ADSB In/Out solutions

Electrical and Panel
1

Seeking advice from the brains trust.

I am looking to purchase a good ADSB In and Out solution. Australia has a 50% grant program (capped at $5000) which will make the cost more reasonable.

The out solution has plenty of options but I am struggling to find a good In solution that isn’t portable. I wish to see the traffic and hear allerts through my MGL Explorer lite IEFIS.

The MGL guru advised the following is needed:

Any ADS-B receiver (which might be included in some transponders) that outputs GDL-90 protocol (which should be pretty much all of them as this is the standard) on a RS232 feed will work.

Trouble is, it is hard to find that info and after reaching out to some of the providers, they too seem to lack any info on this.

Has anyone gone down this path yet and have a successful ADSB In/Out solution?

I am not interested in the portable options.

1 Like
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Hi Murray,

I get lost in the technicalities so give me a fair bit of slack on my reply;

I have a:

  • Trigg transponder with ADS-B Mode S Out.
  • iPad Mini, panel mounted, with OzRunways, connecting with other aircraft/OzRunways, enhanced by GPS, showing traffic (“Blue Balloons”.)
  • SkyEcho 2 (SE2)delivering low power ADS- B Out/In. Showing on the iPad with quicker/more detailed Blue Balloons.
  • Enhancing the above, is AvTraffic, giving audio warnings via Bluetooth, of potentially conflicting traffic.

The last is a work in progresses, as I am having problems with the Bluetooth headset adapter (to David Clark).
When I get the headset Bluetooth working, I will have a near radar In capability, in my aircarft with very capable ADS-B/Mode S out, informing ATC & appropriately equipped aircraft of my ID, location & direction in space.

With the exception of the Trigg, the rest has been relativly low cost.

The SE2 & iPad, can be portable however I have chosen to hard mount them.

What do you have against portables?

:smiling_face_with_horns:

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Murray,

I also was looking for a more permanent solution for ADSB In with my MGL Avionics. I went with the UAT Echo solution. Seems to work seamlessly with the MGL system and transmits all the data via WIFI to my iPad.

While we are on the topic of permanent installations - I also installed the Guardian CO Monitor directly into the IP. I was surprised how many times it went off on my initial test flights. I was running too rich at idle - probably not getting a good/clean combustion. Now that my mixture is dialed in - no more alerts.

Bill

N67WX

1 Like
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Take a look at the iLevel for ADSB-in.

I’m putting one in my OneX because I’m finding the MGL adahrs to be unreliable.

Never hurts to have a backup

2 Likes
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I bought a used EchoUAT for < $1k USD and got the echoAlt encoder from UAvionix for free so I can still use it legally in FAA-land. ADS-B In and Out both work great after a little configuring.

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Thanks Sean,

I have the Skyecho 2 as well but I am sick of the suction cups letting go and also having to pack it up and take it home to charge it. I aslo would prefere to have the traffic display on the MGL IEFIS and have alerts through my coms.

Besides the above, the power is so low that I have had other pilots lose my signal even in the circuit. It’s no wonder class C doesn’t allow EC (electronic conspicuity) devices in their airspace which I plan to start doing again once I have met all the requirements.

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Thanks Bill,

This is something which should meet my requirements, however, it appears they don’t sell these anymore. Does anyone know where they can be purchased from?

They may have been replaced by the Skysensor (wing tip light version) but that model doesn’t seem to have the RS232 wiring, just Wi-Fi unless I am missing something in the promo’s.

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Thanks for that leed.

Their website states the following:

You can connect the iLevil 3 AW to other navigation devices like Garmin GTN-650 or 750 and others alike using RS232 aviation data or NMEA $GPRMB autopilot string.

I will have to reach out to them and see if they use the GDL-90 protocol.

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Thanks Jester

Did you buy it used because they aren’t available new? I am struggling to find if they still sell them.

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Yes, bought used because not available new.

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My SE2 is plugged into ship power - no need to take home.
I also got sick of the suction cup failing, now have a more durable (non suction) mounting on glare shield.
As for conspicuity - people seem to pick mine up at some considerable distance.
As for Class-C airspace - I am unaware of any Australian restrictions on SE2 use - ATC does not respond to/monitor low power ADSB IN/OUT devise’s :smiling_face_with_horns:

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I have a Appareo Stratux ESG that I will be installing soon. You can sometimes find the units for a decent price used on Ebay. I know you’re in Australia so YMMV on that.