An Opportunity for Amateur-Built Owners to Get on Board With ADS-B Out

December 2019 - Our friends at COPA reached out to the EAA Canadian Council to share this opportunity with our members who are flying non-certified or amateur-built aircraft.

You may recall our article in February about Aireon's completion of the launch of 75 satellites capable of monitoring aircraft movements worldwide, using ADS-B Out signals. Contrary to the U.S. tower-based approach, this system will be capable of monitoring aircraft over large expanses of water around the globe. It is based on the 1090 MHz frequency versus the U.S. preference for 978 MHz for traffic below 18,000 feet. 1090 MHz is the standard Mode S transponder frequency.

For Canadian pilots to be able to be seen from the satellite system and from the U.S. tower-based system, Nav Canada has mandated antenna diversity. One manufacturer has been working hard to figure out how to keep the costs down for this added constraint.

uAvionix is looking for volunteers with amateur-built aircraft in Canada who might be interested to test its ADS-B Out tailBeacon X for use in Canada. Full details can be found by clicking here.

Interested pilots/owners are to contact Jean-Claude Audet at COPA as soon as possible, providing details of their type of aircraft, the area in Canada where they live, the type of flying they typically do, etc. More information may be required later as the project definition is more complete.