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HomeHomeDiscussionsDiscussionsiFly Wish-ListiFly Wish-ListAudio call out of nearby traffic?Audio call out of nearby traffic?
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11/13/2015 9:38 AM
 

So, now that I'm enjoying cheap ADS-B via Stratux, it would be nice if iFly could audibly call out traffic.

I was returning to my home airport last week and apparently there was an aircraft in the area triggering Traffic alerts. There were about 20 targets flying around. (Most all in the north pattern.) So many targets that I had to zoom in super high to resolve them.

Then it occurred to me that when I see traffic on iFly, I put my head down to study where the traffic is. Which is the last thing I should be doing when I've been told there's traffic near me.

So, could iFly call out the nearest threat like an Air Traffic Controller? ("Traffic, 11 o'clock, your altitude.") I can barely hear the Terrain alerts on my Tablet as it is, but if this feature were implemented, I would figure out a way to plug (or BT) my tablet into the intercom system.

 
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11/13/2015 10:28 AM
 

This is just about the last thing I would want. Just when you need to listen to ATC, your tablet starts chattering about all the traffic in the area. Are we pilots or passengers? And, yes, I know we could turn it off if we didn't want to hear it.

 
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11/13/2015 3:29 PM
 

Most (quality) intercom systems with auxiliary inputs will mute the input when the radio/intercom is active. In my case, it remains muted for 5 seconds after the last sound before easing the volume back up. So Ted Nugent remains politely silent while I'm talking to ATC or talking to passengers or listening to the AWOS, and then dials it back up to 11 for the remainder of Stranglehold. It'd be the same with traffic callouts, minus the shredding of the air guitar.


Jeff Nokomis Clark, Mooney M20G, iFly app on ASUS ZenPad Z8s, ASUS ZenFone AR, ASUS Windows 10 tablet, Stratux ADS-B w AHRS
 
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11/13/2015 5:48 PM
 

Our intercom isn't as fancy as yours (actually, it might be, but I don't have it hooked up that way) but 1) I don't use ATC much when flying VFR. And that's when I need Traffic alerts the most. So there's rarely an audio conflict in that scenario; 2) God made ears pretty smart. You can "focus" your ears to pick out what you want to hear. In our plane, we have a Monroy PCAS wired to the overhead speaker. We can spatially distinguish the traffic warning from it from conversations with ATC.

In fact, we have a voice annunciator circuit I wrote about in KITPLANES years ago. We pre-recorded Warning messages onto a chip and precede them by two quick "ding-ding's" to get your attention. It comes over the Intercom, same as ATC. Even so, it's amazing how well that gets your attention in a cacophony of noises. 3) Even if there was an audio conflict, I would rather have an audible traffic warning and miss a call from ATC while I'm looking out the window from traffic rather than have me looking down looking at a screen for traffic.

If audio conflicts were really an issue, iFly could offer both a male and female voice ( like many automotive moving maps offer), so that, if ATC was a man, and having iFly talk to you in another man's voice bothered you, you switch to the female voice on the iFly. If nothing else, that would be a cool Marketing thing. (Could also offer accents. Perhaps iFly could use the already existing text to speech voices available on the Internet. Extra cool.)

And last, if I understand it correctly, the ultimate purpose of Free Flight is to eliminate air traffic controllers. (Their Union.) Or to greatly minimize voice communication in the cockpit with fewer controllers. Already several commercial carries are using digital DataLink to communicate. (And really, on my average IFR flight, 80% of the conversation is frequency changes.) So if things go according to plan, the cockpit will be sterile someday. Except for those playing Ted Nugent in the background, iFly will be the only thing talking. In fact, iFly could play "Pilot-Navigator" on us with verbal warnings like "You're drifting left of course," or "I've lost the GPS signal, Dave," etc. (The HAL 9000 reference really cracks me up. :-) )

 
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11/13/2015 6:54 PM
 
ErgoMike wrote:

Except for those playing Ted Nugent in the background, iFly will be the only thing talking. In fact, iFly could play "Pilot-Navigator" on us with verbal warnings like "You're drifting left of course," or "I've lost the GPS signal, Dave," etc. (The HAL 9000 reference really cracks me up. :-) )

Exactly what I don't want. I also don't listen to music while flying an airplane.

 
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HomeHomeDiscussionsDiscussionsiFly Wish-ListiFly Wish-ListAudio call out of nearby traffic?Audio call out of nearby traffic?