Originally Posted by
Dora-9
Eclan:
I checked with an Air Services friend and he thought you'd just be harder to "see" - but there would be a return. I ended up entering BNE without a Xpdr once and it took them a few minutes to "find" me, but then again I did tell them I was coming!
I think your friend meant to say that ATC can still find you on
primary RADAR.
No Xponder = No SSR return.
I note this from Airline Online:
Three radar industry and ATC sources in southeast Asia consulted by AIN confirmed that air traffic controllers rely almost exclusively on SSR and receive little or no refresher training on the use of primary radar after their initial qualification. Military radar controllers also rely on SSR to identify civilian air traffic.
I suspect you were ‘found’ on the primary RADAR because they knew you were ‘there’ and where to ‘look’ to find your primary return.