Plenty of folks are selling portable ADS-B units these days, but none we have tried can quite match the capability of the Clarity SV product from Sagetech. The unit incorporates not one but two ADS-B receivers (a 1090 MHz receiver for seeing traffic and a 987 MHz for transmitting weather data), a WAAS GPS receiver and a built-in AHRS. That’s quite a few acronyms, so before we explain exactly how the technology works, let’s start with an overview of what Clarity SV can do in the airplane.
Getting started is easy. Simply open WingX Pro or another compatible app on your iPad or Android tablet and hit the Clarity SV’s power button. Toss the unit onto the glareshield and you’re in business. Your tablet is now a full-featured EFIS complete with synthetic-vision display and GPS-derived speed, altitude and heading data, as well as a moving map capable of presenting Nexrad weather graphics for the entire country and TIS-B traffic targets. All of the information is transmitted by Wi-Fi to the tablet, and the Clarity unit itself has a six-hour battery, making this a truly wireless setup. A “data burst” function lets you instantly update an iPad that has been put to sleep to conserve the battery.
|
To give the Clarity SV a real workout, I went up with my flying-club buddy Stephen Taylor in a bare-bones Cessna Skyhawk that lacks weather or traffic capability. After flying with the Clarity SV on the iPad for about an hour, we both agreed that the product is worth every penny of its $1,400 price. The unit’s built-in AHRS did an exceptional job of transmitting pitch and roll information to WingX’s synthetic-vision display, which was smooth and accurate throughout the flight. You can’t legally use it as a primary source, but as a backup it’s fantastic.
On the moving-map page we could see our present position, as well as the location of storm cells many miles away, broadcast over the flight information services–broadcast (FIS-B) network. Text weather data is available on a separate page. Traffic data, meanwhile, is transmitted via TIS-B ground stations, as well as from any aircraft in range that is equipped with ADS-B Out. If you are near a TIS-B tower (we were), the traffic data is quite good. If not, you will see only ADS-B Out-equipped aircraft — of which there aren’t many. As we approach the 2020 FAA mandate for ADS-B Out, the data will improve, but it’s important to note that the Clarity’s traffic capability, like most ADS-B portables, is far from perfect.
Still, if you’re looking for a single product with all these capabilities in a smart package, the Clarity SV is well worth checking out.
We welcome your comments on flyingmag.com. In order to maintain a respectful environment, we ask that all comments be on-topic, respectful and spam-free. All comments made here are public and may be republished by Flying.
