Trig TA60 Family Uses ADS-B In To Make Traffic Awareness Affordable

The FAA is investing millions in the ground infrastructure for ADS-B as part of the NextGen air traffic system, but it isn’t only for ATC. One of the benefits for US pilots is that any aircraft participating in ADS-B Out can also receive an uplink of all the nearby traffic – even if the other aircraft has only a conventional transponder.

To get this traffic information the pilot needs a receiver - ADS-B “In”. Trig Avionics is announcing a family of products to add 1090ES ADS-B receiver capability to General Aviation aircraft, with three products targeted at light aircraft, high performance aircraft, and turbine aircraft. The TA62, TA63 and TA64 will be fully certified C166b receivers, and are expected to be shipping at the end of 2010. Prices start from $1,800.

“We all know that ADS-B is the cornerstone of next generation air traffic management, but it also has advantages for the pilot,” said Andy Davis, CEO of Trig Avionics. “The biggest benefit is that traffic in the cockpit becomes affordable because you don’t need an active traffic system to see the same picture as ATC – in fact the TA60 family can be more accurate and information rich than TCAS II”.

An ADS-B traffic display can show call-sign, speed and heading information, relative altitude, and whether traffic is climbing or descending. The TA60 family also includes audio alerting of potentially conflicting traffic, including relative bearing and distance – “Traffic, 11 O’clock, One Mile”.
ADS-B is a replacement for (or supplement to) traditional radar based surveillance – instead of using ground based radar to interrogate aircraft and determine their positions, each aircraft will use GPS to find its own position and then automatically report it. In the US, two data links are supported – 1090ES, based on Mode S transponder technology, and UAT.

Most aircraft will use 1090ES for ADS-B “Out” since it is less expensive to install, but UAT and 1090ES can be mixed; the ground stations rebroadcast information received on one link back out on the other link. The TA60 series of receivers listen for transmissions on the 1090ES channel, and display traffic on a cockpit multi-function display. Compatible displays include those from Aspen, Avidyne and Garmin, as well as some portable GPS displays.

FMI: www.trig-avionics.com