Airnav RadarBox paired with DPD Productions ADS-B Antenna

[blantonl]

Folks,

I've been the proud owner of an AirNav Radar Box, which allows you to monitor and track ADS and ADS-B broadcasts from aircraft. The United States is unfortunately behind the times in getting their aircraft that fly in the Continental US up to speed with ADS-B equipment,however most international capable aircraft are equipped, and in Europe just about every aircraft from/to/or there is equipped with ADS-B.

The AirNav Radar Box is really awesome, you connect their supplied antenna to it and immediately begin to receive ADS transmissions... just about all airborne aircraft today (including military and fed) aircraft transmit their just their identifier and altitude on ADS, however ADS-B equipped aircraft send their position, heading, intent (landing, climbing, approach etc) in addition to airspeed and numerous other parameters). Thus the difference between ADS and ADS-B - basically "I'm this high and this is who I am" verses "This is where I'm at, this is who I am, and I'm traveling at this speed etc." With the AirNav Radarbox you can receive both.

Anyway, just with the bundled antenna I caught a few international overflights right when they were overhead of my location in San Antonio, plus a small list of aircraft that transition the San Antonio Metro area.

Imagine my surprise when I installed DPD Production's ADS-B antenna strapped to a PVC sewer air vent on my roof... I increased my listening range almost unbelievablely... all the way well into the Gulf of Mexico, well north of Waco, and south of Brownsville.

Now, once thing I did was attach a USB to Cat-5 extender between the PC and AirNav Radarbox which is mounted in the attic so I would minimize coax cable length (and loss) to the Air Nav Radarbox, however the results to phenomenal!

I plan on writing up a more detailed blog post about the AirNav Radar box bundled with the DPD productions antenna.. I can only imagine the performance I would get if I added a customized pre-amp to this equation.

Here is a screenshot of current action from my location from Airnav's software. The white outline shows where I've received an aircraft (not what I CAN received, but what I've received so far)

 

[brandon]

Yep it's awesome! I use the exact same combo (AirNav RadarBox + DPD antenna).
Definitely a nice little box to see when the "interesting" aircraft are up

 

[jgodeker]

Sweet, I feel the urge to purchase one.

J.

 

[ww7y]

This ought to make your day:

Washington Headquarters Press Release

Hopefully this is the future here in the US and we will see more flights on our RadarBoxes.

If you are a little handy, you can build a collinear array like the DPD. See it here:


http://forums.radioreference.com/antennas-coax-forum/166992-collinear-array-radarbox.html

Steve
-WW7Y

 

[MtnBiker2005]

Very cool you got a RadarBox Lindsay!

I also use the DPD antenna.

Now you can send in your daily/weekend logs to the United States RadarBox Yahoogroup
It will auto email the logs daily from the software.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/radarboxusalogs/

That goes for anyone that has a RadarBox/SBS Always nice to read other users logs in the USA!

 

[davidp124]

Lindsay,
Congrats on the new ANRB and DPD. I got mine a few weeks ago and it works great. I'm still running off of the stock antenna here in southern KY but plan on a DPD in the near future. Check out the military action on it also.

David

 

[KC1UA]

I had the ANRB and the DPD antenna about a year ago. I sold the pair, but now I'm re-entering this portion of the hobby, this time with the Kinetic SBS-1er which should be arriving tomorrow (Thurs) and of course another DPD antenna. It was a superb performer and will be again I'm sure.

 

[minskie]

I have a Airnav RadarBox too. Well made and handy bit of kit, especially when combined with your favourite airband scanner.

Only real downfall is that military and GA aircraft are few and far between although I heard somewhere that all GA aircraft will eventually be required to have ADS-B fitted ? I might be wrong. Anyone know ?

 

[jmhayes]

If GA aircraft have to have ADS-B, a big cheer will go up from the folks who own these boxes

Those of you who are interested in historical research into Mode-S movements should take a look here: Military Air planes with Mode-S ADS-B ... this is a great resource, and especially those of you in the US would be a great help to fill in the gaps!

 

[freqhopping]

Are you picking up any T-6 Texans flying out of Laughlin AFB?

 

[abqscan]

Does anyone know if you can create your own overlay to complement existing maps that come with the Radarbox?

 

[ltjweiss]

it would be awesome maybe if we could some how provide live feeds with radar boxes

 

[Mark]

Folks,

I've been the proud owner of an AirNav Radar Box, which allows you to monitor and track ADS and ADS-B broadcasts from aircraft. The United States is unfortunately behind the times in getting their aircraft that fly in the Continental US up to speed with ADS-B equipment,however most international capable aircraft are equipped, and in Europe just about every aircraft from/to/or there is equipped with ADS-B.

