The UKCAA has produced CAP3217 showing the response to last years 'Initial Concept of Operations' proposals. This has important things to say about the fidelity of Electronic Conspicuity devices.
As PilotAware has been saying for over 10 years it is vitally important that EC is designed and installed properly, its interoperability understood and it is regularly tested to show it is working.
To help Pilots determine whether their EC installation is working correctly the PlotAware VECTOR app has been extensively upgraded and improved. The CAA make it clear that it is the PIC’s responsibility that the EC is turned on working and installed correctly.
No matter what EC you have, you can now test its real world performance to see whether it is Good, Bad or Ugly. All you have to do is turn your EC on and fly. The more you fly the further you fly and the more turns you do the more data will be collected to produce the VECTOR Polar plot. You must have flown within the last 45 days, as after this period data will be discarded.
Join in by logging onto the PilotAware website scroll down on the opening page click the 'View Vector' button and follow the instructions shown below.
Insert your unique 6 digit ICAO HEX code, select update and watch the Vector Polar Diagram appear. If you dont know your ICAO code search for this on the GINFO section of the CAA website. Remember, you must have flown within the last 45 days!
VECTOR is intelligent enough to detect and compare all your EC transmissions so you can see the performance differences. Dont forget all EC installed in your aircraft must have the same ICAO code inserted otherwise you will experience the dreaded Ghost aircarft on your tail.
PilotAware detects all aircraft so we have unanimous meta data showing the generic performance of all types of EC and the performance of their installations
As well as showing you the radial and distance performance of your EC, VECTOR will also show you all flights within the last 45 days and the stations that were used to generate the VECTOR Polar diagrams. The unique aircraft plot below was formed from about 40,000 PilotAware pings over 45 days. The top 3 detecting stations are shown and in this case they were Wellesbourne Airfield and Bidford and Shennington Gliding Clubs.
The amazing power of the PilotAware ATOM GRID is demonstrated if ‘Show all Contributing Stations’ is selected. In this case 66 stations upto 79km are shown. The search is truncated at 80km so there may be more.
PilotAware has always been at the forefront of innovation in EC. Consequently we have included the use of AI technology to produce a performance review of all VECTOR plots. This gives details of the Performance, Weaknesses and what you can do to improve your EC
Here is an AI generated report on an aircraft with multiple EC. As with the previous diagrams the PilotAware and ADSL (O-Band) comes from a PilotAware FX installation with external antennas. The ADSB is DF17 using extended squitter from a transponder SIL= 0. Flarm is a Flarm mouse.
Here is another AI generated report on an aircraft with multiple EC. In this case ADSB from a transponder (DF17) PilotAware and Sky echo (DF18)
Often the AI report is not so good news but this is still critically important information. Armed with this evidence you can (i) understand the limitations of your current installation, (ii) do something to remedy it by installing external antennas or re-locating carry on equipment to its optimum position or (iii) acknowledging the inevitable and installing better better EC such as PilotAware FX with external antennas.
VECTOR now also provides a quick and convenient method of showing your transmission from the ground perspective by plotting your flights. This can be done by selecting the EC to be used for the individual flight or selecting all. You will instantly be able to see how multiple stations connected in a matrix will overcome air to ground obscuration giving smooth flight paths plotted by concatenating individual pings.
Mode-S traces will show the variances in multilateration and delay due to the rotational speed of the SSR.
Please free to use the latest PilotAware VECTOR to determine the fidelity (truth) of your EC. This will remain a complementary service whilst we are able to do so. Enjoy!
Stay safe and keep maintaining an effecting and continuous visual scan that includes your EC screen and audio alerts. No EC is 100% foolproof and many dont have it, dont switch it on or it simply doesn’t work. As we all will now know!
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