SureCheck TrafficScope Micro

Just became aware of this neat little device in the most recent soaring
magazine. A friend of mined saw the ad and called to ask if I had ever heard
of it. I replied, no I had not.
This device is supposed to identify the presence and distance of aircraft
transpoder bands. Small portable system with intregated antenna.

http://www.oxaero.com/SureCheck-TrafficScopeMicro.asp

Anyone have this device? If so, please tell us what you think.

Bob Fidler

Hello Bob:

I have a competitor. Mine was about $600. Mine reads my transponder and
the transponder of nearby aircraft, then has a readout of the altitutde
difference and an approximate range of the station. I have mine connected
to my electrical system (no batteries) and also to my com audio. When an
aircraft is near, a female comes onto the radio and tells me.

Just one more tool. To have the altitude differential readout, you need a
transponder - but it still works if you do not have a transponder, but reads
the other aircraft's altitude rather than the difference.

The unit you inquired about may not be as sophisticated.

Regarding the distance separation, it obtains that information by measuring
received power - so it is only a rough estimate. So, higher power
transponders will tell you the aircraft is closer while a transponder that
has an antenna hidden from yours will lie to you and tell you it is farther
away. But, since the received power of a signal falls off with the square
of the distance, your received signal will be more affected by distance than
any other factor.

Perhaps the one downside is that if the other aircraft has no transponder,
the unit will lie to you and say things are fine.

So, you still need touse your eyes and be alert - but if it catches one
aircraft that you missed, it is marvelous.

My unit is installed in a motorglider, where I mix it up with airplanes on
occasion.

I like it.

Colin

I've offered these and their predecessor and more expensive versions also,
http://www.wingsandwheels.com/page4.htm now for a number of years..they do
appear to do what they are advertised to do quite well...sold several...I
think they could be a good "option" for glider use and may in fact be more
useful than transponders to glider folks who fly in more heavily congested
traffic areas (Piper Cherokee's and C-172's don't have TCAS systems) they do
however do what they are advertised to do...and not more.....
tim
Wings & Wheels
www.wingsandwheels.com


"Bob Fidler" wrote in message
news:1vydnSX7TLgmZdnenZ2dnUVZ_s6dnZ2d@wideopenwest .com...
Just became aware of this neat little device in the most recent soaring
magazine. A friend of mined saw the ad and called to ask if I had ever
heard of it. I replied, no I had not.
This device is supposed to identify the presence and distance of aircraft
transpoder bands. Small portable system with intregated antenna.

http://www.oxaero.com/SureCheck-TrafficScopeMicro.asp

Anyone have this device? If so, please tell us what you think.

Bob Fidler

I've been using the Proxalert R-5 for over 2 years. I think this model was
originally designed for use in gliders, but it functions just as well in
power aircraft too. Optimal location is on top of glareshield. The R-5
provides more info than most other passive transponder alert devices,
showing up to 3 threat aircraft and their transponder codes. The xponder
code lets you know if they are talking to ATC, in which case, assuming you
also have a transponder, then they probably have been told about you.

bumper
"Bob Fidler" wrote in message
news:1vydnSX7TLgmZdnenZ2dnUVZ_s6dnZ2d@wideopenwest .com...
Just became aware of this neat little device in the most recent soaring
magazine. A friend of mined saw the ad and called to ask if I had ever
heard of it. I replied, no I had not.
This device is supposed to identify the presence and distance of aircraft
transpoder bands. Small portable system with intregated antenna.

http://www.oxaero.com/SureCheck-TrafficScopeMicro.asp

Anyone have this device? If so, please tell us what you think.

Bob Fidler

I had few flights with the micro and noticed that while it works as
advertised, the fact that it has no audio alert makes it useless IMHO.
Although it was velcrod on top of the glare shield in front of my eyes,
the only time I noticed the leds is when I remembered to look directly
at it, otherwise it is not noticable when our eyes are focused on
infinity.
I replaced the unit with a Monroy which has audio alert as well as
visual alert, and indeed most of the times I hear the alert before I
notice the leds. The Monroy ATD-200 doesn't take altitude into account,
so I do get alerts from airliners flying above, but the false alarm
rate is low, and it doesn't hurt to look around anyway. At the minimum,
it reminds you to look around when there is a higher probability of
conflict. This fact by itself worth the investment IMHO. Unfortunately
it is not very effective in detecting gliders, since most gliders
either don't fly with transponders or turn them off to conserve
batteries when away from TCA. I was suprised as for how few alerts I
received from gliders when flying over the White Mountains.

Ramy

There are new options out for collision avoidance.
http://www.zaonflight.com

They have an XRX which gives range, The altitude and direction. They
also have the MRX which gives range and the altitude. The MRX costs a
lot less than the monroy and has twice as many features.

I have one of the pre-production XRX units which works very well.