Lincoln, MA – July 12, 2010 – Avidyne Corporation, a leading provider of integrated flight deck and safety systems for general aviation aircraft, today announced that they have introduced two new TSO C147-certified Traffic Advisory Systems (TAS), the TAS605 and TAS615, and have lowered the price on their entry-level TAS600 — enhancing the value proposition across the product line and making collision avoidance technology available to an even larger number of general aviation aircraft owners. Avidyne now offers four different TAS models — TAS600, TAS605, TAS615, TAS620 — each designed to meet the needs of specific aircraft types and mission profiles.
“Since the introduction of the TAS600 Series back in 2005, Avidyne has been at the forefront in providing affordable, active-surveillance collision avoidance products, and with the addition of the TAS605 and TAS615 models, we are adding additional features and setting lower price points,” said Patrick Herguth, Chief Operating Officer. “Avidyne was the first to offer active-surveillance traffic systems for under $10,000, and having recently shipped our 10,000th traffic system, we have demonstrated our leadership in safety systems and also in providing value to our customers.”
“Avidyne continues its commitment of making flying simpler and safer through strategic investments in safety systems and by improving the traffic system value proposition for light general aviation aircraft owners,” said Dan Schwinn, Avidyne President and CEO.
With the TAS600 Series, Avidyne continues to offer the smallest, lightest, and most affordable active traffic systems available for GA aircraft.
About TAS600 Series Traffic Advisory Systems
Avidyne’s dual-antenna TAS600 Series now comprises four models —the TAS600, TAS605, TAS615, and TAS620 — each of which can actively interrogate other transponder-equipped aircraft, and independently compute range, bearing, and closure rate of these aircraft in order to provide pilots with an accurate display of nearby traffic and timely audible and visual alerts of conflicting traffic.
Below is a table which shows each of the four models and the key differentiators, which include surveillance volume (in terms of range and relative altitude) as well as service ceiling. Like the TAS620, the new lower-cost TAS605 and TAS615 can accept a heading input, which is especially helpful in helicopter installations where high-rate turns are more likely.
Each of Avidyne’s TAS600-Series models includes innovative features such as Ground mode and Approach mode — which eliminate nuisance alerts, the ability to decode and display squawk code and N-number of Mode S-equipped targets, and patented top and bottom-mounted directional antennas for improved target acquisition and tracking. In addition, all TAS600 systems have the Avidyne-pioneered Heads Up Audible Position Alerting™ feature, which provides ATC-like aural annunciations of threat aircraft.
All TAS600-Series models provide traffic information about any transponder-equipped airplane that is nearby, independent of whether the target aircraft has ADS-B equipment installed, and the TAS600-Series are fully upgradeable to ADS-B. With the addition of an ADS-B “In” signal, TAS600 customers have the ability to show ADS-B-equipped traffic with better accuracy on their existing TAS-compatible displays, in addition to any transponder-equipped traffic that may not be participating in ADS-B.
TAS600 Systems have been certified and installed on hundreds of different aircraft models and are available for retrofit through Avidyne’s worldwide network of Authorized Service Centers. Avidyne’s TAS600 Series products are also available as factory standard or factory options at several aircraft OEMs including Cessna, Cirrus, Diamond, and Eurocopter. Last month Avidyne shipped their 10,000th Traffic detection system.
Avidyne will be exhibiting the new TAS605 & TAS615 models at the upcoming Airborne Law Enforcement Association (ALEA) in Tucson, Ariz. July 14-17 (Booth #206) , and at the EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis. July 24- August 1 (Booth #2098-2101).
