Garmin GTS 820 TAS, GTS 850 TCAS I, GTS Series, GTS 800 TAS, GTS 825 TAS Pilot's Manual

GTS Traffic Systems

Pilot’s Guide

© 2018 Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved.

Garmin International, Inc., 1200 East 151st Street, Olathe, KS 66062, U.S.A.

Garmin AT, Inc., 2345 Turner Road SE, Salem, OR 97302, U.S.A.

Garmin (Europe) Ltd., Liberty House, Hounsdown Business Park, Southampton, Hampshire
SO40 9LR, U.K.

Garmin Corporation, No. 68, Jangshu 2nd Road, Xizhi District, New Taipei City, Taiwan

At Garmin, we value your opinion. For comments about this guide, please e-mail:
[e-mail]

This part shall comply with Garmin Banned and Restricted Substances document, 001-00211-00.

www.garmin.com

https://fly.garmin.com/fly-garmin

Except as expressly provided herein, no part of this manual may be reproduced, copied, transmitted,
disseminated, downloaded or stored in any storage medium, for any purpose without the express written
permission of Garmin. Garmin hereby grants permission to download a single copy of this manual and of
any revision to this manual onto a hard drive or other electronic storage medium to be viewed for personal
use, provided that such electronic or printed copy of this manual or revision must contain the complete text
of this copyright notice and provided further that any unauthorized commercial distribution of this manual
or any revision hereto is strictly prohibited.

Record of Revisions

Revision Date Description

B 3/21/14 Added new GTS models and reorganized/edited content.

C 08/30/16 Updated ADS-B info

D 11/08/17 Updated per latest SW
E 07/20/18 Updated per latest SW

July 2018 Printed in the U.S.A.

i190-00587-02 Rev. E

Garmin GTS Traffic Systems

AVIATION LIMITED WARRANTY

All Garmin avionics products are warranted to be free from defects in materials or workmanship for the
earlier of: 2 years or 800 flight hours from the date of purchase for new TSO remote-mount and TSO
panel-mount products; 1 year or 400 flight hours from the date of purchase for new Non-TSO remote­mount* and Non-TSO panel-mount*, portable products and any purchased newly-overhauled products;
6 months or 200 flight hours for factory repaired or newly-overhauled products exchanged through a
Garmin Authorized Service Center. Within the applicable period, Garmin will, at its sole option, repair or
replace any components that fail in normal use. Such repairs or replacement will be made at no charge
to the customer for parts or labor, provided that the customer shall be responsible for any transportation
cost. This Limited Warranty does not apply to: (i) cosmetic damage, such as scratches, nicks and dents; (ii)
consumable parts, such as batteries, unless product damage has occurred due to a defect in materials or
workmanship; (iii) damage caused by accident, abuse, misuse, water, flood, fire, or other acts of nature
or external causes; (iv) damage caused by service performed by anyone who is not an authorized service
provider of Garmin; or (v) damage to a product that has been modified or altered without the written
permission of Garmin. In addition, Garmin reserves the right to refuse warranty claims against products or
services that are obtained and/or used in contravention of the laws of any country.

This Limited Warranty also does not apply to, and Garmin is not responsible for, any degradation in the
performance of any Garmin navigation product resulting from its use in proximity to any handset or
other device that utilizes a terrestrial broadband network operating on frequencies that are close to the
frequencies used by any Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) such as the Global Positioning Service
(GPS). Use of such devices may impair reception of GNSS signals.

THE WARRANTIES AND REMEDIES CONTAINED HEREIN ARE EXCLUSIVE AND IN LIEU OF ALL OTHER
WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING ANY LIABILITY ARISING UNDER
ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, STATUTORY OR
OTHERWISE. THIS WARRANTY GIVES YOU SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS, WHICH MAY VARY FROM STATE TO
STATE.

