Our club, Black Forest Soaring Society (BFSS) now has five members
with the MRX PCAS. Mine is doing exactly what it is supposed to do:
detect transponder or TCAS equipped aircraft being interrogated near
my glider. two common things interrogate: a ground-based radar or
airborne TCAS. It is also portable so we can take it with us when we
teach or do intro rides in other planes.

There are two modes: advisory and alert.

Advisory is a two-beep warning that something is nearby and within my
preset altitude and distance criteria. Alert is a four-beep sound that
means the traffic is even closer.

I have been operating my PCAS with the screen at its lowest brightness
because it really is not important to me to know about traffic that is
relatively far from me. All I need is the noise: two-beeps or four;
that is, near or nearer.

That noise says it all since the criteria for activating those sounds
are set by the pilot, me.

When MRX beeps, my eyes sweeps (added the extra "s" to complete the
rhyme).

In the nine months I've owned the MRX, there have been four cases of
four-beeping. In all four cases, the traffic came from behind. And, in
all four cases I had plenty of time to search and locate the traffic.
The surprise traffic came from behind because MRX trained me to be
better at spotting traffic ahead and to my sides.

When I get rich, I'll also add a transponder. But for now, and
recognizing that jet guys are flying heads-down more often than even
they realize, PCAS is helping me a bunch. Oh, for a living I fly large
jets equipped with TCAS. I watch my fellow crewmembers and they don't
look out the window as often as they should.

So, I'd rather know that I can see most of them, then to hope that
they see me, and to hope that the Bonanza guys are talking to a radar
controller who will alert them to my presence.

Raul Boerner
LS6-B "DM"