FLARM releases firmware for ADS-R and TIS-B

On Friday, January 15, 2021 at 7:25:24 AM UTC-8, Bruce wrote:
/s/
The new Powerflarm Fusion has wifi and blue tooth to feed ForeFlight etc. Does it feed the ADS-B weather info and notams etc to the Electronic Flight Bag systems?

Bruce

No. It has no way of doing this, FIS-B data is transmitted over UAT. PowerFLARM devices, (original ones with the "ADS-B option",--which all in the USA should have been purchased with, or the new PowerFLARM Fusion) receive ADS-B In on 1090ES In only. If they had UAT In capability we would not be having this whole announcement about ADS-R support. But just getting FIS-B is easy--you just need a separate UAT or better dual-link ADS-B receiver driving Foreflight, no need for the glider to be equipped with ADS-B to be a "client", that data is just broadcast in the blind as long as you have line of sight/range to towers (for wider area forecasts if you want that you may need line of sight to more distant towers, can be worth reading up on how FIS-B forecast data is transmitted if you plan to use this).

But the big question is did you want that Foreflight system to also display traffic data? Foreflight system driven by a dual-link ADS-B receiver will not display any FLARM only equipped traffic and won't provide FLARM style traffic alerts for any type of Traffic it can see. And without suitable ADS-B Out neither system will reliably display TIS-B traffic. What is the best choice here depends on what traffic threats are of most concern, and if the glider is ADS-B Out equipped, etc. and I sure worry that too many things displaying different data and beeping away in a cockpit is not a good idea.... or if folks do that they really understand what is going on and how to use the different systems.

PowerFLARM Fusion is a nice improvement over existing PowerFLARM units, including for use in the USA. In Europe and the rest of the world it does provide real "Fusion" between FLARM, ADS-B and different display devices but in the USA, with our overly complex ADS-B system not used anywhere else in the world the story is as usual more complicated. Here in the USA "Fusion" does not cover all of ADS-B capabilities (no UAT-In Direct, and no FIS-B) but it's included support for ADS-R and TIS-B is a good step forward.

On Friday, 15 January 2021 at 19:47:30 UTC+2, Darryl Ramm wrote:

PowerFLARM Fusion is a nice improvement over existing PowerFLARM units, including for use in the USA. In Europe and the rest of the world it does provide real "Fusion" between FLARM, ADS-B and different display devices but in the USA, with our overly complex ADS-B system not used anywhere else in the world the story is as usual more complicated.

Haha. European system is not complicated because it is from stone age, we have no way uploading data to aircraft. I would take US system in a heartbeat as my country supports only C-mode transponders (better than A-mode though), no-one has in heard the word ADS-B. Grass is truly greener on the other side of the fence.

On Tuesday, January 19, 2021 at 12:12:55 AM UTC-8, krasw wrote:
On Friday, 15 January 2021 at 19:47:30 UTC+2, Darryl Ramm wrote:

PowerFLARM Fusion is a nice improvement over existing PowerFLARM units, including for use in the USA. In Europe and the rest of the world it does provide real "Fusion" between FLARM, ADS-B and different display devices but in the USA, with our overly complex ADS-B system not used anywhere else in the world the story is as usual more complicated.
Haha. European system is not complicated because it is from stone age, we have no way uploading data to aircraft. I would take US system in a heartbeat as my country supports only C-mode transponders (better than A-mode though), no-one has in heard the word ADS-B. Grass is truly greener on the other side of the fence.

I'm not sure you really have much of an idea what you are saying. Especially I doubt you appreciate the limitations of using dual-link ADS-B for traffic. What data do you want transmitted to aircraft? FIS-B data? That can be done on UAT with no dependence on UAT for traffic awareness or surveillance , as has been done already in trials in the UK. You folks outside the USA could hopefully get the FIS-B data benefits without any of the dual-link traffic disadvantages.

I'm not sure where you are but, but Mode-C is pretty dead in Europe. EUROCONTROL managed to drive broader adoption of Mode-S based surveillance (initially for IFR flights). And there is nothing "stone age" about much of the Mode-S and 1090ES capable surveillance system across Europe. That use of Mode-S in Europe, including displacing/end of life of many Mode-C transponders, helped reduce RF congestion in the busiest airspace, and to plant a foundation for 1090ES ADS-B, and was likely a better long term surveillance and traffic avoidance move than what the USA did with preserving Mode-C use and pushing to go dual-link ADS-B.

And the end result? We have an ADS-B system in the USA that is very complex, could have achieved things like traffic awareness much simpler and better on a single link layer, but it is very nice for some things, like increased surveillance coverage, (but again that could have been done on a single link layer), but it cannot deliver many of the hyped past claims, likely can't allow safe reduction in the number of approach SSR systems for example, and is so fundamentally insecure that it may represent a serious national security risk.

On Thursday, January 14, 2021 at 5:24:35 PM UTC-7, Ramy wrote:
I’ve been flying with the beta version for several month and it works very well. This is also an opportunity to save by buying the powerflarm fusion in the discounted price of about $1500 which includes all licenses and save on the $160 license fee, then sell your old core when the price goes up.
On Wednesday, January 13, 2021 at 9:34:59 AM UTC-8, wrote:
Hi All - FLARM has announced release of firmware supporting ADS-R and
TIS-B reception. This feature is included in new firmware for Core
Fusion. For original PowerFLARM core and portable, this requires a
license available he
https://flarm.com/shop/ads-r-and-tis-b-reception-adsr/

Firmware is available he
https://flarm.com/support/firmware-u...nload-firmware.

Additional info about this feature he
https://flarm.com/products/product-add-ons/ads-r-tis-b.

Enjoy!
Best Regards, Dave

Ramy, do you have a Flarm B antenna, and if so, have you run the Flarm Range Analyzer on any of your flights with the Fusion? I'm curious to see how your coverage has improved.

Charlie