iFly GPS Forum

There wasn't a show special, really. They ate the sales tax and there was no shipping charge. I think it cost $950.

This was for the portable unit. The person I talked to at the NavWorx booth said that the FAA only allows traffic if you have ADS-B out and so they would not provide it. They had some of the units at the booth. They don't look quite like the photo on the website. But they did not have any for sale yet. I guess the specs have changed too.

I got this from the SkyRadar site:

Traffic Information Services-Broadcast, or TIS-B, is a component of the ADS-B technology that provides free traffic reporting services to aircraft equipped with ADS-B Receivers. TIS-B allows non-ADS-B transponder equipped aircraft that are tracked by radar to have their location and track information broadcast to ADS-B equipped aircraft.

• ADS-B Receiver (ADS-B IN)- This class of device can receive ADS-B data, but is not able to transmit ADS-B data to other aircraft or ground stations. An ADS-B receiver will receive both traffic information and weather information. A current limitation of the FAA's ADS-B implementation is that their ground stations will only transmit traffic data (including radar traffic data) when they receive data from a minimum of one ADS-B transmitting aircraft within range. Therefore, an ADS-B Receiver equipped aircraft may not see traffic data even if there are other aircraft in the area if none of the aircraft are equipped with ADS-B transmitters. Weather information is always transmitted by the ground stations and thus is always available to ADS-B Receiver equipped aircraft within range. The SkyRadar ADS-B Receiver falls into this category of device.
• ADS-B Transmitter (ADS-B OUT) - This class of device is capable of transmitting ADS-B data. ADS-B Transceivers are able to "wake up" the FAA's ADS-B ground stations and trigger them to start transmitting traffic data to aircraft in the local area. ADS-B devices capable of transmitting location and flight path data must be certified by the FAA.
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• So....If I understand the system correctly, you should be able to see TIS traffic that is being painted on a radar screen via the traffic's transponder. . But if you are in an area where no aircraft is transmitting a ADS-B signal, it will not "wake up" the ground station to transmit traffic on that system even if there are aircraft in the area, including TIS traffic...because without the triggering of the ADS-B signal by at least one aircraft, the ground stations will not send a responding signal back. Sort of like an echo...someone has to make a noise before the echo comes back .
• If I am mistaken in my interpretation, please let me know as this is a confusing area!