*SUPER CHEAP* ADS-B (in) weather etc

leadsledfan

leadsledfan

New member
Foreflight has just announced an affordable option for Ads-B in weather and information.
The product is called the Scout, and is essentially a smaller and cheaper version of the Stratus.
Again, it's only an ads-b in receiver, so you only get weather, metars, tafs, ETC, but its also only $199. A good buy for someone that is waiting to install ads-b out for a few more years

-Adam
 
We built a stratux, it was a fun project but this looks less intimidating than programming a raspberry pi for the stratux and the price is right.
 
Ralph,
I am currently working on a Raspberry Pi build with a GSM module to control engine pre-heat over text message, along with some other goodies. The Pi is a wonderful little computer for hobbyists, but for $200, I think many will forego the trouble of building a Stratux, and just buy the complete unit.

-Adam
 
I built my dual frequency Statux for ~$130 and that included a preprogramed Raspberry Pi that had the program already in it. I use it with FltPlan Go, and it works pretty well for traffic, though i haven't figured out (or even tried) to get Metars and TAFs.
 
Larry,
I'm a fellow fan of the Raspberry Pi, and the Stratux build. I think for those that don't feel that they have the technical knowledge to build a Stratux, the Scout is a good cheap option. Especially considering the previous option was a Stratus at 700 bucks.
And the Scout will fit in your 182!
-Adam
 
Yep, the Scout is pretty cool. But realize that the Scout does not have the AHRS feature. Nor does it have the pressure-sensor for "real" pressure altitude readings, nor does it have a battery — it has to be plugged into a power supply to operate. And I don't believe it buffers the weather data if your ForeFlight device is off (or being used for something else) momentarily, like the Stratus does. Nor does it record your flight data for you. I really like my Stratus — especially now that I have the Stratus ESG for ADS-B Out.
 
I really like my ADSB in.
On Wednesday thunderstorms popped up between the time I checked the weather and then packed up our tools and had the customer drop us back off at the airport. It sure was nice to have ADSB in weather in the cockpit to tell us what was going on 50 miles in front of us. 20deg to the left and we were in the clear smooth air behind the weather. Without the in-cockpit nexrad we would have been too close for comfort by the time I could see the storm, and relying on controllers busy with airliners heading for O’Hare for help.
Ralph
 
The owner just got a Garmin 435 Txp installed in the 182 today. Am planning to fly down to Bay area tomorrow, so am looking forward to see all the wizz bang about ads-b. Did the verification flight on the way back to Creswell, and got confirmation within 10 minutes of submitting it, so the owner get's the (taxable!) $500 rebate...hmmm what is it after taxes and counting the time/gas to do the validation flight?
 
I bought a SCOUT at Oshkosh - for $200 it's a hard deal to pass up. There is no doubt the Garmin GTX-345 is the complete package for ADS-B in/out and wireless connectivity to ForeFlight, but... there is a hefty price to pay for this. I sat in on a Garmin seminar and found out that the Garmin GTX-335, which is ADS-B OUT only is an attractive option promo priced for $2995 (including antenna) - the appealing part of this is that it does not require the installation and certification by an avionics shop - log book entry by an A&P will satisfy the Garmin warranty AND will still qualify for the $500 rebate by the FAA (deadline is coming up for the rebate). So net cost will be $2500 if you install yourself with a friendly A&P sign-off. This is the direction I plan to go, although there are many other low-cost options. I will give the Scout a try - if it proves to be inadequate for the reasons mentioned above then I will go with the Stratus. It would be nice if Robert would add a forum for Avionics to keep this information segregated from other maintenance matters. There was so much new stuff exposed at Airventure that we will all have a lot to talk about in the coming months and years.
 
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