Don't know current prices. A few years ago, probably $1200 used. They are rather expensive new.

I did mount mine on the glare shield but using the threaded inserts in the base. It moved around a little even with that so I made a simple L bracket that the forward end of the FLARM slides under.

Yes, the power plug is tiny. I rummaged around in my parts box until I found an old charger with that plug and cut off the end with a few feet of wire.. I also wired up the RJ-45 cable (an old Cat 5 network cable works fine) so I could power it that way plus get data for my Kobo running TopHat: GPS and barometric altitude plus FLARM targets.

I've heard that the Portable FLARMs aren't as sensitive as the core units but can't substantiate that. I seem to get about the same range as other pilots report. I'm running two dipole antennas (I have the license for the 2nd antenna) and found that it's pretty sensitive to antenna location. Not sure I have the magic answer yet but it's "good enough".

One "hazard" of the core if it's on the glareshield is that the rubber ducky antenna(s) can touch the inside of the canopy if space is tight. That results in tiny scratches unless you put a piece of [black] tape on the canopy.. Fortunately I have a brand new canopy now courtesy of some whacko in Texas who shot up my glider last summer so those scratches are history.

I like the fact that it's self-contained: the USB card slot and display are built in and it has its own battery. I keep charged-up AAs in there so if the main ship's power fails, the FLARM (also a logger since I have that license) will continue to operate. Hopefully I won't have to find out if there's a flaw in that logic.

IIRC, one advantage of the core is that there are two data out ports so you can send the GPS/FLARM data to two devices: nav computers, FLARM-NAV displays, etc. I had to buy a little adaptor to do that; I couldn't find a way to split the FLARM data output from the single port.

I bought mine about 4 years ago and it's worked well, although it stays in my ASW 24 all the time.

Chip Bearden