Avionics News March 2014 - 72

ADS-B EARLY ADOPTERS
Continued from page 71

"Saying that, it's important to install
a good supporting hardware and software set - if that's possible - so future
upgrades are seamless."
At Sarasota Avionics, meanwhile,
only a few customers seem to be
waiting. "I would say there are a
few," Fryar said. "I truly don't think
the prices will go down if they wait,
especially when you compare it with
the NEXRAD (next-generation radar)
subscriptions each year."
One reason operators looking
to upgrade existing panels may be
waiting is, for some, there may be
more questions than answers. As too
often is the case, the basic answer to
the question of what it will take to

upgrade an existing panel to meet the
2020 ADS-B Out requirement is, "It
depends on what equipment already is
installed in the aircraft, along with its
operating characteristics."
Painless upgrades?
One of the key requirements of
the ADS-B Out standard is accurate
airborne position-finding. The vast
majority of contemporary ADS-B Out
installations use WAAS-enabled GPS
to perform this task. It doesn't have
to be WAAS GPS, but it's a readily
available and well-understood technology meeting the standard. Happily,
that same onboard accuracy can be
deployed to navigate, resulting in
ILS-like arrival procedures to airports
lacking precision-approach capability,
among other benefits. In other words,

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anyone contemplating an avionics
upgrade to the ADS-B Out standard
likely will need a WAAS-enabled
GPS navigator capable of sharing its
position-finding capability with other
installed equipment, for example, a
suitable transmitter.
And there is a significant number
of in-service general aviation aircraft
equipped with WAAS GPS, since the
technology became FAA-approved in
2003. Already having WAAS GPS
may or may not simplify installing
ADS-B Out. The ADS-B transceiver
must have an interface to the installed
equipment, which may or may not
be compatible. But market penetration can dictate a simple solution.
Meanwhile, many non-WAAS GPS
navigators can be upgraded to the
WAAS standard only after replacing
the associated antenna and cabling,
along with a software upgrade.
At the same time, many non-WAAS
navigators can't be upgraded to the
WAAS standard. They will have to
be replaced, or at least supplemented
by a WAAS-enabled GPS receiver.
Under this scenario, the existing nonWAAS navigator is retained for navigation, while a second GPS receiver with WAAS capability might be
installed simply to provide the location data ADS-B Out requires. This
second GPS receiver likely would
be part of a so-called "single-box"
solution designed to provide ADS-B
Out capability with minimum hardware or installation costs, and little
downtime.
The worst-case scenario involves
an aircraft lacking any GPS navigator, or one that isn't upgradeable to
WAAS and capable of interfacing
with ADS-B Out equipment. In this
instance, a wholesale panel revision
may be in order, further increasing costs
and downtime. The good news with this
scenario, of course, is the operator can

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avionics news

march

2014

Continued on page 74

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Avionics News March 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News March 2014