Having had my TAS605 system for 8 months now, certain obvious patterns have emerged.
I fly with it configured to show traffic 3000ft above and below, and the lateral range is claimed to be 15nm. Practically, I can see airliners (i.e. targets which presumably do carry some decent quality transponders) slightly over 10nm away.
When flying "Eurocontrol IFR" in controlled airspace one sees virtually nothing. Both the vertical and lateral separation, imposed by ATC and Eurocontrol routings, between lower airspace (below FL200) traffic and jet traffic are huge. It would be very unusual to see a single target on a 700nm flight across Europe. A 747 passing 3100ft below looks pretty big but nothing will show on TCAS.
However I never expected the system to be useful in CAS - because it is massively obvious visually there isn't anything out there, anywhere near.
Then you come to OCAS; Class G generally. The screen lights up like a xmas tree. Planes are everywhere. At least 90% of the indicated traffic is never spotted no matter how many people are looking, even though they know the altitude and distance accurately, and azimuth within about 20 degrees.
And that's just those with Mode C/S.
Maybe 50% of transponding targets are Mode A only - no altitude shown. Some of these will be Mode C who have switched to Mode A, accidentally, or intentionally so they can't get done for busting CAS from below.
How many are totally non-transponding, one can't tell. A wild guess, for the UK, from visual contacts which do not show up on TCAS, is 50% of all aircraft flying below 2000ft, and much less than 10% of those flying above 3000ft.
There is much talk on pilot sites about FLARM but the feeling I get is that the uptake in powered GA is very close to zero. Also there is no FLARM product which detects Mode C/S targets and shows azimuth.
One is not going to make oneself popular saying this but I really do wish Mode C carriage was universal, on conventional powered aircraft. It is also the responsible thing to do, because this will trigger TCAS warnings on jets.
How many people have the active TAS systems like mine? Presumably new planes like Cirruses and Diamonds will all have it?
I am non certified but have a Funkwerk TM250 http://www.gps.co.uk/Funkwerk/Funkwerk-TM250-Traffic-Monitor/p-186-1117/ and a RedBox Flarm, the Flarm is also displayed on the TM250. I agree with your sightings.
While waiting to line up at Jersey recently, a landing corporate jet angrily told tower he had picked up traffic on landing, it was me, which I apologised for, and switched to standby. I wanted to say that at least I always fly with Mode S. This reminds me to change the setting so it is set to Auto Ground mode.
That jet pilot must have problems with his blood pressure because picking up aircraft lined up at the departure point is completely standard.
I am sure very few people have auto-GND/AIR switching, and very few go to the effort of turning it off when on the ground.
I didn't even know the GTX330 had a means of manually selecting GND/AIR, by holding down one of the buttons 
That's an interesting ADS-B/FLARM product, but does it pick up anything apart from a few gliders, and airliners in CAS?
I always distrusted FLARM transmitters, they are based on cheapo consumer T/R technology. Either one does something thoroughly, or one keeps her/his hands off. I do carry a mode C transponder - though it has never been calibrated, to my knowledge - and would consider a receiver/display to show both FLARM and transponder information. Mode S will be unavoidable one day but that's another discussion.
As for FLARM spread of usage: it seems to be quite universal in gliders in most countries, I even hear it is mandatory in Swiss gliders (or in gliders in Switzerland). And there is some pressure on low-profile motorised flyers, but I suspect to me more based on commerce than on safety interests. I fancy that one meets FLARM less and less with increasing altitude - the lone high soaring glider remains a safety issue, in my opinion, luckily a good many have transponders also.
Our airspace structure is quite different with relatively low usage of class G airspace, usually surface up to 1200 AGL or 700 AGL, so it is not practical to do any cross country flying in class G for most of the US. Above class G is class E. Most flights for GA are in class E which mandates that if transponder equipped, the aircraft must have the equipment on and if mode C capable, it must be on as well. Above 10,000 MSL, the aircraft must be equipped with a mode C transponder, but it is near universal 95% below that altitude. The vast majority of aircraft have transponders with mode C and use them in the US. My airplane is equipped with a mode S transponder (not ADS-B) and a UAT ADS-B unit, neither of which are required in most of the airspace, but I fully expect most aircraft will be equipped by 2020.
Also, at many of the larger towered airports, mode A-C are required to be on when on the surface so that aircraft can be tracked on the ground. The corporate pilot must be new or not get around very much and I would ignore his complaint.
