On Feb 19, 11:10*am, Grider Pirate wrote:
On Feb 19, 9:53*am, Bruno wrote:



I have debated for a few months if I really should post this or not
but think I should share my experience. *First, I LOVE the concept of
the PCAS MRX and I have received nothing short of exceptional customer
service from Zaon. *I also would strongly recommend to every pilot to
purchase one of these fairly inexpensive units. *That said, I would
give them the following warning:

I have now had my unit fail twice without any indication of failure.
It still seemed to be working fine until I saw a jet whiz by real
close and realized that I hadn't had any alerts for a flight or two.
Again, the unit turned on and seemed to be acting fine. *I sent it
back to Zaon and they were great and replaced the board to fix it the
first time.

A year or so passed and all of a sudden the same thing. *A plane flies
close by and I haven't had a alert for 5-6 flights. *I was closely
paying attention this time because of my last experience. *I sent the
unit back and, again, Zaon surpassed my expectations by replacing a
faulty filter this time, sending it back and not charging anything -
not even return shipping. *It was well out of warranty. *Wow! *Great
customer service Zaon.

I called and spoke with Zaon after this second fix. *When this
particular part fails on the Zaon PCAS there is no way for the unit to
tell that there is anything wrong. *It just doesn't pick up any
signals. *Therefore, it can't warn you if it is broken. *I would be
very surprised if there are not at least a few other units out there
that have this faulty part but the owner still thinks that everything
is ok.

Suggestions:
1. *See and avoid. *Don't ever rely on any instrument or other person
to watch out for other aircraft instead of doing it yourself -no
brainer.
2. *If your PCAS unit has not picked up an aircraft that it should
have you might want to consider it may have this problem.
3. *Fly far, land out every once in a while because you are pushing,
have fun and be safe.

Has anyone else had a similar experience with their MRX having
problems?

Bruno - B4

Thanks for posting this Bruno. *I don't have one (yet) so I hope this
isn't too dumb a question. *If your tow plane has a transponder, and
it gets 'pinged' would the unit alert you? Where I fly, the towplane
is being queried a lot, so I should have a good 'functional checkout'
at the beginning of each flight (I think).

The answer is yes. The MRX can detect it on tow but you need to
remember that this is a passive detection system so it requires a
radar station to be within line of sight. Out of Cedar Valley, UT
where I fly you don't get any coverage for the first 2,000+ ft agl
because there is a hill between the Cedar Valley airport and the SLC
radar. Above that you then get hits. Most tows are under 2,000 ft
(bragging about how great Cedar Valley is) so that is why I couldn't
just use the tow plane to verify on most flights. Out of Morgan, UT
the radar signal is strong so you can see the tow plane on the MRX on
tow and know the MRX is working.

Bruno - B4