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New ZAON TPAS/PCAS

Traffic alert system

Shoot - another $2k toy that I've just gotta have.
 
Cheap toys

Well, dang, if money is no object and you need really cool toys, spend the money to get a Garmin 330 transponder and a Garmin 396 portable GPS and hook the two together. They you'll have a TIS solution with a display where the traffic is highlighted.

Course, if money were no object..... Actually, I'm gonna save my money and go with ADS-B based upon everything I've read lately....May even get weather in the cockpit for free then.


:)

Alan
 
TIS doesn't work everywhere

You'd have to have a lot of money to make TIS work everywhere! Peer-peer solutions scale - TIS type centralized solutions don't. Wouldn't it be nice if money were no object?
 
I've been flying with the Zaon PCAS MRX unit for a couple months now. I have it velcroed to the top of the panel, and am very happy with the unit. As others have said, it is amazing how much traffic is out there that you would never see. The MRX unit is about $500 (I got mine through Ebay brand new from Pacific Coast Avionics for $409, don't know if they still do that). It does not give any bearing information. I have not found that to be much of a weakness in the whole concept though. If it is telling me that there is traffic within several hundred feet in altitude, and I see the distance dropping to a mile or so, I know it is time to get serious about looking. It comes with a very clear instruction book, complete with possible errors which can exist, ghosts, etc.. Only a couple downsides, one is that it is a battery hog, so I wired mine to ship power and leave the batteries out altogether so I do not have to shut it down at the end of a flight. The other is that the audible tone is not loud enough to hear in an RV at cruise. However, the display is bright enough to get your attention when it issues an alert.

All in all, I highly recommend this unit.
 
Wire tone thru Audio panel?

Is there not a port to do this?...I bet you could take the speaker output and put it into one of the unswitched inputs for the GMA 340 or PS 600 or whateve?

Frank
 
Actually the "new" MRX units do have an audio output. But as has been said before, the display gets your attention. I had problems with mine originally, but with the latest software upgrade it's working fine now.
 
Mel said:
Actually the "new" MRX units do have an audio output. But as has been said before, the display gets your attention. I had problems with mine originally, but with the latest software upgrade it's working fine now.
Click to expand...
I must have had one of the old units - I sent it back because it didn't have an audio output.

Interested to see how the new goodies work....
 
Discount Traffic

Look for a used TrafficScope VRX model on E-bay. They can be had for $300-400 and do a great job. I mounted mine in the panel and it is hooked into the audio system. As Alex said, you watch the distance, but the key is altitude. If someone gets close, use that 2000ft/min climb and make the problem go away. It works everywhere there is radar coverage. If the transponder is replying, you will get alerted if someone is close.
 
Had mine for 3 weeks, called the mfgr about the alarm..... they said that would be fixed by March. And I could send mine in for an upgrade for about $100. Withuot the alarm, you had to watch the thing all the time. And in direct sunlight, it would wash out. I had asked them why they diddn't use LCD and they said that the display that the led's used less energy. Anayway I sent mine back also. I think I will wait till they get it right. They are close! But not for $400.00 And remember, they do not see aircraft that don't have their transponders on. The little plug in the left side is for audio output to your headset after they make the upgrade.
 
transponder on

I don't believe anything will display traffic without their transponder turned on.
 
MRX

I've had my unit for about 7 mo. and find it very helpful. I find myself looking for traffic more, so, no transponder aircraft are more likely to be spotted anyway. Amazing how many planes are out there that you never see.

A couple of experiences I've had with the unit, distance is closing, other aircraft is descending to my altitude, I don't wait and climb, less than 30 seconds later I finally see the plane about 1 o'clock and a lot closer to where I'd probably be if I hadn't climbed.

I find that the unit makes you more dilligent in looking, at least here in the east, where there is usually a target somewhere within 5 miles and 2000'.
 
petehowell said:
SNIP It works everywhere there is radar coverage. If the transponder is replying, you will get alerted if someone is close.
Click to expand...

Airborne TCAS units from airliners or jets flying overhead will also cause transponders to reply, so one doesn't have to be in ground radar coverage for these systems to be helpful. They don't find birds or non-transponder aircraft yet...
 
Actually, the audio upgrade is $50, which is the same as the price difference between the old non-audio unit and the new one (nothing for free, eh?!). We chose the LED display for the MRX because it can be brightened sufficiently to be seen even in the brightest direct sunlight, and customers have seemed to prefer this over the LCD. The XRX system, which adds target bearing, uses an LCD because of the need to show more information (ie: direction and 2 additional threats).

