Are these not the same minima that are applied to aircraft on a 7000 squawk? Which is why I say that in class G airspace an ORCAM code is no better than a 7000 squawk.
Yes and no . . . . . 3000ft and returns not to merge on a 7000 and 3000 ft and returns can merge on a validated code. Now the finer point of when an ORCAM squawk can be considered validated and verified. . . . . well if it's seen to leave CAS then that's good enough for me. Which sort of fits into the wider debate; when I started nearly 30 years ago separation standards were 5 nm (I guess because at range the returns were massive and several miles across) but can now be co-ordinated to 3 in some circumstances. I believe the same level of enhancement could be applied to SSR. Transponders and technology today is far more accurate and robust than 30 years ago and I believe the rules for verified / unverified could be dropped as the altitude errors are few and far between. The main issue is educating the GA to turn the switch past the 'On' selection to 'Alt' so we get the mode C as well. This i see many many times a day as the little dash next to the Mode A code indicates that the transponder is Mode S and therefore has mode C. Error code 404 operator error !
Good debate thanks all Fred.