Avionics News June 2014 - 57

Hall's airplane is. About 100 of the 230 air traffic
control facilities across the country are already using
ADS-B to separate traffic, and all of them will be
doing so before the mandate for equipage takes effect.
TIS-B (traffic information service-broadcast)
provides track information on transponder-only
aircraft that are being detected by air traffic control
radar to ADS-B In equipped aircraft. The TIS-B
service is provided within a 15-nautical mile radius,
up to 3,500 feet above or below the receiving
ADS-B In aircraft's position. A general aviation
aircraft equipped with ADS-B In can also receive
position data directly from other aircraft
broadcasting on the same ADS-B
Out frequency. ADS-R (automatic
dependent surveillance-
rebroadcast) relays position
information broadcast by
ADS-B avionics on the 1090
MHz ES link to aircraft
receiving data on the 978
MHz UAT link and vice versa.
The ADS-R service is provided
within a 15-nautical mile radius
and plus or minus 5,000 feet
of airspace volume relative to the
receiving aircraft's position.
Many avionics repair shops contacted by the
Federal Aviation Administration for this article
have already installed ADS-B equipment on a
dozen or more aircraft to meet the agency's 2020
equipage mandate. The FAA wants to assist them and
aircraft owners with guidance on how to complete
installations correctly. Proper adherence to certain
technical details is essential.
There are about 150,000 unequipped aircraft that
need to have ADS-B Out installed. Based on this, the
FAA and repair shops are recommending that aircraft
owners begin accomplishing installations as soon as
possible. This will help aircraft owners avoid being
caught in the expected rush of activity leading up to
the 2020 deadline.
When aircraft are equipped with ADS-B Out,

controllers are provided with increased position
updates and without need for interrogation by groundbased radar systems.
"One of the things I tell people is that right
now there may be no hurry, but they shouldn't let
the ADS-B installation go past 2016," said John
DenDekker, general manager for Carpenter Avionics
at Smyrna Airport in Smyrna, Tennessee. "The last
three years of installations before the mandate will
be crazy. Waiting until then means a pilot can't take
advantage of ADS-B In services, which are being
broadcast to aircraft today."
Transponder-equipped aircraft that fly in
controlled airspace today will need ADS-B
Out when the mandate takes effect in
2020. That's far enough away that
many ADS-B installations can be
done now when aircraft are in for
other work.
"If we are doing installation
work on an aircraft, ADS-B is just
an add-on right now," said Chuck
Gallagher, manager of Cincinnati
Avionics at the Clermont County
Airport in Batavia, Ohio. "If the aircraft
is opened up for other avionics work,
ADS-B is not a hard sell."
Gallagher also expressed concern that general
aviation aircraft owners will wait until the last minute
to add ADS-B, and by then there may not be enough
capacity at U.S. repair shops to equip them all by the
deadline.
Repair shop operators say aircraft owners and
operators may be delaying because they are confused
about what to do. But the experience of early adopters
is helping the general aviation community understand
how to proceed. To make installation easier to
understand, the FAA Flight Standards Service's
Aircraft Maintenance Division is providing a list of
frequently asked questions and a checklist to guide
repair shops:
Continued on following page
avionics news

*

june

2014

57
Avionics News June 2014

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