----- Original Message ----- What is going on with your project? Gary asks what is going on with other projects. The KRNet has been exceedingly quiet as of late (possibly due to all the undelivered emails), so maybe it is time to generate some traffic.
15 years ago last week my KR got it's airworthiness certificate and has since flown some 900 hours. It has been through a number of changes over the years including an upgrade from a C-85 to an O-200, construction and fitting a larger tail, and the addition of flaps. I've always split time between flying the KR and the other planes I've owned and built, so it rarely gets my undivided attention. However, my KR is one of those planes that I fall in love with every time I fly it. As compared to the SuperCub I've been spending most of my time flying as of late, the KR always seems so smooth and graceful to fly. The SuperCub is slow, has superb STOL performance and is loads of fun, but the KR is smooth, fast, graceful, and economical to fly. My 13 year old Terra com radio was finally getting too flaky for reliable communications, so I recently replaced it with a new XCOM unit. I'm using XCOMs in both the KR and the SuperCub and have been really impressed with their features. (used Terra for sale - make offer) The most recent addition has been the replacement of my old AirMap 2000C with a new iFly 720 along with a SkyRadar-L ADS-B receiver. There are lots of questions about that configuration. If Dan wrote his up, I never received the email, so if this is a duplication of his information, please forgive me. As most of you already know, the iFly is an ipad like GPS unit using a 7" touch screen. In my opinion, it isn't as intuitive as my old Airmap and requires a lot more button pushing to accomplish the same tasks, but does offer all that the Airmap had to offer, plus a lot more. The addition of the SkyRadar-L receiver adds subscription free in-flight weather. So what is included with the ADS-B weather and how does it work? The setup was quick and easy. The SkyRadar unit talks to the iFly unit via WiFi, so all it requires is that they both be turned on inside the plane and that you tell the iFly unit to connect to it. After that, it knows about it and connects automatically. If you have an iPad, the SkyRadar unit can talk to both simultaniously. The weather screen in the iFly unit already exists and would normally be updated by loading a file including weather and TFR data just prior to flight. The ADS-B weather replaces the file that would normally be loaded with current weather. So what all is included with the current weather? TFR Data is loaded with the current weather from ADS-B. On the weather screen, every airport with a reporting station will be painted with a color signifying whether the weather is VFR, MVFR, or IFR. Additionally METAR, TAF and Winds Aloft are reported. NexRad Radar is also painted on the screen to provide near real time weather radar coverage. So what are the down sides? The SkyRadar-L unit does not have traffic reporting. The more expensive units that do have traffic, don't do very well at it. The Dual Band units do pretty well at reporting airline traffic, but unless you are cruising above 25,000 MSL, it's not very helpful. If you want Traffic information, the Zaon units will report about 50 hits for every 1 hit that you might gets on an ADS-B unit. Often times the SkyRadar unit needs to be at a couple of thousand feet to start receiving the ADS-B broadcasts. That means you won't have that information on the ground unless you update your iFly by loading the weather & TFR file just prior to your flight, but you should be checking weather prior to flight anyway. The NexRad Radar and METAR reports can be up to 15 minutes out of date before it updates. Since this unit is ADS-B In only, I am dependent on having an airliner with ADS-B Out fly through the area to trigger the ADS-B broadcast. It makes little sense that the FAA wouldn't just make periodic ADS-B broadcasts, but that's the way they have chosen to implement the technology. However, many times my unit will show ADS-B idle or ADS-B Active, but no data. Additionally, the ADS-B weather is for a given area only. I don't recall the exact specifics, but the METAR/TAF/Winds reports are for airports within something like a 500 mile range. The NexRad radar coverage is for a given area. From my location in northern NM, my radar "window" is a large oval that covers most of the western half of the state. The Radar and weather reporting window should move with me as I transition to the next ADS-B station. Jeff Scott Los Alamos, NM
