Does anyone has experience good or bad using the Zaon PCAS in Alaska ? Although terminal radar coverage is limited it may add in traffic avoidance around terminal areas. I wonder how far from Anchorage it will still give you useful data.

I have the MRX, pocket-sized version. I got the pocket-sized model because I don't fly in heavy concentrations of other aircraft, and I wanted a PCAS that won't add significant weight, hassle to install or be difficult to operate.

I don't fly in Alaska, but where I do fly, it works. I leave it in ground mode, where it senses 0 altitude AGL. It stays in ground mode until you reach 300', so as to avoid unnecessary signal clutter from aircraft moving around on the ground, but it will pick up aircraft at altitudes higher than 300' and within 5 miles. Then, after getting over 300', it changes to in-flight mode, detecting transponder squawks from other aircraft up to 5 miles away, beginning with the aircraft that appears to be the greater threat (the one maintaining closing range with same altitude as your aircraft). Your question about distance from the airport I think has more to do with the altitude and distance of the squawking transponder of the other aircraft, not how far away you yourself are from an airport.

It's about as simple as one can get for this kind of device, which is a good thing. Upon hearing the high pitched beep and/or seeing the extra bright LED display light up with an alert, all it takes is a split second glance to see what the relative altitude of the other aircraft (up to three) is via a small, bright LED arrow. This single glance can quickly determine whether the other aircraft is ascending, descending or maintaining a constant altitude.

It has always picked up other planes long before I saw them with my own eyes, but I do not consider it a substitute for constant ocular vigilance. I would recommend it for it's simplicity, that it does what it's supposed to do, for it's lightweight and portability. There is always the option too, of making a permanent mount for it on top of your panel (best place for line-of-sight signal reception and display viewing) and having a permanent 12v cigarette plug-style adapter for a power source. I can hear the alarm even with my Rotax 503 lawnmower engine rattling a few feet away, but the I think it is more effectively plugged into an intercom/headset, for which there is an output jack for.

Here is a brief but good demo of the MRX in action

I like the zaon PCAS, but if you fly the short or long wing pipers, the steel tubing behind the windshield interfeers with the reception, at least when i tried to make one work on my pa22, that was the problem i had. I worked with the manufacturer to try and retune but nothing helped. I wound up giving it to my brother for install on a 182 and it performs nearly flawlessly. Good units with excellent factory support.

I have one and it has helped keep my butt safe on more than one occasion. Remember it is not flawless, it only picks up other aircraft with a working transponder. With regard to Anchorage it is not dependent on radar controlled airspace, just that the other aircraft are equipped with transponders that are turned on in altitude mode.

dawgdriver wrote:I have one and it has helped keep my butt safe on more than one occasion. Remember it is not flawless, it only picks up other aircraft with a working transponder. With regard to Anchorage it is not dependent on radar controlled airspace, just that the other aircraft are equipped with transponders that are turned on in altitude mode.

I respectfully disagree. The Zaon, like all other PCAS (passive collision avoidance system) devices, is passive (I have two of them, a Zaon and a Proxalert R5). They rely on the other or threat aircraft's transponder transmitting. That will only occur if either the threat aircraft's transponder is being interrogated by ATC or by another aircrafts TCAS. So, if there's lots of big iron (airliners overhead) with TCAS and in range, then the Zaon will work in the outback, otherwise it'll sit their like a little brick. If your own transponder reply light is blinking away, or even now and then, then you can figure the Zaon will probably work. If the light ain't flashing, no joy.

dawgdriver wrote:I have one and it has helped keep my butt safe on more than one occasion. Remember it is not flawless, it only picks up other aircraft with a working transponder. With regard to Anchorage it is not dependent on radar controlled airspace, just that the other aircraft are equipped with transponders that are turned on in altitude mode.

I respectfully disagree. The Zaon, like all other PCAS (passive collision avoidance system) devices, is passive (I have two of them, a Zaon and a Proxalert R5). They rely on the other or threat aircraft's transponder transmitting. That will only occur if either the threat aircraft's transponder is being interrogated by ATC or by another aircrafts TCAS. So, if there's lots of big iron (airliners overhead) with TCAS and in range, then the Zaon will work in the outback, otherwise it'll sit their like a little brick. If your own transponder reply light is blinking away, or even now and then, then you can figure the Zaon will probably work. If the light ain't flashing, no joy.

Bumper,

You are correct, I may have simplified it too much. There does have to be an interrogation, this can come from TCAS aircraft outside of radar controlled airspace as you have pointed out.

MRX is a stand-alone, passive system. Passive systems are different from active systems such as TCAS, Skywatch®, etc.
Active systems can be found in commercial airliners, corporate jets, and higher-end general aviation aircraft. They actively interrogate aircraft transponders within a specific range. Passive systems like your MRX listen for the replies to these interrogations, as well as ground-based RADAR interrogations.

I won't leave home with out it!

Lots of maneuvering student traffic just outside of my home airspace at Tulsa Riverside. I love the big Zaon connected to a 496 but you have to follow the instructions... once setup properly (that north indexing is critical as is mounting it base level when in level flight and in the cub I tell it fabric, at least thats what I think they call it) they are great, very little difficulty in my PA18. I do run the alert range pretty close 1 mile and 500 ft vertical and on cross country trips sometimes increase the ranges. After many long trips I've gotten very few messages that “traffic information unavailable.” even in the Montana, Wyoming and Idaho boonies the coverage was excellent.

Saved my bacon big time already!!!