I hope somebody can help me.
I fly an RV and would like to fit a good traffic system. It need not be certified but I don’t think I have much choice in that respect.
As the result of Peters write up I am looking at Avidyne and it seems the TAS600 would suit my needs.
On my panel I have two Dynon Skyview touch screens and a GTN750 with radio, nav and transponder.
The top aerial would probably have to go behind the sliding canopy.
Does anybody have experience of the 600 that they can pass on and any tips about the installation?
Many thanks.
The TAS600 is a good choice and the L3 Skwatch TAS is very similar, with only one antenna on top. That’s what is in thousands of Cirrus aircraft and I think it works very well. Every now and then a good one shows up on ebay.com.
The installation is easy enough once you know how, if you are very good at wiring, especially RF wiring, and engineering generally. The basic gotchas are mentioned in my writeup – the main ones are
I can’t see how it can possibly work with just one antenna, even given that the single-blade antenna actually contains two blades, one in front of the other, and these two resolve the front/back part of the azimuth. You also need a twin-blade antenna to resolve left/right. But maybe there is a twin-blade antenna which contains four blades in total; I recall the GBP 25k Honeywell box used two of those i.e. eight antennae in total.
Get some local installer / dealer for this product. It might be a little more expensive, even quite some professional installations don’t work well. A good RF understanding is needed to get the best of the installation. A installer / dealer will also be able to carry out the post installation checks using specialised test equipment. If they don’t have this test gear, skip them and find yourself another one.
If they don’t have this test gear, skip them and find yourself another one.
I agree, but the “top UK firm” which did mine didn’t have any test equipment for the TAS boxes. When a few months later spoke to the Avidyne rep at EDNY and asked him if this was a TAS 6xx dealer requirement, he said No. Maybe this has changed but it was the case in 2013.
Peter wrote:
I recall the GBP 25k Honeywell box used two of those i.e. eight antennae in total.
Depends on the configuration chosen / applying to your aircraft.
I bought a used setup with two double-blade antennas and the computer, but the STC for the 182 only used one (the upper one).
I had to buy one single blade antenna for the bottom.
And on the computer, three slots are occupied by TNC/BNC plugs (50ohm load, very pricey !).
Regards
Peter wrote:
I agree, but the “top UK firm” which did mine didn’t have any test equipment for the TAS boxes. When a few months later spoke to the Avidyne rep at EDNY and asked him if this was a TAS 6xx dealer requirement, he said No. Maybe this has changed but it was the case in 2013.
It is nowadays. Any good avionics shop should have equipment to test this, I would think most will have equipment to test this kind of stuff. Just ask to be sure.
Thank you for all of the replies and information.
I have decided on the TAS600 which I will fit myself.
Now I have to find a supplier.
For the TAS600 the same applies. You likely won’t have all test gear / tools, find a local dealer / installer which can help you doing the testing before applying power and the post installation checks. IMHO It would be a shame to spend a big sum on equipment, without the ability to do a proper installation.
To many installations, even by some avionics shops are done incorrect. Incorrect traffic information is dangerouse.
Some of the traffic systems are very expensive and heavy ……. Try this
http://www.air-avionics.com/air/index.php/en/products/collision-avoidance
The TRX-1500 would seem to meet your requirements at modest cost
