Ahhhh Francis...where do I start?
Nothing new there, my friend....In fact! I can say I told you so! UAT was going to cost the US GA drivers plenty for what they will get. The FAA may well be putting in the ground stations that work on the dual system...however, a TCAS will not see UAT only( Hence, the need to maintain fitment of a transponder). AND even blind Freddy would tell you that the FAA will never stump up to fit UAT(GA only) in GA aircraft. I feel it somewhat ironic, UAT was designed because "Airline Only" mode S was perceived to be too expensive to use in GA...and now? Mode S is becoming ubiquitous and affordable and UAT is fast looking like a dinosaur dead end US only technology..(..payback for choosing their own DME instead of ours
)
Thank heavens our guys did not jump on the UAT bandwagon.
This scenario DOES NOT APPLY TO AUSTRALIA! A compliant Mode A,C,S 1090ES ADS-B Tx Transponder costs **** all compared to what the yanks will cost.
Panic not, my back door philosopher...there will be plenty of runes to scratch over after fitting out your little RAA bugsmasher so you can still fly in "Big Boy" airspace.