Avionics News January 2014 - 20

THE IN CROWD

Continued from page 19

coupled with innovative user software to wrest paper as
the pilots charting choice - even when it means spending
first on the tablet.
Another cost ripe for elimination: Those monthly subscription services for satellite datalink weather appear ripe to
get picked off in favor of an ADS-B In receiver that delivers
the same product to both panel-mounted and portable devices popular with pilots.
One pilot told us of his own cost analysis of going to
ADS-B In ... so how long does it take to recover the costs of
ADS-B In hardware?
Fourteen months - just 14 for savings from a canceled
subscription service to recoup the costs of an ADS-B In
system, hardware and software ... not counting the viewing
device: his adapted EFB, an iPad.
He spent four-figure money six years ago to add a satellite-datalink receiver that play its graphics on his GPS and
MFD. He now claims he's saving the equivalent of 12 to 13
hours of flying by switching his mental monitoring from that
satellite-datalink provider and its fee-based services to the
free service now available via ground-station broadcasts of
ADS-B In's parallel services.
And since the ADS-B In receiver connects with his iPad
via Bluetooth, he incurred no costs for installing the receiver.
At a savings of $50 a month, plus taxes, the pilot figures
14 to 20 months for the time needed for savings on the
terminated subscription to equal the costs of the ADS-B In
receiver.
His lowest estimate for a traffic-avoidance system started
at about $10,000, installed. For the same money he spends
to get weather, he'll get something else new - at another
significant savings - in the form of a traffic-alert/collisionavoidance system.
A LARGE POOL
There are literally thousands of prospects who never had
traffic or cockpit weather ... they fly anything from noelectrical-system vintage designs to common old Cherokees and Skyhawks or old Bonanzas and Comanches - and
for many of them, the costs of a traffic sensor, weatherdatalink receiver and some screen on which to play the
graphics represents a majority percentage of their aircraft's
value.
Combine cheaper charts, free traffic and weather, and
there's little wonder pilots are finding ways to cover the
relatively low costs of ADS-B In.
It's typical of a pilot public looking for every edge
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avionics news

january

2014

they can find to continue to afford flying.
Is it any wonder that avionics manufacturers are jumping into the field almost faster than buyers can keep up?
Even for the buyers of ADS-B In systems designed to
work with portable devices, avionics shops can find a role
in sales of the In receivers and in helping users set up their
devices, in and out of the cockpit.
Consider how some of these options might benefit your
avionics shop's customers - and whether your participation might swing them to the free side and put a few dollars in the accounts receivable envelope.
THE OPTIONS - FOR NOW
Consider these ADS-B In options as potential enhancements for your customers' aircraft - and if they're not
already flying with a portable computer and EFB software, the added potential of subscription-free traffic and
weather could help swing the deal.
PORTABLE ADS-B RECEIVERS
Here is a collection of ADS-B receivers that cover both
frequencies for receiving traffic information for TIS-B, (978
MHz and 1090 MHz traffic), an integral GPS and ADS-B
weather via FIS-B. Appareo's Stratus 2, Garmin's popular
GDL 39, Sagetech's Clarity, and the SkyRadar-D2 can work
with a variety of display solutions, some via Wi-Fi, others
via Bluetooth of hardwiring; three are battery-equipped, one
requires external power.
Each of these solutions has its preferences for the software companion to the ADS-B In receiver, such as ForeFlight Mobile, Garmin Pilot, WingsX Pro and the like.
Prices range from about $900 to $1,400 - all of them less
costly than an aircraft-installed weather datalink receiver
alone, but somewhat more than the option of adding weather
datalink to most portable GPS navigators - and you'll have
a subscription fee with any of those solutions.
Other models receive only 1090ES via the ADS-B ground
station network rebroadcasts, rather than directly from the
aircraft. Among them, Dual Electronics' XGPS170 delivers
the full spectrum of weather datalink position-correct thanks
to its integral WAAS GPS receiver.
Another solution offers compatibility with pilots' favorite
apps as well as superb AHRS performance, the iLevil SW.
While it receives ADS-B In on only the 978 MHz frequency, it brings to the cockpit all the advantages of a solid-state
altitude, heading and reference system. The iLevil AW adds
digital air data thanks to its internal pressure sensors that
measure and display indicated airspeed, pressure altitude,
and VSI when connected to the pitot-static system of a
homebuilt or light sport aircraft.

Avionics News January 2014

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