Paul Remde wrote:
My dream is that is 1 to 2 years from now many glider pilots will be
voluntarily using low cost ADS-B transmitter/receiver units. They will show
nearby traffic where you are AND they will allow you to see nearby traffic -
not only traffic that has an ADS-B transmitter. If you are near a radar
controlled airport with ADS-B transmitting you would also see all traffic
that has a transponder because they broadcast that information to ADS-B
receivers - cool!

The situation is a bit more complicated than the dream, unfortunately.
Two aircraft equipped with ADS-B transceivers of the same type (UAT or
1090ES) will detect each other when within proximity, right now,
anywhere in the US. The ability to obtain traffic advisories for
aircraft equipped with the other form of ADS-B, or using Mode C or S
transponders, is dependent on the existence of a network of ground
stations. These ground stations are already in place along the coast
from New York down to Florida, in Alaska, and a few other random places.
The contracts to complete the system were just awarded last fall, it
will be 10+ years before all of the ground stations are in place.

So, for the next few years, an ADS-B transceiver will be nothing more
than an expensive underutilized FLARM-like device in most areas of the
US. That said, if we don't start pushing for what we want, right now,
we probably won't be happy with what we can get when the network is
complete in 2020 or so...

Marc