The situational awareness can be done with little head in if you set your display to give you audio traffic alerts (not just collision alarms) , and set the ranges such that you only get alerts for relevant traffic, eg no more than 5 miles and 2000 feet altitude range (although for buddy flying you may want flarm range set to max).
Some displays doing better job with audio alerts than others. I am working with LXNAv to improve traffic advisory alerts on LX9000. In most displays as soon as you hear alert you can determine if the traffic can be a threat with a quick glimpse. In most cases you wouldn’t need to make visual contacts.

Ramy

On Tuesday, June 1, 2021 at 11:06:36 AM UTC-7, wrote:
One key to situational awareness is knowing what information to essentially discard. If you're approaching 3 targets and visually acquire 2 of them and can rule them out as a risk, don't focus on them. All too often people focus on the glider circling 600ft above/below them and ignore the fact that the glider they are going to not see and hit is the one at the same altitude.

I try not to lose track of the other gliders, but once they are determined to not be an immediate threat, I'm back to looking for the "invisible" target that could be a threat. Especially important in areas where you have a mix of FLARM and no-FLARM traffic and it is easy to fixate on a known FLARM target.

Morgan
On Tuesday, June 1, 2021 at 10:25:29 AM UTC-7, Dan Daly wrote:
On Tuesday, June 1, 2021 at 12:26:36 PM UTC-4, Ramy wrote:
I believe flarm is more effective for situational awareness than for last second collision avoidance since it does not give a resolution and as such once you get the alarm there is very little time to interpret the information correctly, locate the target and react correctly, especially if you didn’t already have visual contact.
As such make sure your flarm display, zoom level, audio alerts and even flarmnet are all configured and set in an effective way to provide situational awareness and avoid the situation of collision avoidance to start with.

Ramy
Hi Ramy. I guess my problem with that is that you spend a lot of time with head in cockpit gaining this SA, and less with eyes out, doing see and avoid for traffic that isn't FLARM (or in the case of the U.S., ADS-B) equipped (and properly functioning). I agree if you do not practice and work it into your motor memory, it might be a problem. For me - alarm; look at display, up to the correct o'clock to acquire visually, then if not, what vertical - above/below, angle again. If still alarming, and in front, turn right to avoid. You have 19 seconds. If you continue to get alarms, you'll collide if you don't do something. If you don't practice this drill, you don't get better.

Of course, all bets are off if one of the flarms is shut off or broken, not updated, or with a poor installation.