TAILBEACON - actual photos - ADS-B Discussions

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TAILBEACON - actual photos

2/8/2020 3:50 PM

Michael Marra

Joined: 3/26/2014

Posts: 706

Re: TAILBEACON - actual photos

Thanks - I have a tower 20 miles away I don't talk to, but I guess I could do that...

Yes, I do go to Dulles, but not that often. I usually go to College Park, MD., which is INSIDE the FRZ.

I guess I will come up with "work arounds" -- I would really like to know ON THE GROUND or shortly thereafter if it was working.

I will contact the nearst ATC facility before I waste the time and AvGas getting close to the Mode C veil. (30-40 minutes of flying from departure).

Mike N714AJ

2/8/2020 6:38 PM

Don Maxwell

Joined: 1/13/2015

Posts: 1131

Re: TAILBEACON - actual photos Modified By Don Maxwell on 2/9/2020 7:06:22 AM

Mike, I've been un-enthralled by ADS-B so far. Somewhere I came across this map of ADS-B towers (ground stations)--and discovered that there's one within 200 yards of my hangar at KFCI. Does it see me on the ground and in flight? Pbbbbt! If it does, it doesn't let FlightAware etc. or iFly know about it unless I take off and climb above 2000 feet, and it never shows that I've landed. (Sometimes it guesses that I probably landed, though.)

http://http://towers.stratux.me/

2/9/2020 4:51 AM

Cobra

Joined: 4/20/2011

Posts: 2602

Re: TAILBEACON - actual photos Modified By Cobra on 2/9/2020 8:30:31 AM

Michael Marra wrote:

Thanks - I have a tower 20 miles away I don't talk to, but I guess I could do that...

Towers typically aren't interested in talking to traffic 20 miles away, especially if that traffic's not heading towards the tower's airspace. Airnav says your airport (N94) is in the Harrisburg Approach/Departure region, on 124.1. That's who you'd want to call, and you could do it as soon as you were ready to switch away from the N94 CTAF, pretty much immediately after takeoff.

In some areas, you need to climb a bit before the nearest ADSB tower(s) will pick you up, but in your heavily-populated, heavily-trafficked, relatively flat part of the country, I'd bet you will be picked up by the time you climb to pattern altitude.

Edit: Per the FAA's ADSB coverage overlay map in Google Earth, it shows that you should have ADSB coverage by 500' AGL east and south of Carlisle, so your ADSB-out should be visible to ATC by the time you're ready to call them if you were following your previously-posted flight plan to Dulles. Due to elevated terrain to the W and NW, there are some coverage shadows in those directions, but coverage should be uninterrupted once you get to 1500' AGL even in those directions.

2/10/2020 4:39 PM

Michael Marra

Joined: 3/26/2014

Posts: 706

Re: TAILBEACON - actual photos

Thanks Cobra!

I think I solved my issue. I pulled up AVARE on my phone and it shows me and my call sign.

Once I have this, I am good to go.

Today, oddly, I was able to see traffic on the free EFB, AVARE, but NOT on my iFly with STRATUX! Astonishing!

I will chalk this up to "new system proclivities" and let it go, but it is very spotty at times - far LESS reliable than I would have imagined.

So, I go to land at Hagerstown, MD, and on the way in, I ask tower if they can see me on ADSB.....controller says NO, the faa have NOT outfitted towers with ADSB IN yet, meaning they have to count on RADAR to skin paint or transponder to ID targets at this time....seems odd the faa would require us to have it, but not the 600 or so towers in the USA. I think a simple ADSB - IN system and a tablet would give them much better SA.

As always, thanks for your good advice, Cobra!

Mike N714AJ

Here is how I am checking my ADSB OUT after departure - on AVARE! I can also see my wingman nearby in 46E!

AND, here we are on iFLY, note that I cannot "see" myself, which is OK, but I would still like to know my ADSB OUT is working, so I can check with AVARE....nice feature. I wish we had a "Our Plane" on/off switch on our moving map display to know it was working ok! No big deal - can live with this AS IS.