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HomeHomeDiscussionsDiscussionsiFly General Di...iFly General Di...SkyGuard TWX and the FAASkyGuard TWX and the FAA
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6/2/2015 10:14 AM
 

Well, I had a friendly call from the FAA telling me to either have my ADS-B out fixed or turn it off. The out is 100% fail and that is probably because the it is not broadcasting a Barometric Altitude. I explained that TSO certification was ongoing and was expected before the 2020 mandate, but it was explained that while the mandate wasn't until 2020 that there were regulations in effect requiring units in operation to meet the standards. Since mine was not I got a phone call.

Not wanting to bash Don with Skygyard and sent him the same information just incase he wasn't aware. Evidently the FAA started monitoring the Compliance reports and calling those that are not in compliance.

I guess I will be turning my transmit off sooner than my planned GPS upgrade. My only hope is that there are enough units out there to keep the puck active in my flight area.

My thoughts are that many will be getting these phone calls over the next few weeks and months. I hope not but it sounds likt they set up a group to review the data printouts starting last November.

Bad news for all of us really.

 
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6/2/2015 10:48 AM
 
I assume that Skyguard is transmitting GPS altitude, which as we all know can be far from the barometric altitude, and is probably more accurate! But I would have thought that any report of altitude would be better than none at all. This seems to be an over reaction to me.
 
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6/2/2015 12:56 PM
 
If you have put your transponder code into the Skyguard, then ATC is reading your Mode C through the transponder output ------ not sure I understand what the FAA could be bitching about ---- more info needed.

 
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6/2/2015 1:01 PM
 

It has to do with the ADS-B Aircraft Operation Compliance Report.

the compliance report measures the compliance of many factors with any ADS-B output. Because the portable ADS-B out does not get baromatric altitude information from the Mode C transponder this information is not broadcast via the ADS-B transmission. There were several items that showed fail.

Baro Altitude 100% fail

SDA 100% fail

Val 1.22% fail

Pos A .18% fail

ICAO Duplicate 2.15% fail

Anyone broadcasting ADS-B out can e-mail for these reports but it sounds like the FAA is actively looking for these issues and has been since last November.

 
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6/2/2015 4:53 PM
 

As I understand it, non-certified ADSB is perfectly okay until 2020. And since it's non-certified, it is by definition non-compliant. EG, you cannot hook a non-certified ADSB device to a certified Pitot-Static system to get accurate pressure data.

We've seen FAA agents receiving & deciminating conflicting information before. I consider it possible that what you were told is simply incorrect.

The FAA agent you spoke with said "there were regulations in effect requiring units in operation to meet the standards". Next time, I would ask for clarity on that: What regulation? Is this in the CFR? An Advisory Circular? A NOTAM? Something else? (I wouldn't be rude about it ;-). If they cannot answer that, I wouldn't treat the information as gospel. If they do give you something, please post back - would love to read that myself.

-Walter


Walter Boyd
President, Adventure Pilot
 
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