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Old May 18th 12, 05:58 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Mike Schumann[_2_]
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Posts: 177
Default PowerFLARM Brick and PowerFLARM Remote Display Manuals Available

On Wednesday, May 16, 2012 1:37:31 PM UTC-5, ursus wrote:
Note that PowerFLARM does NOT support TIS-B data transmitted by ADS-B ground stations, which is very disappointing.


TIS-B will be discontinued. Investing in a soon to be obsolete
technology is not our top priority…
Nevertheless, we never said we would *not* do it, the PowerFLARM
hardware which currently ships is capable of doing it, but we prefer
to start as simple as possible.
We don’t see it as much of a shortcoming as you *will* get all the
aircraft which are on TIS-B already displayed (just non-directional)
plus you get more (aircraft that TIS-B cannot or does not feel like
broadcasting)


TIS-B is NOT going to be discontinued. Maybe sometime after 2020 when all aircraft are ADS-B equipped, TIS-B will no longer be useful and be phased out, but until then it is a standard part of the US ADS-B deployment.

The non-directional PCAS functionality that is currently implemented in PowerFLARM is extremely primitive compared to the information that is available from TIS-B. For those of us who recreationally fly near or under Class B airspace, accurately seeing the location of all other GA aircraft in my vicinity is a BIG deal. For a glider pilot (and even a GA pilot), PowerFLARM would be a very compelling option if it supported TIS-B and there was a reasonably low cost way to transmit an ADS-B OUT signal. Without TIS-B support, I have absolutely no interest in PowerFLARM; There currently are, lower cost TIS-B compatible solutions available from a variety of vendors (Navworx, SageTech, etc.).