Garmin transponders and ADSB traffic from EC devices

[BoyRacer]

Hi VAF team (and hopefully Garmin reading this)

I am yet to reach out to Garmin to ask however, Saw some discussion today on Garmin transponders (e.g. a GTX45R) and that they filter out and exclude ADSB Mode S traffic from electronic conspicuity (EC) type transponders such as the uAvionox Sky Echo devices.

In Australia our ATC services will filter out such EC devices on our Class C & D airspace and they are not permitted for use as a compliant transponder. They do this by filtering out based on the SIL code that the EC devices squawk.

The whole purpose of these EC devices is to assist with traffic management so seem rather odd to me that Garmin may choose to exclude such devices from traffic pages/warnings on the GTX series of transponders.

Just wondering if anyone has any comments/experience with EC devices and Garmin traffic?

I am keen to so some trials locally once I can track down someone with an EC device.

Regards,

Byron.

 

[mburch]

I would assume that these transponders would be treated as NPE targets. My experience with the GTX 45R has been that a G3X system and portable/tablet devices will show these type of traffic targets, but the TSO IFR navigators (GTN etc) may not. See also a Garmin service bulletin related to this.

 

[BoyRacer]

Thanks Matt,

So, did some testing with a uAvionix Sky Echo 2 with a Garmin GTX45R, GPS20A and G3X (GDU460) running latest firmware on the G3X and GPS20A (Verision 9.22) but quite dated firmware the GTX45R (running ADSB software version 3.13 not the latest 3.41) as soon as the SkyEcho started transmitting it could be seen as traffic on the Garmin G3X system.

Next test is another plane that has a fully certified G1000 flight deck with ADSB so will see what that shows.

For the record with a transponder sniffer, the uAvionix Sky Echo 2 was squawking a SIL code of 1 and a NUCp of 4 (so a horizontal position accuracy of <0.5nM.

Regards,

Byron.

 

[mburch]

Further information from the GTX 3x5 TSO installation manual:

In ADS-B software v3.20 and later and when configured, the GTX 345 supports the output of ADS-B In traffic targets that do not meet performance requirements for display on certified traffic display systems. When using ADS-B software v3.30 and later, these traffic targets are always output on Connext Bluetooth (i.e. wireless), while wired interfaces remain dependent on the NPE PROC configuration setting. These traffic targets are referred to as Non-Performing Emitters (NPEs) because the ADS-B Out information they transmit (i.e., emit) does not meet the integrity and/or accuracy requirements for certified cockpit traffic display. Therefore, the GTX 345 NPE capability only supports installations on uncertified aircraft. Visual alerting and aural alerting for NPE traffic targets are optional based on the NPE configuration. GTX 345 NPE functionality is configured to disabled by default and must remain disabled for installations on certified aircraft.