On Tuesday, December 1, 2015 at 11:15:46 PM UTC-6, Andy Blackburn wrote:
On Tuesday, December 1, 2015 at 2:27:36 PM UTC-8, Andrzej Kobus wrote:.

Hmm, I wonder what will happen when I show up with an ADS-B out. My new glider is equipped with a certified ADS-B out unit, probably first such installation in a glider in US. I will see all transponder traffic including gliders miles ahead and so will everyone else around me who has PowerFlarm installed. There will be plenty of transponder equipped gliders at Nephi. Will RC ban me from contests? Stealth mode will not be worth much then. Time to move on with times or maybe RC will ask me to get the ADS-B out of my glider, hmm can you imagine that...

Well, that puts two flies in the ointment. One is that you can't, by FAR, turn off your ADS-B Out if it is part of your transponder - 1090ES Out. If you have one installed, the FAA requires it to be on. The second is that anyone else flying at Nephi with a transponder installed is required by FAR to turn it on. If I understand the specs for ADS-R (by which transponder returns are uploaded to ADS-B aircraft), you will have a 30-mile radius of targets provided to you. Need to check that.

I will be interested to see what the resolution of the traffic information is. I can't wait so see your installation.

Congrats on being the first I know of to get this done.

9B

I am expecting the delivery of my Phoenix Motorglider in January. It will be equipped with a Dynon Skyview system, including ADS-B IN and 1090ES ADS-B OUT. I am installing an extra battery so the system will be fully operational during soaring flight. This system will let me see not only other ADS-B OUT equipped aircraft, but also ALL other Mode C and Mode S transponder equipped aircraft that are visible by ATC (assuming I am in range of a ADS-B ground station). Virtually every other Phoenix that has been delivered in the US in the last year or so has this avionics setup.

As ADS-B OUT becomes more and more economical (Dynon has announced a 2020 compliant ADS-B OUT GPS source for under $600), it is only a question of time before the FAA will mandate that all aircraft, including gliders, UAVs, Balloons, etc.. be equipped with ADS-B OUT beacons. That will make this stealth mode argument totally moot.