I don’t know if the owners of Garmin 330’s heard yet, but there is a service bulletin (# 0304 I think) that shouls be available Friday 4/25.
According to the letter my avionics shop received, some aircraft using the G-330 DO NOT SHOW UP on some other a/c TCAD, TCAS or TAS displays. While Garmin says their product works properly, they did issue a SB.
I guess this means that those of us who paid the extra $$$ for the Skywatch can’t sit there fat,dumb and happy; just because nothing shows on our screens doesn’t mean it’s not out there!
John, That’s always been the case with all anti-collision systems. They assume the threat target has an operating transponder and therefore a transponderless aircraft or one in which the transponder is not turned on (a surprisingly frequent problem) Skywatch is of no help.
Keep those eyes open no matter what.
Here is the statment from garmin regarding the software update. They are covering the cost of the software update. This update shold also fix the auto activation problem some of you may be experiancing. That is the transponder turns on befor you reach 30 knots GS.
Kevin Johnson
The Avionics Shop, inc.
Del Monte Maintenance.
To: Aviation Dealers and GTX 330/330D Owners of Record
From: Bob Haase, Field Service Engineering Manager
Date: April 17, 2003
Dear Valued Garmin Customer,
Recently, Garmin became aware of an important issue relating to the GTX 330 and GTX 330D Mode S transponders. In certain conditions, an aircraft with an operating GTX 330/330D may not be visible to certain TCAS, TCAD and TAS systems. However, to the best of our knowledge, these Garmin products currently comply with all regulatory requirements relative to this issue. Garmin will shortly issue a mandatory Software Service Bulletin (SSB) #0304 which will facilitate field update of GTX 330/330D units to remedy the condition.
This message is intended to provide notification about this issue. We strongly urge incorporation of SSB #0304 as soon as it becomes available, which is expected to be on or about Friday, April 25, 2003.