The AirNav Radar Box is really awesome, you connect their supplied antenna to it and immediately begin to receive ADS transmissions... just about all airborne aircraft today (including military and fed) aircraft transmit their just their identifier and altitude on ADS, however ADS-B equipped aircraft send their position, heading, intent (landing, climbing, approach etc) in addition to airspeed and numerous other parameters). Thus the difference between ADS and ADS-B - basically "I'm this high and this is who I am" verses "This is where I'm at, this is who I am, and I'm traveling at this speed etc." With the AirNav Radarbox you can receive both.

Anyway, just with the bundled antenna I caught a few international overflights right when they were overhead of my location in San Antonio, plus a small list of aircraft that transition the San Antonio Metro area.

Imagine my surprise when I installed DPD Production's ADS-B antenna strapped to a PVC sewer air vent on my roof... I increased my listening range almost unbelievablely... all the way well into the Gulf of Mexico, well north of Waco, and south of Brownsville.

Now, once thing I did was attach a USB to Cat-5 extender between the PC and AirNav Radarbox which is mounted in the attic so I would minimize coax cable length (and loss) to the Air Nav Radarbox, however the results to phenomenal!

I plan on writing up a more detailed blog post about the AirNav Radar box bundled with the DPD productions antenna.. I can only imagine the performance I would get if I added a customized pre-amp to this equation.

Here is a screenshot of current action from my location from Airnav's software. The white outline shows where I've received an aircraft (not what I CAN received, but what I've received so far)

Same setup here but with A12-1090 ELAD pre-amp as well.Pre-amp adds even much more coverage including lower altitude types I was missing before.

Mark
Maryland

 

[minskie]

Has anyone tried running RadarBox on a Netbook ?

I'm thinking of buying one as a more portable solution to take RB around in the car.

 

[Jay911]

I have ordered one and will be trying it with my eee 1000 when I get it. The only thing I could envision causing any grief is the small screen size (1024x600).

 

[minskie]

I have ordered one and will be trying it with my eee 1000 when I get it. The only thing I could envision causing any grief is the small screen size (1024x600).

Hi Jay911,

I'm going to get a netbook tomorrow just for running RadarBox and a couple of Navigation programs I use.

I'm really sold on the portability factor.

Yes, screen size (and battery life) might be the main bugbears ?

Can you can recommend the eee 1000 ??

Cheers,

Paul.

 

[Jay911]

I bought the eee1000 a bit over a year ago. It's very good - 1.6GHz Atom CPU that can be throttled down to conserve power - battery life is tremendous - a little under six hours. I put 2gb of RAM in it, and it has a 160gb HDD. Screen size is indeed the issue from time to time - there are a number of programs that can't tolerate anything less than 1024x768, and scrolling is required to see the whole thing. It does have a VGA out port, and can display in up to 1900x1200 on a compatible monitor.

Like I said, the 1000 is a bit old now, and you'll see newer ones out there with similar specs. For portability, you can't go wrong with such a device.

 

[minskie]

Thanks for the info. I'm looking at a Toshiba 200NB (I think thats the model) around $500AUS.

I also have a couple of GPS/NAV programs that I use for marine & aviation use that would be right at home on a device this size.

I find GPS screens are often too small, and Laptops a tad bulky.

A netbook looks like the perfect 'in between' gadget.

 

[minskie]

Well, I just bought a HP Mini and RB loaded and ran ok but now freezes on loading and doesn't seem to recognize the RB drivers.

Any idea what might be wrong ?

 

[SteveEJ]

I have a Airnav RadarBox too. Well made and handy bit of kit, especially when combined with your favourite airband scanner.

Only real downfall is that military and GA aircraft are few and far between although I heard somewhere that all GA aircraft will eventually be required to have ADS-B fitted ? I might be wrong. Anyone know ?

Yes.. All aircraft that will fly into, through or out of Class A, B or C airspace will be required to have ADS-B/Out equipment in the aircraft by 2020. This includes GA, Air Carrier, For Hire, Choppers and Military. The Military will obviously have their own procedures and waivers that have not been developed yet.

I do have a question for those that own the 'Box'.. Does it handle/recieve and decode both 1090ES and UAT (968) data? Also, does it leave data packet decoding available for raw output. I would be interested in the data packets being available so I could write my own apps.

Thanks,

Edit:
I just did a quick search of the documentation for the Radar Box. It has no mention of 968 Mhz capability, only 1090 (Unless I and the search function missed it). This means that Air Carriers and Cargo Haulers will probably be the only aircraft that you will be able to see.. Possibly military when they don't mind you seeing them. General Aviation Squidders will be on 968 Mhz (Away from the 4096/Mode S band).

I wonder if they plan on developing a two frequency box to accomodate both bands?