On Saturday, August 8, 2015 at 12:48:19 PM UTC-4, Andy Blackburn wrote:
Also - one of the main concerns coming out of Europe is OGN, which has cracked Flarm encryption and doesn't need to abide by Stealth protocols. This is mostly open source software and Flarm ground stations with high gain antennas have ranges many multiples of the airborne units. So enterprising pilots/teams can create situations where everyone else is flying around with 2km range and their's is effectively unlimited.

Hey, maybe we're making this more complicated than necessary. The solution is to just ban FLARM in competition.

It's a big sky. My first experiences with FLARM over the past month have been good, but I'd been doing just fine without it for 50 years before then. Ironically, I suspect that having been warned of close encounters of which they weren't aware of until FLARM, most competitors would now be conditioned to be MUCH more alert and vigilant than ever before if they didn't have it.

And unlike online weather radar displays, it's not like one guy sneaking a FLARM unit into his glider will provide a competitive advantage, right?

Just trying to help. I look forward to hearing of 9B's experiments with FLARM ground stations and high-gain antennas.

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB"
U.S.A.