FF/ADS-B Brainteaser

Sam D

Pattern Altitude
PoA Supporter
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
1,538
Location
Petaluma, CA
Display Name

Display name:
Sam D
I'm flying in the same airspace with another aircraft. I am only equipped with a Stratus (ads-b in). The other guy has ads-b out and in.

I have more information. How?
 
His out triggers the ground station, which sends the traffic information to your Stratus. Is there a technical reason the FAA does this? Not to my knowledge, they just withhold the information in order to give you inventive to get ADS-B out.
 
Correct. But he has traffic information as well. The question is what information do I have that he doesn't have?
 
Not following you, at this point you both should generally have the same information. The exception there is that the traffic picture is based around the aircraft with the out, so if you're on the edge of the traffic bubble, he may be seeing more traffic than you ( someone will correct me if that's incorrect, but that's my understanding ) What information are you referring to exactly?
 
Last edited:
I updated my response above, adding some traffic bubble info.
 
You might be receiving the precise gps position of the other aircraft directly from that nearby aircraft, because it has "out" and is constantly announcing to the world its gps position.

However, that aircraft receives your position only by the less precise atc radar-determination that is passed along by the ground station, and if you are too low for radar tracking even that info about you will be lacking. That's because you are merely a radar target, possibly with mode C, and no "out."
 
Last edited:
Are you dual band ADS-B in? Is the other traffic broadcasting ADS-B out in 1090ES or 978 UAT?
 
You might be receiving the precise gps position of the other aircraft directly from that nearby aircraft, because it has "out" and is constantly announcing to the world its gps position.

However, that aircraft receives your position only by the less precise atc radar-determination that is passed along by the ground station, and if you are too low for radar tracking even that info about you will be lacking. That's because you are merely a radar target, possibly with mode C, and no "out."

That's a lot closer to what I was thinking. There's one more piece of information I'll know about him that he won't know about me...
 
Are you dual band ADS-B in? Is the other traffic broadcasting ADS-B out in 1090ES or 978 UAT?

Yes, let's assume I am. Stratus 2S. I'm not sure if its relevant what the other is receiving. Let's assume he's dual band.
 
You will know his tail number. He won't know yours.

Ding ding ding! :D

I noticed this on a recent cross-country. We were both on flight following and it helped with situational awareness being able to connect the radio traffic with the TIS-B traffic. I thought it was ironic that I had more information than he did.
 
I'm flying in the same airspace with another aircraft. I am only equipped with a Stratus (ads-b in). The other guy has ads-b out and in.

I have more information. How?

Ding ding ding! :D

I noticed this on a recent cross-country. We were both on flight following and it helped with situational awareness being able to connect the radio traffic with the TIS-B traffic. I thought it was ironic that I had more information than he did.

Sorry, your "brainteaser" is lame. He received the same information as you. Fortunately, he doesn't need ADS-B to figure out what his tail number is.

The only way you'll know someone's tail number is if they transmit it through ADS-B out. You might consider equipping for many reasons (and not just that someone else can figure out your tail number).
 
Quick brainteaser! I'm flying the pattern with another aircraft. We're both equipped with radios. I know where he is, but he has no idea where I am? How is this possible?
 
Quick brainteaser! I'm flying the pattern with another aircraft. We're both equipped with radios. I know where he is, but he has no idea where I am? How is this possible?

Your fist radio call on CTAF was "any traffic in the pattern? please advise"
 
Sorry, your "brainteaser" is lame. He received the same information as you. Fortunately, he doesn't need ADS-B to figure out what his tail number is.

The only way you'll know someone's tail number is if they transmit it through ADS-B out. You might consider equipping for many reasons (and not just that someone else can figure out your tail number).

I thought it was interesting that I would know his tail number yet he wouldn't know mine even though he was arguably better equipped. No need to apologize. I should probably cut back on my posting.
 
Sam, seriously, your riddle was a good idea. ADS-B is still so new and so poorly understood by many pilots that any bit of instruction will help somebody out there. Your riddle was a unique way of doing that, and I'm sure somebody learned something useful from it. I say that not because I answered it, but because I respect those who are inspired to share what they've learned in a clever way, as you did.
 
Back
Top