I was always under the impression that our Mode S “address” (hex, octal, or binary), was pretty much arbitrary. In that the FAA match an address to a registration, in no logical assignment method.
Fast-forward to now,
Just swapped out my KY76A for a KT74 Mode S transponder.
In the setup, you enter the aircraft ID (registration).
The hex address comes next, and I was armed with that info, ready to plug it in.
To my surprise, after entering my N-number and moving to the next screen for Hex Address, the pre-entered value equaled my unique address.
(I did not supply my N-number to the supplier of the transponder so they did not pre-enter that info. And besides, the N-Number field was blank at the beginning of the setup)
A couple of google searches for a “formula or algorithm” that converts N-numbers to Hex came with mixed results.
Some hits say there is (for certain countries), other hits say no.
I can say this, unless my new KT74 is possessed with some ability to read minds, there has to be an algorithm and the transponder is programmed to decode (or encode, depending on your perspective)
Not sure what I’m getting at with this post, just thought it was interesting.
Fast-forward to now,
Just swapped out my KY76A for a KT74 Mode S transponder.
In the setup, you enter the aircraft ID (registration).
The hex address comes next, and I was armed with that info, ready to plug it in.
To my surprise, after entering my N-number and moving to the next screen for Hex Address, the pre-entered value equaled my unique address.
(I did not supply my N-number to the supplier of the transponder so they did not pre-enter that info. And besides, the N-Number field was blank at the beginning of the setup)
A couple of google searches for a “formula or algorithm” that converts N-numbers to Hex came with mixed results.
Some hits say there is (for certain countries), other hits say no.
I can say this, unless my new KT74 is possessed with some ability to read minds, there has to be an algorithm and the transponder is programmed to decode (or encode, depending on your perspective)
Not sure what I’m getting at with this post, just thought it was interesting.