On board radar

[Peter Crawford]

The other day during a flight I got within 10nm of another aircraft and saw them out the window. I called them to say I had them visual and got a reply that they had me on radar. I know this is probably aircraft specific, but it got me wondering if there is add on software available to see other aircraft on radar at a greater range...... Vatsim or AI.   Does anyone know? 🙂

 

[Andreas Fuchs]

Hello Peter,

they probably meant "TCAS" by saying "radar". The other possibility would be that they were using swift as pilot client - it does have some kind of "extended range TCAS", we call it "Radar" in the client.

[Peter Crawford]

Thanks Andreas.  Is Swift an alternative to Squarkbox or FSInn.  I fly the Just Flight  BAE 146 and that has TCAS, but the range is only 2 nm and 2000 ft - not much good if you're coming in head on!  I tend to keep an eye on other aircraft using the Google Earth add-on but of course that's unrealistic and has a 2 minute delay.

Thank you for replying :-) 

[Andreas Fuchs]

Hello Peter, what SIM are you using? You should be able to increase the map-range in your cockpit and thus the range of your TCAS. It should allow you to zoom out much more than 2 NM - normally a TCAS has a range of up to 40 NM.

[Peter Crawford]

Hi Andreas - sorry for the slow response - the email went into my updates tab!!  I use FSX-Steam Edition, but the aircraft I fly is the Just Flight BAe 146.  So aircraft wise, it is an older one and the TCAS is built into the RadAlt.  I've built my own system which uses three screens for instruments and three data projectors for scenery so, with the three instrument screens, each with a number of individual 'cockpit instrument' windows I can play around with the set up.  It would just be handy to know if there is a TCAS software package that is available - freeware or at a reasonable price :-) 

And I agree with you - TCAS should be able to go out much further than 2 NM

[Andreas Fuchs]

I am currently away from home, so I my research is limited.

For starters you could just Google for "FSX TCAS gauge freeware".

One result I get is https://library.avsim.net/search.php?SearchTerm=tcas&CatID=fsxgau

 

[Peter Crawford]

Thank you Andreas. I will follow your idea and Google it to see if there is anything. I appreciate your help 🙂

[Robert Shearman Jr]

Swift pilot client has something like that built in.  And, of course, being a VATSIM Pilot Client, it's free to install and use. 

[Peter Crawford]

Thank you Robert. I'll take a look at that too 🙂

[Mike Sweeney]

Quote

TCAS should be able to go out much further than 2 NM

If you have FSInn, traffic can be displayed out to 120nm, or reduced to a 2nm scale, with ADS-B In type information, (Aircraft ID/callsign, ground speed, position, altitude, direction of flight). InnRadar examples attached (... with a comparison for TCAS display).
-Alternatively, refer to similar in Andreas' SWIFT illustration above.

Edited May 9, 2020 at 11:04 PM by Mike Sweeney

[Mike Lehkamp]

A functioning TCAS is also built-in to some of the 3rd Party aircraft (i.e. Level-D)  which is much more realistic than using the fore mentioned. 

Michael

[Andreas Fuchs]

24 minutes ago, Mike Lehkamp said:

A functioning TCAS is also built-in to some of the 3rd Party aircraft (i.e. Level-D)  which is much more realistic than using the fore mentioned.

Of course a TCAS is more realistic, but if he doesn't have it, he doesn't have it.

For FSX there are several top-notch addons that have a functioning TCAS, such as PMDG 737, PMDG MD11, LevelD B767 etc.. but you'll have to pay for them, if they are even available at all. I think the MD11 is not available for purchase anymore, although it is a great aircraft!

[Peter Crawford]

Many thanks Andreas, Robert and the two Mikes.  I appreciate the inputs you have all made and will investigate the options you have suggested.  Changing aircraft type won't be an option as I've build my own flight deck based around the BAe 146, but an individual/stand alone add on would work well, so I'll look at the options suggested.

Many thanks and Happy flying :-) 

[Andreas Fuchs]

1 hour ago, Peter Crawford said:

I'll look at the options suggested

Actually, Peter, I just read that "Lee Hetherington's TCAS II v7 IVSI and Transponder gauge was compatible with P3D", so in theory it should also work with FSX.

Lee's TCAS II v7 gauge and transponder can be found at the usual places, go and try it out: AVSIM Library link
Yes, the gauges were made in the days of FS2004, but apparently they were fully functional until P3D version 3.1, so I'd guess it will work in FSX as well. Are you proficient in placing gauges in your panel.cfg file? If not, somebody made a nice tutorial on how to do it: AVSIM library link

Should you have no joy, you can also give TCAS II v1.0 a go.

 

Let us know how it went or if you need help.

Edited May 10, 2020 at 11:00 AM by Andreas Fuchs

[Peter Crawford]

That's interesting - thanks Andreas. I will look into this option.  I did look briefly at the other options and I see a lot of them involve editing and messing around with files which I'm not comfortable doing, especially as when I tried following the paths that were mentioned in the guides they didn't seem to match my config.

Just Flight are bringing out a professional version of the BAe146 in the not too distant future so I might just wait and see what that brings.  

Once again, I really appreciate the support and input you have given me 😊

Peter

[Andreas Fuchs]

Editing a panel.cfg file is not complicated, I have done this on many occasions in the past, because I also had to fit the above mentioned TCAS and transponder gauge into panels. The tutorial will also help you doing so, it will be worth the effort.

[Mike Lehkamp]

On 5/10/2020 at 4:54 AM, Andreas Fuchs said:

For FSX there are several top-notch addons that have a functioning TCAS, such as PMDG 737, PMDG MD11, LevelD B767 etc.. but you'll have to pay for them

Well God forbid if you have to pay for it. Point is, its there, and again, much more realistic! 👍

[Andreas Fuchs]

59 minutes ago, Mike Lehkamp said:

Well God forbid if you have to pay for it

Not everyone has the budget to pay 40 to 120 USD just like this and I do not expect anyone to spend that amount of money to just have a functional TCAS. Obviously those expensive addons have many more realistic systems that are worth the money, but you have to be able to afford it, too.