____________________________
Jason Clemens
CEO
Zaon Flight Systems, Inc.
[email protected]
 
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Zaon Skunkworks

Looks like Zaon will soon have a more slick install option. Instead of the XRX unit attached with velcro to the glareshield, they are planning on separating the antenna, display and electronics into separate units that could be permanently mounted.

http://www.zaon.aero/content/view/44/1/

Bill Swatling
RV-7 working on fuselage center section
 
bswat said:
Looks like Zaon will soon have a more slick install option.
Click to expand...
Depends on what you mean by "soon". Note that the blog entry was in February 07. It will be nice when it gets here, but it's a question of when and how much. Also, the other commercial passive TCAS-like units have been discontinued (lower end models of ex-Ryan TCAD).

TODR
 
It'll take a while...

Hi all.

This is what I got from Rachel Ballard at Zaon a few days ago.
It seems like the panel mount version still is a few months away.

Regards Alf Olav Frog / Norway
RV-7 Finishing






Hi,

We are indeed working on a panel-mounted version of the XRX, but it's not
yet available. We've had some setbacks, but are still doing testing on the
product. Hopefully it will be available towards the middle of next year. I'm
sorry I can't give a more definite answer, but that's all I know as of right
now.

Thanks,

Rachel Ballard
(469) 916-6640 x309

Zaon Flight Systems, Inc.
15946 Midway Road
Addison, TX 75001
 
It's coming (promise!)

We have actually made a bit of progress since our last blog in February. We've had too much going on to update the blog, and for that my apologies. The XRXi, which is what our installed XRX system is called, is comprised of three components.

The antenna: complete and ready for production (for non-cert A/C with an STCd version to follow)

An integration box with expandability for ADS-B: electronics are finished... perfecting traffic algorythms to take advantage of the improved bearing resolution. Initial tests show at least 10 degs is reliable.

A screen display: we've been working with third-party systems to provide initial support for the traffic data. So far, Grand Rapids, Blue Mountain, True Flight, PCAvionics, and of course, Garmin, have all signed on. This is where a large portion of the project has taken place. Additionally, a stand-alone Zaon display is in beta testing, but will be released after the XRXi system with 3rd party display integration is released. The Zaon display will be an add-on, most likely.

The target price has never changed and is fairly set: $4000-$5000 for the complete system. Current XRX users will receive 100% trade-in value (with certain restrictions) towards this price.

I will see if we can get our online blog updated more frequently. Thanks for your interest, and please let me know if there are any other specific questions I can answer.

Jason Clemens
CEO
Zaon Flight Systems, Inc.
Addison, TX
 
Don't forget us alltogether !
I am right now busy integrating ZAON into Odyssey (togther with ARINC429 based TCAS and FLARM, also Mode-S transponder based traffic aka Garmin330).
The non-ARINC stuff which includes the ZAON system is also being added to the Enigma system (free updates as usual).

Rainier
CEO MGL Avionics

zaon said:
A screen display: we've been working with third-party systems to provide initial support for the traffic data. So far, Grand Rapids, Blue Mountain, True Flight, PCAvionics, and of course, Garmin, have all signed on. Jason Clemens
CEO
Zaon Flight Systems, Inc.
Addison, TX
Click to expand...
 
zaon said:
We have actually made a bit of progress since our last blog in February. We've had too much going on to update the blog, and for that my apologies. The XRXi, which is what our installed XRX system is called, is comprised of three components....
Click to expand...

Jason, your development plans are impressive, but what if all I want is to have the current XRX and not have that box sitting on my glareshield (plan to feed data to my '496/GRT)? Don't need or want, for now, ADS-B, TIS, additional screen. Would not this cost less and meet a large portion of the market's needs? Why not an XRXp (for panel)?
 
I built a scale model out of paper to see what the XRX might look like sitting on the glareshield. Yuck. To my eye, it's really obtrusive.

However, when I folded the bottom part of the cutout (the display part) back, the antenna itself wasn't too bad.

Further to a previous post, if the XRX is tied into a third party display anyway (e.g. Garmin), is there any reason it couldn't be mounted through the glareshield in such a way that just the antenna sticks up? I understand there is a setting so that it comes on automatically with aircraft power.
 
Last edited:
Zaon technical support responded to an emailed question on this subject and said that at least one person has mounted their XRX so that only the antenna sticks through their glareshield and they reported good results. However, official company policy is that the whole thing should sit on top of the glareshield for best performance.

I ordered one yesterday and will test it before and after mounting in a recess on the glareshield and will report back on the results.
 
I ordered an XRX, but had to send it to the factory for servicing. It's possible this was caused by me accidentally getting into an undocumented setup screen that I wasn't supposed to.

In any event, I haven't sunk the XRX into the glareshield yet, and I may not actually do that - although it kind of sticks up from the panel when you look at it, the line of sight on the F1 Rocket puts it in line with the cowl; it doesn't block any landscape, and when flying, I really don't notice it, as the output is to the Garmin.

