On 14/03/2015, Matthew Scutter <[email protected]> wrote: > The protocols in the current version (v5) and new version (v6) are > supposedly totally incompatible, so please update your FLARMs before next > flight or you won't be able to see pilots with the other version.
I could have sworn, back when FLARM was being promoted, the designers were claiming the protocol would be freely available to other manufacturers in the interest of safety. Making a battery powered box that combines a GPS, radio, and collision sensing algorithms is not beyond a competent engineer. I did something very similar as a final year university project - not as refined, obviously, but functional. The barrier to entry should be quite low as there is (to my knowledge) no special flight certification and the radio bands used are license-free / not aviation specific. If the protocol were open, competition would almost certainly drive the cost of collision avoidance devices down. A closed protocol is healthy for FLARM. For the wider gliding community? I like competition. Cheers, Al _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
