Quote:
Originally Posted by dabney
Some Pilots using the now defunct Zaon traffic device might benefit from re-reading the ops manual. The Zaon DOES NOT detect or display all transponder equipped aircraft. The only a/c it detects (and not very accurately or at all in my experience) are aircraft with an operating transponder AND that are being interrogated and relying to that interrogation. It is a passive device. Since I am at home I don't have the manual with me. But tomorrow I will post the exact language verbatim. For some reason all the pilots I have talked to with Zaon did not realize this.
I junked my Zaon because it gave many false alerts, depicted traffic in wrong position etc. I decided it did more harm than good for me prompting me to scan the sky in the wrong direction.
I fear some pilots are spending to much time looking inside the cockpit at devices which is creating an increased risk of close calls or midairs.
|
Not quite sure why anyone wouldn't understand this feature. It's very common in all low cost units. As you say, it's in the manual and was in all the ads. They even called it a PCAS. i.e. Passive Collision Avoidance System.
I've been flying with the MRX for quite a number of years and find it to be reliable and pretty accurate. Distance is based on transponder power and therefore shows airliners, who have higher power transponders, closer than they actually are.
It's designed to be an extra alert, and not a replacement for the Mark I eyeballs.
__________________
Mel Asberry, DAR since the last century.
EAA Flight Advisor/Tech Counselor, Friend of the RV-1
Recipient of Tony Bingelis Award and Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award
USAF Vet, High School E-LSA Project Mentor.
RV-6 Flying since 1993 (sold)
<rvmel(at)icloud.com>
Last edited by Mel : 10-26-2014 at 06:51 PM.
|