I Can I See Myself on the G430 Traffic Display...

The RV displays traffic warning on the 430 screen from the 330 transponder which has proven to be very useful and accurate in the past. Last flight into Vegas however, I was letting down over the high terrain from the West and picked up a target centered on my position. Despite the severe clear weather, this is a traffic corridor and training area so the conflict was not unreasonable. After doing a visual search, I made a 90 degree clearing turn and the target followed. I then made a 180, and when the target followed again I decided I was seeing myself. I continued into VGT without ever seeing this "phantom" airplane.

Anyone else have this problem, and how is it fixed?

I too have this problem occasionally. Usually after I make a sharp turn or big altitude change (or 80% of the time when I do a loop). I think it is optimized for small course changes and big ones sometimes throw it off.

I've just gotten used to it and now treat it as no big deal.

me too

Hi, I had this problem with a Spam Can G1000. In my case I was in So Cal coming back from Point Mugu to Santa Monica along the coast below the ridge tops. Best I can figure out was the TIF traffic ground receiver was picking up a bounce off the Santa Monica mountains; or else I was being followed by an equally low funded pilot in a spam can.

Quite common in TIS systems. if I recall correctly, it has to do with the time delay in transmitting the primary radar data to the transponder.

Other possibility

Hey Mike,

You could have possibly flown over a radar site. We have one West of Buckeye AZ on mountain. When I fly the medical helicopter to Yuma we fly close to this site. We always get the "traffic, traffic," audio warning and the screen. Nothing there. The first few times it was a little unnerving!!!

Just a possibility.

Acro does it to me almost every day - the "system" just isn't designed for rapid changes of direction and altitude, as folks have said.

No acro on this flight, but the ridgeline to the west of VGT is essentially a 2000 foot sheer cliff. I usually am in a 1000 fpm descent and clear the lip with about 100 feet to spare trying to get under the Vegas B airspace. Since I'm under the lip in seconds once in the valley, I can sure see a radar bounce off the cliff as a possibility.

I'm sure I've seen this before - next time I'll have to pay attention to the circumstances immediately prior to the event. I never considered maneuvering flight as a trigger.

Thanks all!

Have had this happen often in a G1000 Diamond DA40, being that it is very flat here around Chicago and I am not flying near anything tall I don't think it is a "bounce". There are some areas that always seem to cause the system to see itself, other times it is random.

It may be that you are seeing separate interrogations from 2 or more separate Terminal Radar locations.

I have seen this on the G1000 as well as I pass over the top of a second radar station. It kinda freaks you out when you suddenly get warned of traffic that is right under your butt...literally.

Just a thought.

Don't get complacent

Thinking that you're seeing yourself on TIS and getting used to ignoring it could be a problem for you the one time that it's not really yourself that you're seeing on the screen.


I also wonder, given some of the demo's I've seen with ADS-B traffic displays where you can see other plane's N-numbers (assuming those are planes with ADS-B Out), if that wouldn't be the way to know if you're really seeing yourself or another plane.