If you really believe the government is conspiring that heavily to kill GA, then it's time to get out.
I installed a non-2020 compliant ADS-B transceiver in my KR about 6 months ago. The cost was roughly the same as a low end transponder. I find it to be a great addition to have it calling out traffic as well as having free in flight weather, and to be able to simply look at my GPS to see the wind and weather conditions at my destination airport. If I don't want someone monitoring my ADS-B Out signals, there is a switch on the panel to shut it off. It's that simple. Mac's comments were on the mark in that as the rules are written, it would require an STC Approved installation of TSO'd equipment in an aircraft to be a legal installation. While E-AB aircraft can install TSO approved equipment, there is no Type Certificate for any E-AB aircraft, so strictly speaking the ADS-B Out equipment would not and could not be approved. The EAA and AOPA are putting on a push to get the FAA to drop the WAAS III GPS requirement, which will significantly reduce the cost to install ADS-B out transmitters. They are also exploiting the FAA's bungling of the 2020 rule to try to get the FAA to approve the "portable" ADS-B out solutions in E-AB and light sport aircraft. That would make the ADS-B transmitters like the one I use 2020 compliant. Based on my experience with my unit, the functionality and accuracy is there. The WAAS III requirement is idiotic. Who cares whether we have 1 meter vs 2 meter accuracy. There is a time lag in position reporting anyway, so the accuracy isn't necessary, and the altitude accuracy is even worse as the ADS-B out units are all reporting GPS altitudes, while we are flying local barometric pressure corrected pressure altitudes, and the Mode-C traffic that is being rebroadcast via the ADS-B tower is reporting either uncorrected or incorrectly corrected pressure altitude. So the reported altitudes on the display are usually plus or minus 400 feet from what is reported. However, the ADS-B map display isn't there to pinpoint traffic to the closes meter. It's there to tell you where to look to find known traffic. I find that to be highly useful. I have also found the weather radar to be highly useful when flying around and through weather. What I have found is that when there's not much active weather, the radar images get very stale. But if there is active weather in the area, the radar images are updated every 3 minutes, and by my observation, it is very accurate. The constant updating of radar images when there is active weather in your area is done at the expense of bandwidth that would be used for area airport weather reports, so those reports can get quite stale. FWIW, at this point in time the FAA is hopelessly behind in upgrading their facilities to use ADS-B. Right now, I believe the number is 2 major airports in the US that have the capability of using ADS-B. Most air traffic controllers will tell you they have no idea what is reported on ADS-B since they have no equipment to see it. It is doubtful that the FAA will be able to meet their own 2020 mandate to use ADS-B for air traffic routing, but will still likely force the 2020 mandate on aircraft owners that want to fly into class B & C airspace (and a few other airspaces). Their capability (or for that matter interest) to monitoring all aircraft for violations is something dreamed up by the conspiracists. If you're talking to them and tey have you on radar, they already have a 3D picture of where you are if they wanted to violate you. Could it possibly be used for billing purposes. It could, but that is already the case for landing fees at some larger airports, so ADS-B isn't necessary for them to charge you. Surely none of you that fly into class B and C airports are refusing to give your registration number or are giving someone elses registration number when you call in? Teh last possibility is that it could be used for traffic separation for drones. That is also a possibility, but there is no accounting for the non-electric aircraft in that plan. Personally, having worked for the government for the last 30 years, it is my opinion that for the most part, the government is far too inept to actually create a conspiracy to do the many things the FAA is accused of dreaming up. My recommendations are to buy the ADS-B receivers now and let the EAA and AOPA battle it out with the FAA over whether to allow portable ADS-B units on E-AB aircraft after 2020. If the EAA and AOPA are allowed to bring the FAA into touch with reality, the costs will go down significantly. Or, you could do as I have done and buy a portable unit now and enjoy the benefits. There is no doubt that knowing where the traffic is around you and having traffic called out so you can deconflict while the approaching traffic is beyond visual range is a huge improvement in situational awareness. I have photos of my ADS-B installation and screen shots of it in flight up on my web site at <http://jeffsplanes.com/KR/2014_ADS-B.html> -Jeff Scott Los Alamos, NM