IN NO EVENT SHALL GARMIN BE LIABLE FOR ANY INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL
DAMAGES, WHETHER RESULTING FROM THE USE, MISUSE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PRODUCT OR
FROM DEFECTS IN THE PRODUCT. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF INCIDENTAL OR
CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

Garmin retains the exclusive right to repair or replace (with a new or newly-overhauled replacement
product) the product or software or offer a full refund of the purchase price at its sole discretion. SUCH
REMEDY SHALL BE YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY FOR ANY BREACH OF WARRANTY.

Online Auction Purchases: Products purchased through online auctions are not
eligible for warranty coverage. Online auction confirmations are not accepted for warranty
verification. To obtain warranty service, an original or copy of the sales receipt from
the original retailer is required. Garmin will not replace missing components from any
package purchased through an online auction.

ii

Garmin GTS Traffic Systems

190-00587-02 Rev. E

International Purchases: A separate warranty may be provided by international
distributors for devices purchased outside the U.S. depending on the country. If applicable,
this warranty is provided by the local in-country distributor and this distributor provides
local service for your device. Distributor warranties are only valid in the area of intended
distribution. Devices purchased in the U.S. or Canada must be returned to the Garmin
service center in the U.K., the U.S., Canada, or Taiwan for service.

*All new G3X units, including Non-TSO remote-mount or Non-TSO panel-mount, are
warranted to be free from defects in materials or workmanship for the earlier of: 2 years
or 800 flight hours from the date of purchase.

WARNINGS AND CAUTIONS

WARNING: The GTS TAS and TCAS I systems are intended for advisory use
only to aid the pilot in visually acquiring traffic. No avoidance maneuvers
should be based solely upon traffic information. It is the responsibility of
the pilot in command to see and maneuver to avoid traffic.

CAUTION: Pilots should be aware of TAS/TCAS I system limitations.
TAS/TCAS I systems require intruder transponders to respond to system
interrogations. If an intruder transponder does not respond to interrogations
due to antenna shading or marginal transponder performance, it will not
be displayed, or display may be intermittent. Pilots should remain vigilant
for traffic at all times when using TAS/TCAS I systems for non-transponder
equipped airplanes or unresponsive airplanes.

iii190-00587-02 Rev. E

Garmin GTS Traffic Systems

SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT

BY USING THE DEVICE, COMPONENT OR SYSTEM MANUFACTURED OR SOLD BY GARMIN
(“THE GARMIN PRODUCT”), YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS
OF THE FOLLOWING SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT. PLEASE READ THIS AGREEMENT
CAREFULLY. Garmin Ltd. and its subsidiaries (“Garmin”) grants you a limited license to
use the software embedded in the Garmin Product (the “Software”) in binary executable
form in the normal operation of the Garmin Product. Title, ownership rights, and intellectual
property rights in and to the Software remain with Garmin and/or its third-party providers.
You acknowledge that the Software is the property of Garmin and/or its third-party providers
and is protected under the United States of America copyright laws and international
copyright treaties. You further acknowledge that the structure, organization, and code of the
Software are valuable trade secrets of Garmin and/or its third-party providers and that the
Software in source code form remains a valuable trade secret of Garmin and/or its third-party
providers. You agree not to reproduce, decompile, disassemble, modify, reverse assemble,
reverse engineer, or reduce to human readable form the Software or any part thereof or
create any derivative works based on the Software. You agree not to export or re-export
the Software to any country in violation of the export control laws of the United States of
America.

iv

Garmin GTS Traffic Systems

190-00587-02 Rev. E

1190-00587-02 Rev. E

Garmin GTS Traffic Systems

Contents

Section 1 System Description ....................................................................... 3

Section 2 General Theory of Operation ........................................................ 3

2.1 Active Surveillance ..................................................................................... 3

2.2 ADS-B IN ................................................................................................... 4

Section 3 System Specifications ................................................................... 7

Section 4 System Components .....................................................................8