I'd also cast a vote if asked, for all aircraft to be transmitting at least mode C. I don't see why anyone shouldn't have it, except those who want to do turn it off just to mitigate accidental airspace busts. It can't really be a weight issue as some transponders are tiny now, though like some very old cars are exempt from a car MOT, I do accept some very old vintage aircraft might not have then fitted for logistical or preservation reasons.
I fly a PA32 with G1000 and have a L3 Skywatch 497 (http://www.as.l-3com.com/products/skywatch/) built in, which displays on the G1000. It is also an active TAS like the Avidyne TAS605. The only thing I am missing is an integration with a FLARM, because almost no glider has a xponder. And I think the most dangerous part where collisions are to happen are on an approach to an airport, at altitudes where gliders and airplanes are.
I totally agree with your findings. Enroute on an IFR plan I rarely have any indications with the system set to normal mode (there also other modes, like unrestricted, etc.). But on approach to an airport, especially VFR airports in Germany I get a ton of targets if their xponder is turned on.
Two years ago flying into EDVK I got an alert, that made me turn the aircraft (already in the traffic pattern) away from the displayed target, although I had no visual contact. After turning away I saw a gyrocopter, which could have gotten very serious. It might have saved our both lives.
I have not found a perfect way of how to handle indications if there are a lot though, because the system tends to draw eye focus away from outside the airplane to the display which is not a really good thing in the traffic pattern.
Regarding the question of auto-GND: that is incorporated in the G1000 I have. the GTX330 is always on GND automatically after landing and before takeoff. No manual interference is necessary. Obviously you can always turn it on manually if requested to do so.
I have them and while I get more indications at lower altitude, I do get a lot of targets in cruise. This may be the difference between FL150-200 vs FL250-280. I think it is very useful OCAS.I usually have it on the MFD overlaid on the map but the G1000 will alert to very close traffic with a TRAFFIC, TRAFFIC call. Still think you need your eyes outside the plane and a careful not to assume traffic calls from tower etc are particular targets - there have been several accidents where people thought they had the traffic on TCAS and hence had passed in front but it was the wrong aircraft.
I've been playing with a Power Flarm recently and I must say I am quite intrigued with it. At the moment I am borrowing it from another pilot who hated it but after a few flights I'd have to say that it will probably find a permanent place in my aircraft.
The unit comes with 2 antennas which need to be attached to the rear. In my plane, that is a problem as I have no glareshield to speak of so opposite to the explicit instructions in the manual, I have to keep both antennas pointing where they fit... the ADS-B one is horizontal and the Flarm one points about 45° down, both touch the windscreen. If I am to keep the box, I'll try to find a better arrangement.
Presently, I run PowerFlarm on batteries. It will keep about 4 hours on normal accus. I'd say like with portable GPS's it is mandiatory to have it wired to the airplane in order to use it over longer flights.
I am very pleased with it's results concerning the viewing of ADS-B equipped planes, it is acccurate and range early enough, about 8-10 NM what I have seen. You can zoom in and out with the knob in front, but you have to set the altitude range in a setup menu.
Mode C will show up as a circle showing the altitude deviation plus a very rough range estimate, which I consider useless. The altitude readout however gives you a clue where to look for the intruder. I have to say that while the alert without azimut is lacking, it sharpens your perception and I so far found all the planes indicated visually a few seconds after the alert.
FLARM airplanes I have yet to come across. I don't know if it has to do with my antenna position or whether the few gliders I saw visually were simply not equipped, but so far I have not seen any.
Generally, I have to say that I have converted from a total sceptic to "I want one of these" within 2 flights. At least one of the conflicting traffics I identified using the device would have been uncomfortably close before I'd have seen it with normal scanning. That one was transmitting Mode C only.
I'll experiment some more and let you know.
hello mooney driver,
on the powerflarm website you'll find a description of the warning technology, i.e. not every glider will be shown but the one on a conflicting course.
Warnings are pronounced dependent on the time remaining before a possible collision, instead of on the geometric distance between the aircraft.
The warnings continue for as long as they are being calculated. Depending on the prediction, it is possible that the warnings will decrease or be cancelled all together. Warnings are selective, i.e. they only take place if it is calculating a high probability of collision. The warning sensitivity can be changed by the pilot.
PowerFLARM ® calculates the future flight path by means of calculation algorithms, which have been improved over many years though real flight data and simulation.
