Getting all kinds of traffic on my Stratus 1

[comanchepilot]

Flew home from Arizona Sat aftn into the LA Basin -

I clicked the traffic toggle on after departure = and picked up an aircraft in front of me - doing 5 knots faster - and it gradually pulled away -

when I zoomed out there were literally dozens of targets displayed in the LA Basin +/-2-3k of my altitude of 8500. This was 200nm away.

There were aircraft displayed enroute to LAS to the north at all altitudes - plus - if the aircraft was identified I could touch the screen with my finger and get GS and whatever else was being displayed - even tail numbers and flight numbers.

Amazing stuff. I have no ADS-B out in my aircraft - and the only In is from my Stratus. Next time I'll take a screen shot to show you what I mean -

This is pretty fascinating stuff -

on a tangent - seems like ADS-B could identify aircraft subject to security protections, like AF1 and AF2 and the backup aircraft - has anyone seen these targets using ADS-B yet?

 

[davidm767]

Believe it or not but I've seen Air Force F-15s and F-16s on ADS-B with Stratus 1. Now I was flying over a test base in N. West Florida which may had to do with seeing these targets. Overall I seem to get really good targets when I'm flying near areas with multiple ADS-B out aircraft, like near the ERAU campus in Daytona or near the Piper factory.

There however are false targets when scavenging off of someone else's ADS-B Out source, most of these targets are my own ghost image overlaying a target 100ft above or 100ft below my image. Sometimes it causes some initial concern when the bluetooth audio spits out a traffic resolution warning.

 

[comanchepilot]

Question:

I was on the airway between BXK and PSP when I was seeing this other airplane in front of me [I checked the Reg when I got home and that AC was in fact in front of me] and when I zoomed out saw many many [many] airplanes around LAS and in the SoCal basin and even one aircraft came in and out 1000' under me heading east . . . .

Whose ADS-B out signal was I mooching off for 90 minutes? The airliners passing over us into LA and PHX???

This is curious to me for several reasons - one of which is how was I getting and seeing traffic 200nm away in LA and 100nm in Vegas????

 

[dans2992]

Question:

I was on the airway between BXK and PSP when I was seeing this other airplane in front of me [I checked the Reg when I got home and that AC was in fact in front of me] and when I zoomed out saw many many [many] airplanes around LAS and in the SoCal basin and even one aircraft came in and out 1000' under me heading east . . . .

Whose ADS-B out signal was I mooching off for 90 minutes? The airliners passing over us into LA and PHX???

This is curious to me for several reasons - one of which is how was I getting and seeing traffic 200nm away in LA and 100nm in Vegas????

Line of sight goes a long way from FL350?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Henning]

Question:

I was on the airway between BXK and PSP when I was seeing this other airplane in front of me [I checked the Reg when I got home and that AC was in fact in front of me] and when I zoomed out saw many many [many] airplanes around LAS and in the SoCal basin and even one aircraft came in and out 1000' under me heading east . . . .

Whose ADS-B out signal was I mooching off for 90 minutes? The airliners passing over us into LA and PHX???

This is curious to me for several reasons - one of which is how was I getting and seeing traffic 200nm away in LA and 100nm in Vegas????

Flying Saucers must have been on HiCap.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Whose ADS-B out signal was I mooching off for 90 minutes? The airliners passing over us into LA and PHX???

This is curious to me for several reasons - one of which is how was I getting and seeing traffic 200nm away in LA and 100nm in Vegas????

You weren't mooching directly off of anyone else's signal to see those faraway airplanes. What was happening is that you were getting that traffic from the ADS-B network (ground stations), which was sending out data on those airplanes because there were ADS-B Out equipped airplanes within (IIRC) 15nm and ±3000 feet of them. The ADS-B network was broadcasting those airplanes to the guy with ADS-B Out, but as you were receiving the feed, you got 'em too.

Zoom into the middle of a patch of traffic, and you'll usually find one airplane with its tail number listed underneath. That's the guy with ADS-B Out. I'm guessing the one you saw close to you and pulling away was equipped, too.

The Stratus 2 will also get a direct feed from the 1090-equipped airplanes.