4.1 System Processor ....................................................................................... 8

4.1.1 GTS 800/820/850 System Processors ............................................... 8

4.1.2 GTS 825/855 System Processor ....................................................... 8

4.2 Antennas .................................................................................................. 9

4.2.1 Directional Antennas ..................................................................... 10

4.2.2 Omni-Directional Antenna ............................................................. 11

4.3 External Amplifier .................................................................................... 11

4.3.1 GPA 65 Amplifier Module (GTS 820 & 850 only) ............................ 11

Section 5 System Interfaces .......................................................................12

5.1 Altitude Source ........................................................................................ 12

5.2 Transponder Interface .............................................................................. 12

5.3 Traffic Display .......................................................................................... 12

5.4 Audio System .......................................................................................... 12

5.5 Landing Gear Position ............................................................................. 13

5.6 Radar Altimeter ....................................................................................... 13

5.7 GPS ........................................................................................................ 13

5.8 Magnetic Heading ................................................................................... 13

5.9 Air/Ground Switch ................................................................................... 13

5.10 Control Switches ................................................................................... 13

Section 6 System Operation .......................................................................14

6.1 Operating Modes .................................................................................... 14

6.1.1 Control of Modes .......................................................................... 14

6.2 Traffic Information ................................................................................... 15

6.2.1 No-Bearing TAs ............................................................................. 16

6.3 ADS-B In Applications - SURF, AIRB .......................................................... 18

6.4 Traffic Alerting ......................................................................................... 19

6.4.1 TAS/TCAS I Alerting ....................................................................... 19

2

Garmin GTS Traffic Systems

190-00587-02 Rev. E

6.4.2 ADS-B In Alerting .......................................................................... 22

6.4.3 TA Aural Alerts .............................................................................. 25

6.5 Ownship Air/Ground Detection ................................................................ 26

6.6 Automatic Mode Switching ...................................................................... 26

6.7 Calculated Height Above Ground ............................................................. 27

6.8 Ground Traffic Filtering ............................................................................ 28

6.8.1 Mode S Targets ............................................................................. 28

6.8.2 Radar Altimeter ............................................................................. 28

6.8.3 Calculated Height Above Ground ................................................... 28

6.9 Self-Test .................................................................................................. 29

Section 7 Q and A .......................................................................................30

7.1 What are the benefits of ADS-B? ............................................................. 30

7.2 When is ADS-B In available? .................................................................... 30

7.3 How are active and ADS-B In targets displayed? ...................................... 30

7.4 What capabilities does GPS data provide? ................................................ 30

7.5 What kind of transponder is required for use with the GTS Traffic System? 30

7.6 Is ADS-B Out required with the GTS Traffic System? .................................. 31

Section 8 Glossary ......................................................................................32

3190-00587-02 Rev. E

Garmin GTS Traffic Systems

SECTION 1 SYSTEM DESCRIPTION

Garmin GTS Traffic Systems are a family of Traffic Advisory Systems (TAS)
and Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance Systems (TCAS). The systems feature
both active interrogation of aircraft transponders and reception of 1090 MHz
Extended Squitter ADS-B broadcasts (ADS-B IN).

GTS Traffic Systems include the following products:

• GTS 800 TAS

• GTS 820 TAS and GTS 850 TCAS I

• GTS 825 TAS and GTS 855 TCAS I

• GTS 8000 TCAS II

Terms used in this Pilot’s Guide:

• TAS: Refers to any TAS system (GTS 800/820/825)

• TCAS I: Refers to any TCAS I system (GTS 850/855)

• TAS / TCAS I: Refers to any TAS or TCAS I system
(GTS 800/820/825/850/855)

• TCAS II: Refers to the GTS 8000

NOTE: Details on the GTS 8000 TCAS II operation are not included in this
guide. For information on a GTS 8000 TCAS II system, refer to the aircraft­specific installation documentation.

SECTION 2 GENERAL THEORY OF OPERATION

2.1 Active Surveillance

GTS Traffic Systems actively interrogate the transponders of other nearby
aircraft to determine their bearing, distance, altitude and vertical trend relative
to your aircraft. Aircraft with operating transponders are detected, and aircraft
with altitude reporting transponders will also include altitude and vertical trend
information (level, climbing, or descending). This information is then shown on
a compatible traffic display.