I thought you guys might be interested in the results of my testing so far. Following is the text of an email I sent back to Zaon to report on performance after they returned it to me.


"...I recalibrated the compass and confirmed that the indicated magnetic readings were within 20 degrees (typically 10 degrees) of the real heading on the cardinal points.

With the XRX on top of the glareshield, I flew again today in very loose formation with another pilot and noted the following while at a distance of approximately 1/2 mile:

Target Actually------------XRX/Garmin Indication

0 deg---------------------Bounced around. Sometimes 45 deg, sometimes 90 deg and sometimes 180 deg
45 deg--------------------On top of me
90 deg--------------------90 deg
120 deg-------------------120 deg
180 deg-------------------180 deg
210 deg-------------------no target for 30-45 seconds, then 210 deg
270 deg-------------------270 deg

Note: I had to get on the radio to ask the other pilot's position when we started out; they did not show up on the XRX/Garmin until well after we had established the loose formation.

During this test, the range jumped around from 0 to 2 miles, although the formation distance was relatively constant.

I was quite disappointed with the above results, but elected to try one more test. While my "target" refueled, I flew about 12 miles away and then turned back to intercept their anticipated outbound course when they announced their takeoff. In this test, I was able to find and intercept the target without any radio communication. This test was successful.

Conclusion: The unit worked better in these tests than in it did before I sent it back to you. However, it is still sometimes indicating a completely wrong direction for a target, or showing a significantly incorrect range. On the whole, I plan to keep the unit, but hope that continued development will improve its accuracy - I suspect that the combination of magnetic heading error and sensed target quadrant error is being added together in some instances, causing me to look in the wrong place for the target.

If you need some in-the-field customers to assist with testing new software or hardware, I am willing to assist. Despite the above problems, I think it is a net asset to the cockpit but suspect it has the potential to be made much more useful with continued development. . . ."
 
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Rainier Lamers said:
Don't forget us alltogether !
I am right now busy integrating ZAON into Odyssey (togther with ARINC429 based TCAS and FLARM, also Mode-S transponder based traffic aka Garmin330).
The non-ARINC stuff which includes the ZAON system is also being added to the Enigma system (free updates as usual).

Rainier
CEO MGL Avionics
Click to expand...

Rainier,

How does the Odyssey display traffic data when it receives it from the Zaon unit? Does it show up as a blip on the synthetic vision or map screen? Or does it just print out a warning to the display?
 
John Courte said:
Rainier,

How does the Odyssey display traffic data when it receives it from the Zaon unit? Does it show up as a blip on the synthetic vision or map screen? Or does it just print out a warning to the display?
Click to expand...

It's a symbol on the moving map and navigator displays with relative altitude information (see the user manual for pics).
In case of the PCAS Odyssey does not track the target so it does not plot the flight path. This is due to the somewhat unreliable bearing information from PCAS. The symbol is shown in the reported position (bearing and range) but is subject to the PCAS tollerance of up to +/-45 degree bearing error.

If traffic gets closer than a certain horizontal and vertical distance (which you can select), you get a message on the screen - someting like "Traffic 10 o'clock high". If you have Odyssey connected to your intercom then you will also get a verbal warning reading you the same text that appears on the display.

Traffic works with TCAS, TIS (via ARINC-429 to ARINC-735 specs), PCAS and FLARM. It is also possible to mix TCAS/TIS with either PCAS or FLARM.
In other words, you might have a Garmin GTX330 that gives you TIS around certain airports in the U.S. and have a PCAS at the same time to cover other areas. You might have PCAS traffic and TIS traffic showing the same aircraft in slighty different positions - that is unavoidable as Odyssey cannot be sure that both systems are refering to the same intruder.

With the current released beta software in Odyssey ARINC is "experimental" in the sense it is not 100% completed. Traffic is in but we have not been able to test it in all circumstances. Unfortunately the ARINC documents are badly written and when we e-mailed ARINC themselves, they did not even know the answers to their own specification "holes".
But it's not a great issue.
Odyssey, as a further bonus that will be loved by installers, contains a fully functional ARINC analyser that you can use to view and record incoming labels.
So the moment somebody connects his TIS (which is only available in some locations in the U.S.) and it does not work as expected, he can record the ARINC data stream and send it to us so we can play it back.

Anyway, PCAS and FLARM are OK and TCAS/TIS should be validated soon. Odysseys beta phase is scheduled to end 1. April 2008 or earlier depending on field experience. This beta is shorter than what we did for Enigma as Odyssey is largely built on proven software from the Enigma project.

Rainier
CEO MGL Avionics
 
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