Navworx ADS-B Installation

[FunInAviation]

Hope you find this video useful and informative:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mioqZwwq-4

[MEdwards]

In spite of the blizzard of undefined acronyms, model numbers and spec numbers, I did find the video interesting. I think that kind of installation will be the most practical for many of us.

The basic price of $1999 sounds lower than most other similar units, but after adding the options I think you might exceed the cost of a unit from Freeflight Systems (and possibly others).

[Marty Santic]

For the experimental world, the Navworx ADS600-EXP (ADS-B In & Out) is about $1000.

[cub builder]

For the experimental world, the Navworx ADS600-EXP (ADS-B In & Out) is about $1000.

By the time you add enough parts to make the Navworx unit functional, it's quite a bit more. I added up $1600 when I went through their spec sheet to make the $695 Non-TSO unit usable. However, once installed, you have a fixed installation which may be highly desirable. The cost is variable depending on whether you want to wire it to your encoder for the gray code or use their sniffer to pick up the pressure altitude from the transponder output.

Last month Skyguard introduced a new unit that now sniffs your transponder output for squawk code and pressure altitude, so they have a portable non-TSO unit that meets the ADS-B rule and is supposed to meet the performance specs. $1575 complete for 978 (UAT) in, 1090ES in, FIS-B, TIS-B and UAT out. If you already own a Skyguard unit, they will give a trade in allowance to upgrade. In my glass plane, the portable unit is desirable since all the antennas can exist inside the glass empennage with no external antennas needed.

-Cub Builder

[Kyle Boatright]

My installation would price out to about $1200 with current pricing. I have the installation manual for the experimental version, and it looks easy, probably a one day job if you have a decent location for the two antennas and to mount the box. The big issue for me is they require the ADSB antenna to be a minimum of 5' from the transponder antenna, which complicates things...

Per a phone conversation with them today, they will not be at SnF - they have a lot going on with ramping up production and such.

[FunInAviation]

This past weekend I had the opportunity to fly the C172 in the video, using the Wingx Pro7 App on my iPad Mini. The Navworx unit comes up automatically and allows up to 6 tablets to hookup via wifi. This is going to be a great help, expecially in the DFW area. Anthony did a great job and the cost for installation was very reasonable.

[Marty Santic]

By the time you add enough parts to make the Navworx unit functional, it's quite a bit more. I added up $1600 when I went through their spec sheet to make the $695 Non-TSO unit usable.
-Cub Builder

I purchased when the unit was introduced (price was $70 lower), do not need the TransMonSPE and elected not to get the 1090 option. Prices as of today. As far as I know, the FAA has not changed their mind on portable units.

ADS600-EXP $869
GPS Antenna $59
UAT Antenna $53
Antenna Coax $42
Wiring Harness $56 Total = $1079

My cost was very near $1000.

[cub builder]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but it is my understanding that this NavWorx unit is not a dual band receiver in that it receives UAT broadcasts, but not 1090ES directly. Instead, it relies on the ADS-B towers to rebroadcast (ADS-R) the 1090ES traffic as well as the Mode C traffic. I apologize ahead of time to NavWorx if I'm wrong here, but this is your chance to clarify what the unit does, and more importantly, what it does not do.

Having flown with ADS-B on board for the last year, I can tell you the ADS-R traffic information is, at best, flaky; in that the traffic will pop up on the screen then disappear. The more remote you are, the less ADS-R traffic you see as you are relying on Center's radar to see the traffic, then an ADS-B tower to rebroadcast it back out via UAT. There are a lot of places for that scenario to fail, and my experience is that it fails much of the time, especially when either remote or at lower altitudes, like nearing an airport to join the traffic pattern when you would most like to have the device calling out traffic.

I notice the NavWorx PADS-B portable is touting that it is a dual band receiver, but their other units don't mention dual band. But the PADS-B unit doesn't mention having pressure altitude and/or squawk code, so I would assume it doesn't.

It seems that one has to read the advertising, then look for to see what's missing. The problem is getting educated enough to know what questions to ask.

The questions to ask a vendor wanting to sell you ADS-B In equipment.
Does it receive UAT transmissions?
Does it receive 1090ES transmissions?

