Mode S... in a Luton Minor?!

[A and C]

The whole thing is up and running in the USA , eurocontrol have all the hardware for the TCAS side of this but at the moment the software is not installed , I have no idea what they are doing about real time weather images.

http://www.bendixking.com/static/cat...ls.jsp?pid=207

Will show you the sort of equipment that will show this data.

[Flap40]

At the moment the mode S transponders on the market are not practical for gliders , microlights and older aircraft without electrical systems , The CAA know this and have commissioned research program for a low cost low power consumption mode S transponder.

I hate to say it, but there IS a cheap(er) (under £2k) Mode S available that is designed for gliders etc and is low power consumption (0.1A) so can run off a battery. It also has the height encoder built-in.

[Genghis the Engineer]

But at a bit under £2k that's still more than half the value otherwise of many cheap gliders or microlights, and more than the total value of one or two.

G

[A and C]

I have to agree with Genghis that 2K is to expencive and the mode S will only become practical when the cost reaches that of the hand held GPS units that are on the market today.

I would expect the price to fall with mass production.

[Flap40]

But they have been "mass producing" mode A/C transponders for years and they are still approx £1200. I do realise that there will be many who can't afford even that, but I was trying to point out that if you look beyond Garmin/King you can halve the price of mode S (if you want to!). I'm currently building a Europa, and since I'll need a transponder to visit parents/inlaws in Jersey, I'm fitting mode S because I can see no point in paying £1200 now and £2000 in 2008.
The only thing that you can be certain of is that they will be cheaper a year after implementation!

[astir 8]

Given that my favourite form of aviation is any glider built 40+ years ago,is made of wood, preferably doesn't have a cockpit canopy and is certainly valued at less than £2k by the insurers, I would regard "expensive" as anything much more than £200.


It would also need to be easily moved from one aircraft to another 'cos I wouldn't want to buy a transponder for each one I fly!

So something akin to a cheap GPS or I join the "antis" very smartly!

PS as I understand it, if everything had a transponder, ATC would then have to install software to screen out most of the slow moving "clutter" - so why put it in to start with?

[Evo]

PS as I understand it, if everything had a transponder, ATC would then have to install software to screen out most of the slow moving "clutter" - so why put it in to start with?

Even if ATC filter it out, I presume your transponder is still useful for TCAS-equipped aeroplanes?

[astir 8]

Well I only fly my wooden gliders in open airspace. I assume that most of the cheaper powered aircraft do the same. Would you care to estimate how many TCAS equipped aircraft are out there with us at any given time?



The whole transponder issue smacks strongly of EU bureaucrats heavily influenced by the ATC/airline lobby to me

[SKYYACHT]

Ludwig.....loved the idea of multiple TCAS.....Kingy and QDMx3 ...agree completely......I wonder how soon they would lose interest if the courts were overloaded with articulate individuals defending their right to fly safely without the dead hand of EASA/JAA nannying them along.....Long live freedom to do our own thing.

Rant over.