At Last Mode-S Traffic Can Be Displayed with a Bearing

Keith Vinning • 12 June 2019

in community General Aviation

11 likes

PilotAWare Mode-S/3D

Building on the view that interoperability between all preferred Electronic Conspicuity systems, voluntarily installed, is key to improving in-flight safety across Europe, PilotAware has announced that they are launching new software that allows all their existing units to plot Mode-S traffic as traffic with a bearing.

Using uplinked MLAT this is a world first innovation that uses the collective power of the community networks provided by the Open Glider Network and 360 RADAR. The new software will be most effective where OGN stations have been upgraded to OGN-R (Re-broadcast) which is predominantly in the UK. However, there are smaller but growing networks in Germany and Italy that are chasing at the tail of their British colleagues.

The power of the 140 stations in the UK, 10 in Germany and 3 in Italy to upload information to in-flight aircraft is not limited to sharing EC information as future innovation will show. For more information see pilotaware.com.

PilotAware Team

Comments (6)

Mark Tan • 4 years ago

I fly GA aircraft as a hobby and average 20+hrs a month flying anything from a Cessna 150, 172, 182, PA28s, Arrows, and a Turbo Mooney. I have carried the Beta version of Mode-S/3D for many months now all over Southern England, on various aircraft and different flight profiles. Conclusion - it WORKS VERY WELL!!.. Apart from the ADS-B targets (which are virtually n/a for spotting most other GA targets - commercial helicopters excluded), Mode-S targets present as accurately as ADS-B ones! For more than a dozen occasions now, mode-S targets have appeared on screen and if on ‘traffic service’, all I need to do is to wait for LARS to call me with the ‘traffic’!! It’s amazing seeing the mode-S targets pass me by and represented accurately on my screen! Of course, as Keith will tell you - this doesn’t replace keeping a lookout - you will be surprised (as I am) at the number of ‘Sunday flyers’ zooming around at 100kts without mode-S or any transponder turned on (not even any bearingless warnings!) Back to point - Amazing work by the PilotAware team. For less than 30% of the price of “other” devices that from my knowledge only presents ADS-B targets - which is practically useless for GA flying and conspicuity in England. Keep it up and congratulations!!

Angus Macaskill • 4 years ago

This sounds a very exciting development for those of us who fly around below 3000' most of the time - and with very little interest in large, high ADS-B traffic.

Mariko Bordogna • 4 years ago

I am a Proud member of the italian Pilotaware users community; thanks to the Whole team for their efforts to give us a better situation awarness

Dominique Roland • 4 years ago

Dear Keith,

This is a significant achievement! Your system is the first one providing such a impressive level of inter-operability. Thank you for you efforts in improving GA Safety!

Dominique

Keith Vinning • 4 years ago

Thanks and more to come until we meet our goal

Neil Murgatroyd • 4 years ago

Another happy user here.
Pilotaware now gives me many more (2 - 3 times) more targets using MLAT here in the SE of England. It has been particularly helpful in the last few weeks with glider competitions meaning there are more FLARM targets around, which it also warns me of.
(I also keep a good visual scan going)

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