Airborne Speed Trap Countermeasures - Revisited

[thx1138]

Let me sync up on schedules, plane/pilot availability and a suitable location. Do you have the capability to video the device in action during the flyover encounter?

[switch626]

Silver might make you an easier lidar target.

Seriously if you want to try the TCAS in a controlled experiment, I can get an airplane to fly patterns and you approach the simulated enforcement area and see how the TCAS reacts. This would be way easier that trying to chase down an actual airplane trap.

Experiment is as follows...
Pick a road, specific location on that road and a time. Airplane flys at 2500ft in a racetrack pattern, 1 mile legs. Target car, drives through the simulated enforcement area observe the TCAS. Target car drives beyond the target area by 2 miles and does a U-turn. Repeat the drive through and repeat observations. Do this 3-5 times.

Optionally you could video both the airplane and car cabins, note the exact GPS coordinates of both the car and the aircraft. Ground to air communication would be good, and you would need an aircraft two way radio (I have one BTW).

I'd suggest a road way out west Broward or Palm beach county, such as US27, SR80 or the Sawgrass--- somewhere way out of controlled airspace and on a road that has long straightaways and the ability to make U turns.

Just let me know if you really want to test this out.

I would like to go ahead with this when it is convenient. I'm thinking that US27 would probably be a good place for it. It is somewhat remote, and provides the ability to make u-turns.

Filming would be good, though I could use a volunteer to do filming (especially if they have a good cam). We will definitely also need the two way radio.

Do you know which airport your pilot friend would be flying out of? Maybe we could choose an area not too far from there in order to not use a pile of avgas.

[switch626]

On Wednesday I finally got a chance to put the TPAS on my dash and take a little road trip. The weather wasn't really suitable for an actual encounter with an airborne speed trap, but I figured there would still be planes in the air.

Mounting the device on my dash proved to be a little more challenging than I expected. This was mainly because of the antenna in the back needing to be vertical in order to work. This was not a good combination with the slope of the windshield and the limited dash space in the Celica. I eventually just stuck it on the dash with two sided tape. Crude but effective.

Since headphones are not really practical (and are illegal when driving), I threw a set of cheap computer speakers on the floor and plugged them into a cheap power inverter. It looked like hell, but the traffic alerts that come in the form of a pleasant female voice sounded much better.

Ideally, I am going to get an extension cable for the antenna and a shorter stereo so there will be room for the TPAS to be mounted in the opening that is meant for the stereo. I'm thinking the new stereo should have an aux port, so I can plug the sound from the TPAS into it.

Today's trip was from Fort Lauderdale to Clewiston and back on US27. There was active ATC radar on most of the trip, but thankfully there were also areas that had none. It appears that while we were in range of ATC radar, the TPAS was very reliable pointing our air traffic at various ranges.

In the areas where we were not in range of Air Traffic Control radar, we were still detecting planes. Under these conditions the detections were more sporadic, as the only source of interrogation was from other planes. Still, I was often detecting planes 7 or 8 miles away.

I often found myself toggling between TCA mode (close range) and Enroute Mode (long range), depending on how far the nearest plane was. I fond that I am getting a preference for Enroute mode, because it starts the audible warnings around 1.5 to 2 nautical miles out.

Overall, I am growing more confident that this device will prove to be an effective countermeasure for airborne speed traps. So much so, that I am planning a permanent install in my car.

[switch626]

Since the TPAS that I am testing in no longer in production or widely available, I would like to post a link to a device that IS currently available for around 500 dollars.

Zaon Portable Collision Avoidance System - PCAS MRXA-A - MyPilotStore.com

This is mentioned in other threads in here, but I never found any actual test results, or even road testing commentary. Here are the links that I found:

http://www.radardetector.net/forums/...highlight=pcas

http://www.radardetector.net/forums/...highlight=pcas

[AirMoore]

^^^

Ok, Ok... what I want to know: Who has the PINK Crocs on!?!

[thx1138]

The plane is based in Lantana (LNA) just south of West Palm. I'll get hold of the pilot this weekend. Alligator alley or US27 should work just fine. Another forum member maybe able to join us. Thinking about next Saturday (7/24) to attempt this. If that date is good for you I'll try to line up the pilot/plane and the 3rd forum member (Dr Coke). I have an extra aircraft two way radio and a small video camera to record the events in the car.

[OpenRoad]

I am a pilot - at first I thought this would not work - but it might. The only other issue is you will still get a lot of falses from other aircraft, especially if you are near an airport.

Found this owner's manual.

http://www.zaon.aero/component/optio...ownload/gid,1/

[superbolt]

i'm sure this is when a police scanner earns its keep. Also the cb, truckers will tipoff that some kind of speedtrap is in play ahead.

[OpenRoad]

i'm sure this is when a police scanner earns its keep. Also the cb, truckers will tipoff that some kind of speedtrap is in play ahead.

Absolutely true. Better to just pick up a handheld scanner and find out what frequencies are used between aircraft and ground units. Most air-to-ground for traffic enforcement is done using regular aviation frequencies.

Also, eyes help...

http://www.radardetector.net/forums/...rce-again.html

[switch626]

I am a pilot - at first I thought this would not work - but it might. The only other issue is you will still get a lot of falses from other aircraft, especially if you are near an airport.

Found this owner's manual.

http://www.zaon.aero/component/optio...ownload/gid,1/

I like the PCAS you link to alot. It has a major advantage over the TPAS that I am using in that you can define a proximity to your altitude for up to 5000'. This would help to weed out airliners at cruising altitude that are not a threat.

My TPAS makes no distinction based on altitude.

Still, neither unit can distinguish a speed enforcement aircraft from any other aircraft. Whit this means to me is that one needs to consider both the proximity of the aircraft in question AND the presence of VASCAR lines on the road surface. IE:

Plane close by and no lines = go fast
No plane close by but lines present = go fast
Plane close by AND lines present = GO SLOW NOW