Airborne Speed Trap Countermeasures - Revisited

[switch626]

Here in FL we have the unfortunate distinction of periodical airborne VASCAR on our highways. This has been a fact of life for as long as I have been driving in this state. By now, it seems that all of the best stretches of highway have white lines across them. Some are old and some are new, but the only time you don't see it is when the road has just been repaved.

It has always bothered me that I can't just go out and get an airplane detector to mount next to my radar detector. Now, thanks to a few postings on this site, I happened to notice that there are a few people who bought Portable Collision Avoidance Systems (PCAS) to use as airplane detectors in their cars. This seems to be such a great Idea, but I haven't seen any reports on actual results on their use.

Has anyone else done this? If so, how did it work out?

I was lucky enough to find a very inexpensive PCAS system on Ebay (for $80 ) I'm going to try this out, and post what I find here. Unfortunately, aerial speed traps are expensive, so they are not done all the time. This could work out more like spotting Bigfoot than anything else.

The good thing is that in this case, I know that Bigfoot likes the turnpike on busy travel holiday weekends that happen to be sunny.

If anyone has any experience or thoughts on this, please post.

[The Invisible Vervet]

It's a bit of a hike from Sunrise, but I can see the airplane from my house when they're running the trap just south of the Bird Road toll (MM 22ish) on the Turnpike.

That's also pretty close to MIA and Tamiami Airport, so I'm sure you'd have some deciphering to do, but I'd be glad to shoot you a PM if you want me to alert you to the times that they're running it. They often seem to go for 9-11 AM on weekdays.

I know where/when to look for airplanes for that particular trap, but I've been quite curious about implementing some sort of VASCAR countermeasure myself. I haven't done much research on it, but I was under the impression that you couldn't get one of those gadgets for less than $500, so for $80, that's a far cry better than I thought...

I'm curious to hear of your results with it.

[switch626]

Please do shoot me a message when this happens. Sometimes I don't have any work booked (not often though), so I can hop in the car and head on over.

[Eloi]

Here in FL we have the unfortunate distinction of periodical airborne VASCAR on our highways. This has been a fact of life for as long as I have been driving in this state. By now, it seems that all of the best stretches of highway have white lines across them. Some are old and some are new, but the only time you don't see it is when the road has just been repaved.

It has always bothered me that I can't just go out and get an airplane detector to mount next to my radar detector. Now, thanks to a few postings on this site, I happened to notice that there are a few people who bought Portable Collision Avoidance Systems (PCAS) to use as airplane detectors in their cars. This seems to be such a great Idea, but I haven't seen any reports on actual results on their use.

Has anyone else done this? If so, how did it work out?

I was lucky enough to find a very inexpensive PCAS system on Ebay (for $80 ) I'm going to try this out, and post what I find here. Unfortunately, aerial speed traps are expensive, so they are not done all the time. This could work out more like spotting Bigfoot than anything else.

The good thing is that in this case, I know that Bigfoot likes the turnpike on busy travel holiday weekends that happen to be sunny.

If anyone has any experience or thoughts on this, please post.

Seems very promising .

In Quebec province they are using air surveillance again after 12 years of abandon .

Not sure to understand everything ... do all small planes reported by the system or do the plane needs a special equiment to be reported ?

Zaon Flight Systems - Zaon Now Integrates with Garmin Aera Series

Thanks.

[switch626]

The system actually works by means of the signal transmitted by the transponders on most aircraft. To my knowledge, the transponders could be turned off during Visual Flight Rules flying (which I think is what a speed trap would require). However, it appears that pilots generally do not turn them off even of they can, since they are used by collision avoidance systems.

Presumably, even VFR pilots would like to avoid collisions,and this should take precidence over writing tickets.

This idea has been used before by they guy who invented the Fuzzbuster. The device was called Spybuster, but has pretty much disappeared. I don't know why it is no longer available. There is one account in here of a guy who used the Spybuster with good results.

There are also two people in here that have tinkered with PCAS systems before. They never did post about any road tests though. This looked promising, but their threads have closed.

I suspect this is technique would find limited use, even if it works well. Only a handful of states and some Canadian provinces seem to use airborne VASCAR. Add to that the cost of a new PCAS system (usually around $450), and the typically limited use of this type of trap, and the benefit does not justify the cost for many people. I also figure there would be too many falses for this to be useful near airports.

That said, Florida is definitely a place where using PCAS could make sense. Most of the best highways have ample lines on them. This is often to the point that you have to either choose to slow down or ignore the lines and assume that there is no plane overhead watching (which is usually correct).

Anyway, this is a good place to test because this method is used extensively here. If it works out, then there is a decent tool against airborne VASCAR for those who don't mind spending the money on it.

[thx1138]

even VFR pilots generally do not turn off their transponder (aka squawk box) You may be onto something here. Generally FHP is flying around 2500 ft. Getting a warning when you are under them is not much notice. What is the range of the TCAS system.

[Eloi]

Thanks Switch626 , here they will use vascar for 212 hours
as a test and see if it is profitable $ecuritarily

My wife had , 15 years ago a vascar ticket ...I was passenger with my
Solo detector ...they had pulled over like 5 cars at this time ....the guy
in the sport mercedes was mad like hell ... we were his rabbit

Would it be a good idea : paint the top of a car a different color ....
a desesperate way to fight vascar ?

[Riptide]

Thanks Switch626 , here they will use vascar for 212 hours
as a test and see if it is profitable $ecuritarily

My wife had , 15 years ago a vascar ticket ...I was passenger with my
Solo detector ...they had pulled over like 5 cars at this time ....the guy
in the sport mercedes was mad like hell ... we were his rabbit

Would it be a good idea : paint the top of a car a different color ....
a desesperate way to fight vascar ?

LMFAO that would be hilarioius but you'd have to paint the trunk and hood a different color to

[Eloi]

Thanks Switch626 , here they will use vascar for 212 hours
as a test and see if it is profitable $ecuritarily

My wife had , 15 years ago a vascar ticket ...I was passenger with my
Solo detector ...they had pulled over like 5 cars at this time ....the guy
in the sport mercedes was mad like hell ... we were his rabbit

Would it be a good idea : paint the top of a car a different color ....
a desesperate way to fight vascar ?

LMFAO that would be hilarioius but you'd have to paint the trunk and hood a different color to

Hilarious yes , but as technology advances they are coming with
switchable paint , under voltage the paint will change tone ....but we could
be all old when it becomes available

[switch626]

even VFR pilots generally do not turn off their transponder (aka squawk box) You may be onto something here. Generally FHP is flying around 2500 ft. Getting a warning when you are under them is not much notice. What is the range of the TCAS system.

The unit I ordered is pretty old, and is out of productions. This is making it a little difficult to find a proper manual, but I have been able to find some information posted about. From what I have seen posted, it is able to detect an airplane from 5 to 10 nautical miles out, depending on the mode it is in.

It's also important to note that this is a TPAS, so it does not interrogate the aircrafts transponder. Instead, it listens for the transponder to respond to other interrogating signals from a TCAS or Air Traffic Control. This passive aspect of the device means that if you are in an area that has no radar or airplanes around, you probably will not detect anything.

It is also worth mentioning that the distance estimation of the device is accurate to withing 1800'. Although some similar systems will give you an actual altitude (depending on the capabilities of the transponder in question), mine will not. This all seems very much like the Spybuster.

I wonder if anyone makes one of these that DOES INTERROGATE. That would make this much more attractive.