TCAS and Nil Mode C Targets
Question from an ATC point of view.
We often get a lot of aircraft beneath our approaches who for one reason or another (poor training / inexperience / unfamiliarity with panel?) only select ON instead of ALT on their transponder.
TCAS equipped aircraft flying the approach get a bit nervous about them, and rightly so - However, aircraft overflying the same no Mode C aircraft at say 10000FT don't even see it.
My question is, how does your TCAS determine when a non-Mode C target is going to display on your TCAS unit as traffic, whether proximate or otherwise? Obviously it cannot be based on a pre-set altitude (cannot be determined) so how does it do it?
By the way I have asked a lot of the local pilots operating in to our area, and none have been able to give me a defintive answer - I think they are in the dark as much as me to be honest.
Last edited by Shitsu_Tonka; 7th July 2006 at 01:40.