Hello there!
I hope that you can help me:
Why is MODE C active (green) in xPilot if the transponder is actually set to mode A in the cockpit (Toliss A321)?
The X-Plane dataref confirms that the transponder is actually set to mode A.
Please have a look at the snaps:
Thanks a lot for your help.
Kind regards
I found the answer in one of the documents of the Learning Center of VATSIM:
“The VATSIM transponder simulation is simplified from the real world. On VATSIM, transponders can only operate in Standby (off), or in Mode A+C; there is no facility for Mode A only.”
They can operate in a third mode - ident. (On VATSIM that’s actually a separate mode rather than something that’s added on to a mode A reply.)
But yeah, we unfortunately don’t have mode A (or other fancy transponder features like mode S EHS) on VATSIM (yet).
I am very happy that we do not have Mode A. Why would you want to have a transponder signal that does not transmit its altitude? IRL we despise pilots who operate in Mode A, because our TCAS goes wild and we have no clue what the vertical separation to this target is, nobody needs this.
On my (real) aircraft we operate in mode “ALT ON” when on the ground, only when we enter a runway for departure will we select “TA/RA”. After landing we switch back to “ALT ON” when we leave the landing runway and keep this mode until reaching our parking position.
When MSFS changed its weather engine and started sending erroneous altitude data, I asked pilots to stop altitude squawk because it was messing with what I was seeing on the scopes. It didn’t work, of course, but it was worth a shot.
Okay, that would not be “realistic” as VATSIM strives to be 
Heh, the MSFS bug was unrealistic, but erroneous Mode C readouts have been known to happen on very rare occasion. Probably not enough to warrant simulating it on the network, though it was fun to be able to use the phraseology nevertheless.
Yes, sure! But we have also been RVSM-capable al the time, regardless whether it was a B747 or a Piper J-3 Cub. There are some compromises that I don’t mind and if I am not mistaken IRL in most places you are not even allowed to operate XPDRs on ALT OFF mode.
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