Zaon MRX Portable Collision Avoidance System
 

I know there are other similar threads about PCAS but how many of you are using this particular unit and how useful do you find it day to day?

I have an MRX, it a a good bit of kit. I wrote an article in Flyer “Summer 09” with a flight test of several collision avoidance systems. If you can get a copy...

Rod1

Thanks for that. I wondered if it was obvious when using it that it was the cheaper brother of the XRX. If it was more of a gimmick than the XRX?

If you have a garmin gps (495/496), or other gps/pda and you interface the XRX to the GPS you get really useful traffic data which is pretty accurate in azimuth as well as altitude. It shows on the GPS screen using TCAS symbols. I don't fly without it now, and it is really easy to interface.

The UK do not have the same system as the USA so you cannot get traffic to interface and show on a Garmin 430.

As for the PCAS. There are times when it can be very useful. However I used to get occasional "ghost" aircraft where a warning would pop up quite close and appear to formate on me then disappear.

The PCAS altitude of the other aircraft is usually very accurate. The distance is not always accurate as PCAS uses a different system to establish distance and if the other plane's transponder aerial is dirty it gives an erroneous distance readout.

The verbal warning is just loud enough to hear when wearing headphones.

PCAS only gives 3 clues about the other aircraft. They are distance in nm, how many 1000s of feet above or below and if the aircraft is climbing or descending. The PCAS will give you traffic advisory if the other aircraft is getting closer and a resolution advisory if it is a serious threat. It is also quite intuitive to work out yourself i.e if other traffic is shown as 2 miles away, 300 feet above and the distance becomes 2.2 miles you are diverging, not a problem. However if it is 100 feet above, pops up at 3 nm and the distance decreases very rapidly he is probably coming head on.

There is nothing quite like looking out of the window and one should not use PCAS instead of that. I have had 2 instances where the PCAS warned me in advance of aircraft which I then saw and had to take avoiding action otherwise I would have come very close.

I have also flown in very busy airspace where the PCAS was going off continuously and I switched it off.

So my summary would be PCAS is not perfect but it is a very useful bit of kit especially in poor vis. It does not stop you from hitting non transponder equipped aircraft!

Actually... You can, both Ryan and Collins do TCAD systems that will display on a Garmin x30.

Maybe not the XRX to 430, but you can certainly interface it to the Garmin 496 / 495 and 395 I believe as well as the Aera. Traffic is depicted on the gps screen with TCAS like symbology as well as audio TRAFFIC alerts. Gives very accurate altitude and azimuth data.

Thanks Bose-X, I didn't think it was possible and am delighted to be proved wrong. Apologies for thread creep but can you give me some idea of the approximate cost in the UK to add a Ryan or Collins TCAD to my existing Garmin 430 to show traffic?

You are welcome! You are not going to get much change from about £6k. I would talk to Gary at IAE.

ok, i'm new here but have a 496. What is a XRX please and where do i get one? Any idea of cost?

thx.

Portable Collision Avoidance System.

The Zaon XRX costs about £1000 and can show other transponding aeroplanes. It can interface to your Garmin giving you "TCAS like" traffic info. Works very well in my experience.

Plus you need the interface cable at about £80. Or you can buy then from Sporty's for about half the price..or make them yourself for about a quarter the price.

I've got the Zaon MRX, cheap and cheerful but I wouldn't be without it now. Doesn't take you "head in" for long as it gives you an audio warning and just a line of info.

on this particular unit unlike its bigger brother which has a screen, does it warn for all aircraft even ones that will pass behind you? Ie will you end up looking for aircraft that pose no risk? Or does it only warn for potential conflict?

The MRX does not know if the other aircraft is behind you or in front of you. It just looks at altitude, distance and closure rate and generates a warning accordingly.

So to answer your question. If an aircraft is going to pass very close behind you it will give you a warning until the distance starts to increase. If it is going to pass a significant distance behind you it will not give a warning in the first place.

PROVIDING the other aircraft also has TCAS/PCAS/Transponder. If it doesn't then your PCAS unit isn't going to pick it up.

Hmnn... So when I am bimbling around in my home area, outside CAS no transponder, and up to 10,000 feet altitude?
Keep looking out the windows guys there's a lot of us out there. :sad:

About 50% of the flying machines you are likely to run into on a Saturday in July have a transponder. I am an ex glider pilot who thought his lookout was very good. My aircraft has a bubble canopy which gives very good vis. My PCAS is about twice as good at spotting traffic as I am. Most of the aircraft without transponders are at the slower end of the spectrum, so you are more likely to see them. The turbo prop which hits you up the back doing 160kn will probably have a transponder.

See the summer edition of flyer if you want more.

Rod1

Im going to order a MRX then. I see the main disadvantage over the XRX is no detection screen so it may well give alerts fo aircraft behind me and I would have to look 360 degrees until I spotted it.

I also like the fact it will run for hours on just 2 AAs.

Flightstore seem to be the cheapest with their recent price reduction, £419, unless anyone knows of anywhere cheaper?

Probably has TCAS as well, but may not understand that the plastic thingy at the front is for looking through.

The report of the Cirrus passing through a glider/tug combination and killing 3 people might have something to do with not looking out.