@rjc101
Thanks for the feedback, the clarification and also for taking my post in the way it was intended. I may well run my SoftRF box of tricks over to my brother-in-laws for a look see at some point to see if it meets the basic compliance requirements on power, duty cycle and what I will call spectral ‘purity’. Hooking it up to a few of his test devices will ascertain that for me.
Obviously, I’ll share my findings for the good of the community when I get the chance.
I guess that if this box of tricks does go rogue then using the 868.525MHz frequency is the least likely to cause issues as the power is higher than FLARM and they have more diversity in their receivers and ground stations to see traffic through other means. FLARM has none. Also I suspect the PAW team will be screaming at me pretty quick if a Narrow Band jammer is flying around blasting out over all of their spectrum! The effects in my own aircraft types is absolutely nil - neither have electronics, Nav aids nor even DIs (mag compass only).
I’m still at a loss on how to connect SkyEcho and SoftRF (even in RX only) to an iPad. I don’t think it can be done as tablets tend to have only one Network ‘Card’. Also, for iPads, then you can’t connect via USB and do WiFi if I understand it correctly. Even if I could, I’m not sure if the likes of SkyDemon or ForeFlight can take 2x individual GDL90 data feeds. I did think I might be able to do it on my MacBook but then realised that neither SkyDemon nor ForeFlight will run as a stand-alone App!
So it comes down to what I am looking for - a single unit that can do:
Direct Air-to-Air with no ground station requiredADS-B In/Out
FLARM In/Out (minimum FLARM In)
FANET In/Out (minimum FANET In)
PAW In/Out (minimum P3i In)
Ground station receive capabilitiesFIS-B Weather
TIS-B feeding traffic not on the main EC formats that I can directly see
I want that in a small self-contained carry-on package, I want it below £500 and it needs to work on a suitable EFB App.
However, I suspect that lot for £500 is too much of an ask, which is why I have a £450 SkyEcho 2 and a £47 SoftRF right now, that ticks most of the boxes above, but I can’t connect it up on one device.
Of course, if the CAA had been stronger with their direction on ADS-B equipage - Class 1, Class 2 or LPAT - then the signal diversity detection capability I seek would be unnecessary. It is only because so many protocols are being transmitted, without everyone being herded onto a single one, that the problem persists.
Ever felt like Wiley Coyote...