300 XPDR and the (big and heavy) Skywatch TAS … and additionally give me ADS-B plus some other nice features. Maybe next year … I’ve really spent too much money on the airplane the last two years …
I think it is one of the best new Avionics products.
Which means it would give you exactly nothing over your current setup which already has TAS and is capable of ADS-B Out…
Are there any installers who have any experience of this product? The situation with getting a Ryan/Avidyne TAS6xx box installed correctly is atrocious enough and all active TAS systems have similar installation issues because they all work the same way (directional antenna arrays).
Also almost nobody is radiating ADS-B OUT in the airspace where this matters most i.e. low level OCAS so this is not worth paying for, currently, or IMHO for a good number of years. Multiple threads on this issue already, with some taking the position that ADS-B is the future, which I am sure is true, but most people flying in the relevant airspace won’t be spending money on it until forced, and those who will have it won’t be turning it on for the usual reasons they don’t have Mode C. Unfortunately the pace of change is very slow where it matters most i.e. low level OCAS, weekend flyers. A long thread is here. See posts 84 and 88 for a position which is claimed to be UK-only but really isn’t.
But as I say above, is anyone aware of anyone who has this installed, and who did it?
