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ADS-B Issues

Seems I had to enlarge that hole for my Wheelen strobe also. Been thinkin- - Since the tail beacon doesn't have an integral strobe, how about two mounting fittings on the rudder - one for the strobe, and one for the beacon? Is that reasonable?
 
Just remove the engine driven generator/alternator, then you are exempt from ads-b out.
Unfortunately that is not allowed. The regulations specifically state that if the airplane ever had the engine driven equipment installed it can not be removed for this purpose.
In order to follow this line of reasoning the airplane must never​ have had an engine driven electrical source.
 
Steve, Unfortunately Seaworthy's airport has the outer edge of a class B airspace touching one side of the traffic pattern. Why not just make a spacer which pushes the tail beacon further out? That shouldn't be too difficult.
 
I feel lucky I live in the sticks and don't need this stuff.

Why not install a skyBeacon instead. Way simpler with the only modification being a .125" thick aluminum spacer on a stock Piper nav light bracket? And the skyBeacon is cheaper than the tailBeacon.
 
Mike---have you heard when the tail beacon will be out? I heard it was TSO'd--- now I hear uAvionix is dragging their feet r/t production--while the clock is ticking.

uAvionix got the TSO & PMA for the Tailbeacon a month or more ago.
They said that they started manufacturing them as soon as they got that approval,
and so would have plenty on the shelf, ready to go, when they got their STC.
They just recently finally got the STC approved.
I've been told that they're shipping units now, or will be in very short order (like next week).
I'm gonna buy one from a buddy who's a "qualified installer" & has pre-ordered a few.
If they delay the shipping date a bit to incorporate some new software to insure trouble-free ops,
that OK with me. Hopefully it will be a short delay, not one that will drag on until the ADS-B mandate's drop-dead date.
BTW my rebate window expired a couple weeks ago, but I got online last wed morning & got another one,
as did a buddy of mine. So the money's there, you just have to jump through the hoops properly to get it.
 
Pacific Coast Avionics shipped my TSO/STC’d TailBeacon for the 180 on Thursday.
Should have it installed by Wednesday.
Lou
 
If you order one of the uAvionix units, either the tail beacon or the sky beacon, you want to ensure that the unit has 1.4.0 software installed. If not, go to uAvionix web site, and look for the update link.

You'll have to use a PC to do the update, I was told that there is no compatibility with Apple devices. The update takes all of about 30 seconds, but it's designed to "fix" some of the issues I've been experiencing.

MTV
 
I feel lucky I live in the sticks and don't need this stuff.

Why not install a skyBeacon instead. Way simpler with the only modification being a .125" thick aluminum spacer on a stock Piper nav light bracket? And the skyBeacon is cheaper than the tailBeacon.


Steve--I have Whelan strobes on wing tips and they eliminate requirement for anti collision light and no anti collision light on fuselage
 
Steve, Unfortunately Seaworthy's airport has the outer edge of a class B airspace touching one side of the traffic pattern. Why not just make a spacer which pushes the tail beacon further out? That shouldn't be too difficult.

Pete---there has to be a reasonably easy fix
 
Pacific Coast Avionics shipped my TSO/STC’d TailBeacon for the 180 on Thursday.
Should have it installed by Wednesday.
Lou

Do you call Pacific Coast Avionics when your airplane breaks Lou? Or to get to your airline pilot side " I could have saved you some money on that Lou". :)
 
I have something in mind.

You can cut and weld on the rudder and repair fabric or make a spacer that is a bout an inch plus longer for it to stick out but would make it easy to get knocked off. I'd put it on the wing tip and be done with it. Super simple and you can see a tube and fabric Piper's strobes from behind in bright daylight no matter what the charts etc say. I have followed my Dad all over the country in his Clipper with them
 
You can cut and weld on the rudder and repair fabric or make a spacer that is a bout an inch plus longer for it to stick out but would make it easy to get knocked off. I'd put it on the wing tip and be done with it. Super simple and you can see a tube and fabric Piper's strobes from behind in bright daylight no matter what the charts etc say. I have followed my Dad all over the country in his Clipper with them

If you install ADS B Out device forward or aft of the nav light-- won't that obscure the visibility of that light from other aircraft? Would you install it a considerable distance from the nav/ strobe light on the wing tip? Are there any photos of such an install?
 
If you install ADS B Out device forward or aft of the nav light-- won't that obscure the visibility of that light from other aircraft? Would you install it a considerable distance from the nav/ strobe light on the wing tip? Are there any photos of such an install?

Google search for uAvionics. Plenty of pictures.

Also, could you explain what light assemblies you have installed on the wings and tail currently? You lost me on post #42.

Web
 
If you install ADS B Out device forward or aft of the nav light-- won't that obscure the visibility of that light from other aircraft? Would you install it a considerable distance from the nav/ strobe light on the wing tip? Are there any photos of such an install?

It replaces the nav light and contains a Nav light and strobe in one unit with the ADS-B out. Wired to your nav light switch so no extra wiring or anything.
IMG_20181218_102710.jpg
 

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scan0012_edited-1.jpg The strobes are on a separate circuit breaker and on off switch from nav lights. The Whelan strobes are STC'd. Would this new strobe-- which it appears cast light laterally rather than fore and aft, negate the Whelan STC because it is not visible 270 degrees? Or is it visible 270 degrees? Interestingly-- that is the light you repaired Steve ten years ago at New Holstein.
 

