On Monday, October 1, 2012 11:36:26 AM UTC-7, (unknown) wrote:
On Monday, October 1, 2012 11:56:14 AM UTC-4, Mark wrote:

Three members at my club (self included) have installed PowerFlarm bricks recently. We carefully read and have complied with the antenna separation requirements in the manual. As is stands currently, the maximum xperienced communication range (Flarm to Flarm) is about 2.2 miles and it frequently drops out around 1.3-1.5 miles. Regarding PCAS operation, the only alert I have received using the PowerFlarm Brick has been the towplane at a distance of about 1000-1500 feet lateraly, same altitude. At the same time my Zaon PCAS alerted to the same towplane at a range of 2+ miles and 1000 feet below. The three gliders are a Ventus 1, Discus 2, and a PIK. All three seem to be experiencing the same issues with very poor range. Emails to FLARM have seemed to fall on deaf ears. We're curious if we're the only ones or if others are also seeing the same issues with BRICKS. We've heard plenty from portable users who are reporting 6+ miles Flarm to Flarm and PCAS alerts approaching 5 miles. If changes to the installation will fix this, great! We just need to know what to change. The US dealer has seen pics of our installation and says the antenna installations look good. They are all on the top of the glare shields so should be excellent visibility. We'd like this to work, but if there is no option to improve the performance then sending the stuff back is certainly on the table. More testing this weekend, but at the moment it's not looking good.



It would seem that the range you are getting is good enough to provide the anti-collision properties that this device is intended to provide, at least glider to glider. Seeing other gliders for tactical purposes is what you get beyond the range that you are reporting. Nice to have, but not getting this would not seem to be a reason to pull the plug on the use of it in your glider.

I use a single element Flarm antenna on my glare shield in my '27 and see gliders to about 4 miles or so. I don't have any feedback on PCAS function..

FWIW

UH

I think there is a consensus on 3 issues:
1 - Poor PCAS performance.
2 - Poor flarm performance in portables, but not bricks. Most bricks I know of getting 2-3 miles which is plenty enough for collision avoidance if you pay attention immediately.
3 - The support and manuals sucks.

None of the above should be a reason to delay purchase or return the unit. I am confident they will all get addressed in the near future.

Ramy