GTS Traffic Systems also provide visual and aural alerts to assist in visually
acquiring traffic. Aural and visual alerts are provided as a Traffic Advisory (TA)
for conflicting traffic.

4

Garmin GTS Traffic Systems

190-00587-02 Rev. E

2.2 ADS-B IN

The GTS ADS-B In capability allows it to receive traffic data through a built in
1090 MHz Extended Squitter (1090 ES) receiver. ADS-B IN is a core technology
in the FAA NextGen air traffic control system and is comprised of three segments:
ADS-B (Broadcast), ADS-R (Rebroadcast), and TIS-B. The ADS-B In function
must be enabled at the time of system installation. If the ADS-B In function is
disabled, only active surveillance is used.

NOTE: Full ADS-B In functionality is only available in GTS 800, GTS 820,
and GTS 850 systems with system software version 4.00 and later; and in
GTS 825 and GTS 855 systems with system software version 3.00 and later.
Earlier software versions provide limited ADS-B IN functionality: Position
data from the 1090 ES ADS-B is used to derive bearing for a correlated
intruder tracked with active surveillance.

Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B) is the automatic
broadcast of position reports by aircraft, surface vehicles, and transmitters on
fixed objects. These broadcasts contain much more data than just a simple
position report, they include: identity (Flight ID/Tail Number, ICAO registration
number, etc), ground track, ground speed, pressure altitude, indications of
equipment capabilities, and emergency status.

Figure 1 ADS-B Operation - FAA Illustration

5190-00587-02 Rev. E

Garmin GTS Traffic Systems

Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Rebroadcast (ADS-R) is the rebroadcast
of ADS-B data. ADS-B may transmitted on either 1090 MHz or 978 MHz. ADS-B
In capable aircraft may only be able to receive data on one link. Therefore, a
means to get data from one data link to the other is required. ADS-R is the
rebroadcast of ADS-B data by FAA ground stations and provides this service by
taking data from one link and rebroadcasting it on the other. For example, two
aircraft are in the service volume for a ground station, and one transmitting on
1090 MHz and the other 978 MHz, the ground station will retransmit the data
from each aircraft on the other link to ensure the two aircraft can “see” each
other. The GTS is capable of receiving ADS-B directly on the 1090 MHz data
link only. ADS-R allows the GTS to “see” the aircraft that transmits ADS-B on the
978 MHz data link.

Figure 2 ADS-R Operation - FAA Illustration

Traffic Information Service - Broadcast (TIS-B) provides a bridge between
the radar based ATC system and the ADS-B based system. When an ADS-B In
capable aircraft is within the service volume of an FAA ADS-B ground station,
the ground station will begin to broadcast a portion of the ATC radar picture
to the aircraft. This aircraft is then included in the list of aircraft that is being
provided TIS-B service and is then considered a “TIS-B participant.”

6

Garmin GTS Traffic Systems

190-00587-02 Rev. E

TIS-B coverage is available when the aircraft is within ground station coverage,
in Secondary Surveillance Radar coverage, and the other aircraft is in secondary
surveillance radar coverage and transmitting altitude.

ATC radar tracks for other aircraft within ±3,500 feet and 15 NM of the
participant is provided by the ground station, to include altitude, position,
ground speed, and ground track. TIS-B data is broadcast once every three to
thirteen seconds depending on the characteristics of the FAA radar ground
station.

The GTS is capable of active surveillance and will directly track most
targets provided via TIS-B. If the GTS is not able to track a target using active
surveillance (e.g. it is at a range too far to track reliably), it can still be displayed
if provided via TIS-B.

Figure 3 TIS-B Operation - FAA Illustration

NOTE: Even if the display is showing TIS-B traffic, unless the TIS-B

participant indication is present (see Table 1) TIS-B services are not being
provided specific to your aircraft.