Levil pulls low-cost ADS-B Out transceiver from market
Refund, exchange options offered
After a small number of users ran into trouble validating installation, Levil Aviation opted to discontinue the Beacon, an Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out solution for experimental and light sport aircraft, and offer refunds. The company told AOPA that successful installations can remain in service.
The avionics and aircraft accessory maker based in Oviedo, Florida, introduced the Beacon, a 978 MHz Universal Access Transceiver, in 2017, offering a low-cost ($1,885) path to compliance with the looming ADS-B mandate. Levil Aviation President Ruben Leon explained in a March 5 telephone interview that “two or three” customers had run into trouble validating their Beacon installations. In one case, the Beacon had been installed too close to a transponder antenna; another installer misdirected a wire. While it was a small number of issues reported from the field, Leon said it led to a realization and a difficult decision:
“We couldn’t control the installation in the experimental market,” Leon said. “That became, ‘Wow, this is going to be a problem.’”
“We’re trying to prevent future foreseeable problems and nip it now before it becomes an issue,” Michelle Leon said.
Customers who have successfully installed a Beacon and validated their ADS-B Out compliance can still opt for a refund, or exchange the Beacon for another product. The company will continue to produce a range of avionics options including the Broadcasting Outer Module, or BOM, which was also introduced in 2017 and provides GPS, attitude heading and reference system (AHRS), angle of attack, and ADS-B In functions. (In other words, the Beacon is down, but Levil is not dropping the BOM.)
Michelle Leon said Levil may at some point introduce another ADS-B Out product—“We’re of the belief, never say never,” she said—but for now the focus will be on ADS-B In and AHRS solutions, and a new product will be announced at the upcoming Sun ‘n Fun International Fly-In and Expo in Lakeland, Florida. That offering will combine ADS-B In and AHRS in a “very affordable” product, she added. “We’re very excited about that.”
