Innovative NGT-9000 a transponder replacement
L-3 Aviation Products recently unveiled its Lynx Multilink Surveillance System line of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) products. It includes five models, ranging from the NGT-1000—an ADS-B Out-only unit that complies with the FAA’s January 1, 2020, mandate—to models that offer the ability to display information on personal electronic devices via Wi-Fi or on installed multifunction displays. All have WAAS GPS receivers built in, so a compliant external GPS receiver is not required (although a GPS antenna is needed).
The size and form factor of the top-of-the-line NGT-9000 (shown), which offers a touch-screen display, makes it a candidate to replace aging Mode A/C transponders; it incorporates a 1090-MHz Mode S Extended Squitter transponder and 1090-MHz ADS-B Out, as well as the ability to receive both 1090-MHz and 978-MHz ADS-B In signals.
AOPA has been participating in the FAA’s Equip 2020 effort to identfy low-cost options, and L-3 has been an active participant in that effort. Although L-3 did not announce pricing for its NGT-1000, the NextGen GA Fund is offering the NGT-1000 at an introductory price of $1,599. The unit provides an ADS-B Out solution using a 978-MHz universal access transceiver. The pricing does not include installation, wiring kits, or any needed antennas.
L-3’s Lynx NGT-2000 UAT, with a suggested retail price of $3,200, adds a 978-MHz ADS-B In datalink and Wi-Fi, allowing the display of ADS-B traffic and weather on iPads and Android tablets running WingX Pro or SkyRadar (additional apps are pending). For $3,467, the NGT-2500 also has the ability to display ADS-B In data on various MFDs.
When the NGT-1000, -2000, or -2500 is paired with a non-compatible transponder, a CP-2500 control panel is required to set the UAT’s output. The CP-2500 has a suggested retail price of $1,223.
The top-of-the-line NGT-9000, $6,800 plus installation, incorporates a 1090-MHz Extended Squitter transponder and 1090-MHz ADS-B Out, and it receives both 978-MHz and 1090-MHz ADS-B In data. This unit features a touch-screen color display with a simple, intuitive interface. (The NGT-9000+ adds an active traffic system that blends ADS-B traffic data with position information of aircraft equipped with Mode A, C, and S transponders; the NGT-9000D and NGT-9000D+ add antenna diversity—the ability to install ADS-B antennas on the top and bottom of the aircraft, to improve ADS-B signal reception while maneuvering and during ground operations.
Email [email protected]
Web: www.l-3lynx.com/models.htm
From the experts: Travel tip #3
Laundry on the fly
By Chris Rose
Best-case scenario: You’re sipping a cocktail in the hotel bar while two floors away a quarter-hungry white box transforms your sweaty socks from a biohazard to a bouquet. Reality: It’s Day 4 of tent camping at Oshkosh and the combination of sweat, sunscreen, bratwurst grease, and the avgas you wiped on your jeans is beginning to make you unpopular.
Necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention. Visit your local big box store and pick up a pack of Ziploc XXL storage bags and a box of all-in-one laundry sheets. Add one sheet to each of the bags, along with a couple of drops of Dawn dishwashing liquid. These can be folded and stored in your airplane or luggage. When needed, throw in your offending articles, fill with water, seal, swish and shake for a few minutes, rinse repeatedly, wring out, and air dry. Congratulations, you are now human again.
Chris Rose is a photographer for AOPA who makes many, many trips for the association.
