If you’re not familiar with ADS-B, this is a worthwhile read.

I recently picked up a used Appareo Stratus 1 ADS-B receiver from the classifieds forum on Beechtalk.com. As an aside, if you’re looking for new pilot gear (or trying to sell something you no longer need), I highly recommend checking out the classifieds sections of the type-club message forums and general avaition message boards – Beechtalk, COPA, AOPA, PilotsofAmerica.com, etc. are all great places to find some deals.

A couple of months ago, I found a Stratus 1 for sale by a very nice gentleman in Florida who no longer needed it because he was switching from an iPad to another EFB product. Since the Stratus only works with Foreflight on the iPad, this move rendered the device useless to him and became my good fortune as I was able to pick it up for a reasonable price.

My expectation for using the Stratus was mostly along the lines of being able to pick up subscription-free in-flight weather (METARs, TAFs, NEXRAD, AIRMETs, SIGMETs, TFRs, etc. they’re all available through free of charge!). Given the ever-changing Colorado weather, I figured being able to know what was lurking weather-wise was a very good thing – and it most certainly has been. After a half-dozen flights I can say that the Stratus has exceeded my expectations when it comes to being able to get weather from ADS-B ground stations pretty much everywhere I’ve flown. It’s been fantastic to be on a XC flight and be able to pull up the winds at the destination airport from a hundred plus miles away, or get winds aloft for planning while enroute, or being able to see what TFRs may have popped-up along my route.

The added bonus from all of this has been the ability to sometimes get TIS-B traffic using the Stratus. I say “sometimes” because the Stratus 1, like any non-ADS-B out equipped airplane, is somewhat limited when it comes to the TIS-B traffic picture. However, my understanding is that if I’m within a roughly 15 nm range of an aircraft equipped with ADS-B out, it will trigger the ground stations to also provide the traffic information to me. I’ve seen this a few times now and it is truly awesome to be able to have a view of the air traffic all around you. Here are some iPad screenshots to demonstrate.

 

Talk about increased situational awareness. We saw this guy coming toward us from about 5 miles away and were talking to him as we converged and he passed safely off of our left side.

 

Every now and then, callsigns/tail numbers of participating aircraft will show up.

 

Bottom line – I highly recommend getting an ADS-B receiver of some sort: Garmin GDL, Stratus, Dual, etc. you can’t go wrong with having additional potentially lifesaving information at your fingertips.