And for ADS-B Out equipment you want to ask:
Is it TSO'd (for certificated aircraft)?
Does it meet the performance standards?
Does it have squawk code and pressure altitude? (and how does it get them?)

If the answer to any of the above (except for the first question if you experimental) is no, then keep shopping.
Also ask:
What displays does it use?
How does it talk to the displays? (WiFi, Bluetooth, cable?)
What display is used to control it?
How does it mount?

OK, I get it. This thread is a NavWorx Advertisement and I'm putting flies in the ointment. I've seen the above video show up in various forums, so it's being heavily pushed. I'm really not trying to bash NavWorx. But I don't see much detail in their advertising. Usually, if the detail is missing, the performance of that detail is not in the unit. Today, it seems like you have to spend a lot of money to buy an ADS-B unit, then use it for a while until you figure out what's missing so you'll know what to shop for when you buy the next unit. I'd rather see the vendors come clean about what they are and what they are not providing.

FWIW, I got bit by Skyguard with their TWX unit. I like the unit and they implied it had been submitted for TSO testing. It works great, but with no pressure altitude, there's no way it could have met the TSO standard. Now they have another unit that provides pressure altitude and squawk code by sniffing the transponder. They are offering me 50% of what I paid for my less than year old unit towards an upgrade, so that's the cost of the learning curve today. Of course I'll have to buy the next unit and test fly it to know whether or not it really does meet the performance standards. Since my planes are E-AB, I don't care about the TSO.

-Cub Builder

[Marty Santic]

All very good questions. ALL are answered on the NavWorx website. http://www.navworx.com/products-ADS600-EXP.php I fly the RV-12 so the ADS600-EXP will suffice. I have one addition to your list of excellent questions. Ask the vendor what SDA and SIL the unit transmits. At a minimum you want SDA=2 and SIL=3. The parameters tell the FAA if the unit is accurate enough to satisfy the 2020 requirements.

[Kyle Boatright]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but it is my understanding that this NavWorx unit is not a dual band receiver in that it receives UAT broadcasts, but not 1090ES directly. Instead, it relies on the ADS-B towers to rebroadcast (ADS-R) the 1090ES traffic as well as the Mode C traffic. I apologize ahead of time to NavWorx if I'm wrong here, but this is your chance to clarify what the unit does, and more importantly, what it does not do.

-Cub Builder

It costs a hundred bucks or so to add the 1090ES functionality to the Navworx 600-exp. In the ~$1200 setup I mentioned earlier in the thread, I included the base unit, the 1090ES add-on, the transmon, and both antennas (GPS and ADS-B).

[FunInAviation]

OK, I get it. This thread is a NavWorx Advertisement and I'm putting flies in the ointment.
This is not an advertisement for Navworx, but a product demonstration. We were not contacted by or hired by Navworx to do this video. We were so happy with the installation done by Anthony at Arispe Aviation (http://arispeaviation.com) in the Cessna, that we asked him to help us make this video.

[PaulMillner]

>> The more remote you are, the less ADS-R traffic you see as you are relying on Center's radar to see the traffic

If you're relying on radar to see traffic, the 1090 reception isn't going to help you... 1090 reception only lets you see ADS-B 1090 out targets, not the mode A and C targets illuminated vp by center radar.

paul

[Mike M]

...There are a lot of places for that scenario to fail, and my experience is that it fails much of the time, especially when either remote or at lower altitudes, like nearing an airport to join the traffic pattern when you would most like to have the device calling out traffic....Since my planes are E-AB, I don't care about the TSO.

-Cub Builder

Don't care about the TSO. Me, neither. What is the minimum baksheesh required to keep flying? If I pay it, will the blackmailers pause long enough for me to afford to keep buying fuel until I medical out? Will any of my bribes deliver the weather info my taxes are already broadcasting? The purported monumental and unprecedented collision avoidance benefit is bogus since neither sUAS nor the #1 collision hazard in the world (birds) don't and won't be equipped with ADS-B out. So what's the mordita? But hey, that's just me, I'm weird that way. Yeah, really, it will be better than sliced bread AND strawberry margaritas together.