I've flown with ADS-B in for 13 months. I've flown with a panel mounted ADS-B in/out avionics system (GRT Horizon HXR/SkyRadar/Trig TT-22) for six months.
After this length of time, and dozens of flights, here are my conclusions:
1. ADS-B is effed up at the base engineering level. The system should be transmitting position information in the clear continuously, not just when triggered by an ADS-B out transmitter.
2. ATC doesn't know or care if the system is functional at any given moment, or if an individual ADS-B transmitter is up/down.
3. Flight Service, the part of the FAA with supposed reporting responsibility for ADS-B, also knows nothing about individual transmitters, or whether the system as a whole is up or down.
In other words -- NO ONE KNOWS OR CARES.
Right now, I'm frustrated. I have spent the money and installed the ADS-B in/out capability in my panel. I understand how the system works, and how it's SUPPOSED to work. Instead of growing in confidence, I have become LESS confident with it over time, as I have discovered the following:
1. Radar is pretty good. Not as good as XM (which I flew with for nine years), but pretty good.
2. Traffic is up/down/up/down. Improving slowly, but it's still up/down on the Texas coast, and mostly down inland.
3. When ADS-B goes down, no one in authority can tell us if it's a problem with the system, a problem with an individual transmitter, or a problem with our installation. Everything just goes *poof!* -- and you are left wondering whether it's a system, a transmitter, or an on-board avionics problem.
THAT is a fatal flaw, and one that needs to be addressed.
In fact, so far, the ONLY person I've found in the entire FAA who knows anything about ADS-B (and is willing to help) is the fellow who posted here last month about obtaining a report on our individual system's compliance.
Although this was welcome and helpful, it isn't worth a bucket of warm snot for troubleshooting ADS-B on a day-to-day basis. For that, we need the following from the FAA:
1. Published NOTAMs when the system, or individual transmitters, are down.
2. The ability to report anomolies and outages to the FAA on the fly, AS THEY OCCUR. (And, of course, someone who then analyzes and acts on these reports.)
Until this sort of two-way transparency happens, the system will remain flawed and dangerous. You will not know if you're seeing what you're supposed to be seeing, when you're supposed to be seeing it.
The FAA has six more years to get this right. Let's hope they figure it out.
After this length of time, and dozens of flights, here are my conclusions:
1. ADS-B is effed up at the base engineering level. The system should be transmitting position information in the clear continuously, not just when triggered by an ADS-B out transmitter.
2. ATC doesn't know or care if the system is functional at any given moment, or if an individual ADS-B transmitter is up/down.
3. Flight Service, the part of the FAA with supposed reporting responsibility for ADS-B, also knows nothing about individual transmitters, or whether the system as a whole is up or down.
In other words -- NO ONE KNOWS OR CARES.
Right now, I'm frustrated. I have spent the money and installed the ADS-B in/out capability in my panel. I understand how the system works, and how it's SUPPOSED to work. Instead of growing in confidence, I have become LESS confident with it over time, as I have discovered the following:
1. Radar is pretty good. Not as good as XM (which I flew with for nine years), but pretty good.
2. Traffic is up/down/up/down. Improving slowly, but it's still up/down on the Texas coast, and mostly down inland.
3. When ADS-B goes down, no one in authority can tell us if it's a problem with the system, a problem with an individual transmitter, or a problem with our installation. Everything just goes *poof!* -- and you are left wondering whether it's a system, a transmitter, or an on-board avionics problem.
THAT is a fatal flaw, and one that needs to be addressed.
In fact, so far, the ONLY person I've found in the entire FAA who knows anything about ADS-B (and is willing to help) is the fellow who posted here last month about obtaining a report on our individual system's compliance.
Although this was welcome and helpful, it isn't worth a bucket of warm snot for troubleshooting ADS-B on a day-to-day basis. For that, we need the following from the FAA:
1. Published NOTAMs when the system, or individual transmitters, are down.
2. The ability to report anomolies and outages to the FAA on the fly, AS THEY OCCUR. (And, of course, someone who then analyzes and acts on these reports.)
Until this sort of two-way transparency happens, the system will remain flawed and dangerous. You will not know if you're seeing what you're supposed to be seeing, when you're supposed to be seeing it.
The FAA has six more years to get this right. Let's hope they figure it out.