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I have replaced several Whelen nav/strobe lights with the skyBeacon. Same view of strobe and nav light. I disconnect the wire out to the strobe from the power supply and connect it to the wire coming from the strobe switch to the power supply. That way strobes still work on one switch as do nav lights/ADS-B.
 
I would point out that the anti collision light on the SkyBeacon is NOT a strobe. It is an LED . It’s bright as hell, but doesn’t look quite like a strobe.

Seaworthy, this unit is a legal replacement for both the nav light and the anti collision light. In other words, it meets the azimuth visibility requirements.

MTV
 
To go way back to #1 of the original post, I've read somewhere that some of the "FlightAware" type websites are putting up their own ground receivers. No way to go anonymous, unless they plan to pay for the stations with your payoffs. If the FAA data stream is free (is it?) what other motivation is there? In the 30 years its has taken to get the system off the ground, encryption has become cheap and common. Sigh..
 
To go way back to #1 of the original post, I've read somewhere that some of the "FlightAware" type websites are putting up their own ground receivers. No way to go anonymous, unless they plan to pay for the stations with your payoffs. If the FAA data stream is free (is it?) what other motivation is there? In the 30 years its has taken to get the system off the ground, encryption has become cheap and common. Sigh..
Here's a non-commercial ADS-B site run by enthusiasts: https://www.adsbexchange.com

Click on the radar icon on the right. You can zoom out and drag to anywhere in the world, and set that location as a default. The receivers are provided by volunteers and are not tied in to the FAA.
 
A little off center of topic but I think worthy of some consideration. Two flight
instructors went to pick up the Mooney one of them had purchased. The plane was
in excellent condition except for an electrical glitch in the avionics. Also
equipped with ADS-B out. Flight of only a few hundred miles to get it home. They
launched and almost immediately lost communications but continued the VFR flight
at 25-2800 feet and arrived home without incident- so they thought. It seems the
ADS-B unit was broadcasting their altitude as 25-28 THOUSAND feet for some reason. Since they
were showing up on the screens but were incommunicado multiple commercial flights were diverted by ATC. Military
jets were scrambled to look for the Mooney but were unable to find it at the high altitude. Our guys
were showing the plane to their buddies at the airport when Feds showed up.
Explanations were made. NASA reports have been filed, and hopefully all is well.
Be careful about ADSB-out. It can bite you in ways nobody expected and haven't thought of yet.
 
1. When you have your ADS-B Out unit set to "Anonymous mode", the unit still transmits your tail number to the FAA. The only anonymity is that your tail number is blocked to the "Public". So, if you're paranoid about Joe the child molester down the street possibly tracking you, set that puppy to anonymous mode, but understand that the FAA will still receive all the data they would have if the unit were in normal mode.

This long thread on the Van's site describes some testing done by individuals to determine just how anonymous these devices really are: http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=168704

"Anonymous Mode" may be more or less anonymous depending on the ADS-B Out vendor's implementation and what type of transponder you have. From what I've been able to gather, a Garmin GDL-82 in anonymous mode (pin 5 grounded) paired with a Mode C transponder squawking 1200 will not transmit uniquely identifying information, except possibly for the first few seconds after powering up. uAvionix devices have similar behavior that may be fixed with a firmware update.

I plan to do some of my own testing once everything is wired up. The only way to be really sure you aren't transmitting identifying information is to not transmit anything at all. Not legal for most, and not operationally feasible for many, regardless of legality.
 
Mode C can do the same thing.

A little off center of topic but I think worthy of some consideration. Two flight
instructors went to pick up the Mooney one of them had purchased. The plane was
in excellent condition except for an electrical glitch in the avionics. Also
equipped with ADS-B out. Flight of only a few hundred miles to get it home. They
launched and almost immediately lost communications but continued the VFR flight
at 25-2800 feet and arrived home without incident- so they thought. It seems the
ADS-B unit was broadcasting their altitude as 25-28 THOUSAND feet for some reason. Since they
were showing up on the screens but were incommunicado multiple commercial flights were diverted by ATC. Military
jets were scrambled to look for the Mooney but were unable to find it at the high altitude. Our guys
were showing the plane to their buddies at the airport when Feds showed up.
Explanations were made. NASA reports have been filed, and hopefully all is well.
Be careful about ADSB-out. It can bite you in ways nobody expected and haven't thought of yet.
 
I just received my uAvionix tailbeacon but I take from this thread, it will not fit to replace a Super Cub taillight. I'd be interested if anyone successfully fits it to a standard SC rudder.

I have Whelen Orion 650 wingtip led position and anti-collision lights I'd like to keep.
I'm in no hurry to install so I'll see what my several friendly A&P/IAs have to say.

As a near last resort, I'd consider the skyBeacon. Or sell the tailBeacon (also find out return policy) and say the hell with it.
I can fly over nearly all of beautiful almost heaven West Virginia without it. Plane's based outside Mode C but house unfortunately is just inside. No more sky waves to the wife!

Jim

Sent from my SM-T827R4 using SuperCub.Org mobile app
 
It won't fit a standard tail light mount? That is what it is designed to do. What changes do I have to make to the Super Cub rudder? Now is the time - we are running wires back there next week!
 
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