Posted by John McHale OLATHE, Kan. 23 July 2011. Officials at Garmin International released a new remote transponder compliant with Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) standards for experimental and light sport aircraft (LSA) applications. The GTX 23 is a new remote-mounted Mode-S extended squitter transponder designed to be used with the G3X glass cockpit. Garmin officials are also lowering the price of the G3X to make it affordable. The GTX 23 ES remote transponder has 250 watts of power output, Traffic Information Services (TIS) interface, and auto standby. Using GPS-referenced positioning information, the extended squitter positions the device for ADS-B compliance and enables it to automatically transmit more accurate, and more useful, traffic surveillance data -- including aircraft altitude, flight ID, position, climb/descent, velocity, and heading information. Traditional Mode S and Mode C transponders only broadcast altitude, and need ground-based radar to correlate and identify aircraft position.The GTX 23 ES interfaces with the G3X display, a customizable primary flight display/multifunction display combination that has one, two, or three all-glass displays; magnetometer; ADAHRS (combined air data and AHRS unit) and engine monitoring. Garmin officials are hoping to make the GTX 23 ES available in August for a price of $2,199. For information about the GTX 23 and pricing for the various G3X configurations, visit www.garmin.com/G3X.
