PERSONAL CONSEQUENCE
When you get on an airplane, there is no reasonable assurance that you
will not be hit by another airplane.
The only thing keeping that from happening most of the time is that
it is a big sky and there are few airplanes.
The problem, as published by the FAA: Only
4% of transponders work right.
The problem, as published by an air traffic controller: I
don't see what really is.
The reason for the problem, as published by: the
Institute of Navigation 58th Annual and CIGTF 21st.
The only solution, as published in the lead paper at the 45th
Annual Air Traffic Control Association.
This is a problem easily solved.
This solution is the only one which is safe and effective. It
is also low cost.
This is the only dual redundant system of systems for collision avoidance.
This is the only autonomous system - independent of all other systems
and people.
The only impediment to implementation is the FAA.
COUNTERMEASURE
Why not a kit? Shouldn't only those who want FAA certified avionics pay the costs of the FAA certification? Since FAA certification is political, and has no engineering merit, and since it drags on forever with no end nor progress in sight, costing millions of dollars to complete, shouldn't only those that want FAA paperwork pay the costs, which can add easily in excess of several tens of thousands of dollars to the price for each airplane? Why should those that are not required to possess certified avionics have to pay for that?
This page offering is not a certificated product, it is a kit. If you have the experience of building a "Heath Kit" or a "Knight Kit", then you have the experience to assemble a complete working system. If not, then you need to seek the advice and assistance of an avionics shop or a radio amateur, and pay that additional cost. You will install antennas, fabricate cables, buy your choice of a display unit not from us (some form of Windows platform), load your choice of moving map software (not from us), configure software, and pay for those additional costs. These prices also do not include export costs, shipping costs, taxes, etc.
The transponder modification "fixkit" is still ~$500. This is the "transmit side" and fixes both the ATCRBS transponder from the errors in TSO C74c (the FAA certification of transponders is wrong, if you want them to work reliably), and provides the AIS-P internationally accepted Mode S short packet squitter of position and velocity. After the fix, there is also no need to continue transponder biennials, because there is absolutely nothing in there to need any adjusting anymore (we fixed that problem, too). If it works at all, "radar contact", then everything is "properly tuned" (this design doesn't "drift" out of timing alignment).
This is what the "fixkit" looks like installed inside a Cessna RT-359A (left), a Narco AT-150 (next right), a King KT-76A (last) transponders:
One 2" x 2" board, where one FPGA is "the whole thing", and a few
support components
Right now, we are comfortable with the transponder modification in Cessna RT-359A and Narco AT-150 and AT-50A transponders. We don't like the King KT-76A receiver design, so we are thinking of not offering that kit (it improves the transponder, but it still has that problem that is the subject of the AD, and the resistor packs don't address that problem [aren't a part of the problem circuit]). We also don't like the power output level nor frequency control in Garmin transponders, so a kit is not even offered.
We can't make a decent transponder without starting with a quality transmitter
and receiver.
FAA TSO C74c compliance is unable to provide that.
If you don't want a kit to fix your current transponder, because you want a complete new all solid state transponder that is purpose built for AIS-P, with completely repaired ATCRBS, then a TailLight Consortium member, who is a brand name avionics manufacturer, will supply one. It costs the same as any other new transponder, because it is cheaper to build, with all those old logic parts replaced with one new chip. This is for export only, because it is not FAA certified, so cannot be sold in this country. FAA TSO C74c compliance is unable to function properly in the NAS (National Airspace System).
We reduced the price of the TailLight receiver to ~$500, and put it in a box the size of a "blind altitude encoder" which you can mount next to the antenna. This automates the "fiddling with controls", so you don't have to. This eliminates the tremendous signal attenuation, which occurs at high frequency, and HIRF signal entry problems that occur with receivers remote from the antenna. That produces a unit with a range capability that is, more than anything else, dependent only on the power output of the target transponder. This is the "receive side" and removes the need to carry a "RIO" (radar intercept officer), because the computer inside of it handles all of those tasks. For a target transponder meeting RF output requirements, this gives you about 30 miles of range, give or take.
You need a TailLight receiver antenna, which is a common transponder antenna, on the top side of the airplane, for the receiver.
To work, any system needs a "line of sight" between target transponder antenna and receiver transponder antenna. If you don't have that, no system can change the laws of physics to help you. You may, occasionally, notice the loss of a highly maneuvering target that wants to keep its wing as a mask between you. Our "airline" version solves the problem of your wing mask with two receivers, one for the top and one for the bottom, of your aircraft. Most General Aviation aircraft, we have found, don't usually require that.
What comes out of the display depends on what display unit you want to use, and what display software you want to put on it. You control this selection. If you weren't aware of it, all of the new fangled ~$15k glass cockpit displays are old IBM compatible PCs, which makes that issue easy for us. We like a laptop with at least a 640x480 display, and put it on the seat beside the pilot, and shield it from direct sunlight. You will want one that can reduce the display intensity at night. We also like "PDA" sized devices that can mount on a yoke or Velcro to the dash. This is your decision, and cost. You will need a 4800 baud serial port for the GPS, and also another 115,200 baud serial port for the TailLight receiver.
We found this a neat way to solve a serial port deficiency on some display devices. We found this a neat source of complete display devices. We found this a neat way to turn 14 Vdc or 28 Vdc (you order which) into near perfect 60 Hertz sine wave 110 Vac "wall socket" power up to 125 watts, so you don't need a battery (some folks claim that there have been not very nice battery problems, this is a sine wave converter so will not cause battery problems). If you want to build your own glass cockpit, here is a 3.5" thick touch flat panel display with a built in PC, that we haven't tried. If you have more like a Vans RV size panel, here is something small but photographic quality, might fit in about a 4" hole, that we haven't tried.
Just be sure that your operating system choice fully supports any peripherals that you add to your choice of display computer device, and that your choice of moving map software will run on that platform, and that it came supplied with a TailLight receiver driver.
Here we have an example of the moving map software from Delorme. If you want to use Street Atlas, then you need to purchase this software product. We provide for it, free, a software "driver", which takes over and runs this for TailLight operation, adopted from the radio amateur APRS project by it's author. We noticed that, with the FAA unable to provide coverage to all airliners in the country, these folks handle all radio operators in the country (a capacity thing). This driver is NOT an engineered software product, and has a legal notice sign-on that you must agree to (precludes your suing), and the author wants it advertised as "experimental" software.
At this level of "zoom", you get airport runway incursion avoidance. Later versions have some airport detail (this is Street Atlas SA-5, a very old version, which doesn't have much).
At this level of zoom, you get maximum range. You can still option to turn on and off various of the detail at various of the zooms (its a vector display). However, you need to do that through our provided software driver.
TailLight Consortium authorized Delorme type moving
map & TailLight driver & display device supplier:
ACS/ComputerSolutions
262-544-9922 Kevin_ACS@TDS.net
Here we have an example of a raster moving map software that adds terrain avoidance and obstruction avoidance (lower right), your flight plan (line on the sectional), and navigation status (middle right), as well as GPS navigational information (upper right). These are windows, which means that they can be sized and moved on the screen. The overlaid window (under lower right) shows terrain avoidance straight ahead (only).
This is an engineered software product, still has a legal notice sign-on that you must agree to (precludes your suing), and we have discovered some math problems with it; so we term this an "experimental" software.
