Airnav RadarBox paired with DPD Productions ADS-B Antenna

[sigint1]

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?[/QUOTE]

I get numerous GA aircraft every day on my Radarbox - most are Mode S but there are some ADS-B also - true the MODE S dont track on the map display but they still show up in the "My Flights" column of the Radarbox display - I also regularly get U2's out of Beale AFB MODE S and the Navy E6B TACAMO birds run ADS-B (don't know why but they do) - I also received Air Force 2 recently in MODE S. Many foreign GA aircraft have ADS-B - especially European and Canadian

 

[minskie]

RadarBox is now running on my HP Mini Netbook.

All good. Just a little bit harder to see and I miss the resolution of my Laptop.

But this is an awesome solution for a portable setup.

Hey, typing this on my laptop. Feels like I'm looking at a 100" Widescreen after the Mini !

 

[SteveEJ]

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?

I get numerous GA aircraft every day on my Radarbox - most are Mode S but there are some ADS-B also - true the MODE S dont track on the map display but they still show up in the "My Flights" column of the Radarbox display - I also regularly get U2's out of Beale AFB MODE S and the Navy E6B TACAMO birds run ADS-B (don't know why but they do) - I also received Air Force 2 recently in MODE S. Many foreign GA aircraft have ADS-B - especially European and Canadian[/QUOTE]

Mode-S will not track without Multi-Lateration or a 'True' RADAR system. ADS-B in 1090ES and 968 will track as they send position information + additional information. The US GA aircraft will be 968 equipped and hopefully they will build a dual receiver box that will accomodate this. I have emailed them but have not received a response yet.

Edit: Mode-S is 1090 Mhz.

 

[SteveEJ]

Here is the reply from AirNav systems:
Hi,

Thanks for your email.

It does not cover the UAT band.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of any further assistance.

-
AirNav Systems News:
The FIRST and ONLY Internet based Flight Tracking Application to get the Maximum Possible Rating on a review made by Tucows.com, a leading Internet software directory trusted by millions of users worldwide.
-
AirNav Systems Support
Flight Tracking and Monitoring
Flight Tracker | Real Time Airline Flight Tracking Software
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I already knew this BUT is will be extremely limited, especially as time progresses, without 968 UAT. I responded to them with the obvious follow up question, will there be a future version of hardware that supports both 1090 and 968.

I will keep you advised of their responses.

Thanks,

 

[SteveEJ]

Here is their second reply:

Hi,

Thanks for your email.

No plans at the moment.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of any further assistance.

-
AirNav Systems News:
The FIRST and ONLY Internet based Flight Tracking Application to get the Maximum Possible Rating on a review made by Tucows.com, a leading Internet software directory trusted by millions of users worldwide.
-
AirNav Systems Support
Flight Tracking and Monitoring
Flight Tracker | Real Time Airline Flight Tracking Software
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry to hear the response. They are handicapping themselves if they don't. Just my informed and educated opinion though.

 

[sigint1]

Mode-S will not track without Multi-Lateration or a 'True' RADAR system. ADS-B in 1090ES and 968 will track as they send position information + additional information. The US GA aircraft will be 968 equipped and hopefully they will build a dual receiver box that will accomodate this. I have emailed them but have not received a response yet.

Edit: Mode-S is 1090 Mhz.

I pointed out in my post that they do not track on the map - my point is that they still show up in the "MY FLIGHTS" area of the Radarbox Display so you still have a good idea of what is within your reception area - and as I said I get numerous GA aircraft every day - I have recorded at least 50 today plus three Air Force Aircraft and it is only 10 AM

 

[SteveEJ]

When you say "I get" does this mean you are tracking them or are just in the list?

The reason I ask this is that I am very familiar with ADS-B/R and the NAS plans for it. The plan is for all GA aircraft to be on 968 which the 'Box' does not support. Also, remember that Air Carriers and other commercial users that are registered in the United States have 'N' number registrations. They are assigned company callsigns, ie: TRS433, FDX962, etc for that particular flight. The one thing that will (or should not) change is the some internal information that is unique to that piece of equipment.

Believe me or not, lack of 968 support will severly hamper seeing tracks in the future. I decided NOT to buy a unit because of it.

 

[MtnBiker2005]

Believe me or not, lack of 968 support will severly hamper seeing tracks in the future. I decided NOT to buy a unit because of it.

I get the distinct impression that they are going to abandon the product, It is my impression that there are less sharers on their radarbox network lately.

By the way, it's 978MHz, not 968MHz.

 

[SteveEJ]

Nice catch.. It is 978 UAT..

I would like to find a 978 receiver just to see what I could do with the data packets.. Would be fun.

 

[Jay911]

Just got my RadarBox. Very little issue setting up in Windows 7 (though the website on the forum indicates others are having problems). Not seeing a lot of the Alberta sky from my location though...

(though I have seen some acft a good distance away over the Rockies, like Cranbrook (YCZ) !)

 

[Jay911]

YCZ is of course not Cranbrook. My bad. I have a better polar map in the Alberta forum anyway.

Lindsay, can you elaborate on the USB<>Cat5 extender? I think I'm going to have to go that way (with the antenna you got, too) to get any decent coverage here.

 

[jmhayes]

I pointed out in my post that they do not track on the map - my point is that they still show up in the "MY FLIGHTS" area of the Radarbox Display so you still have a good idea of what is within your reception area

This is a great point. As someone who has had both SBS-1 and RadarBox hardware for a couple of years, I can't stress enough that these boxes are an *adjunct* to the hobby, and not just a replacement. Even without ADS-B, getting notice that a particular aircraft is "in range" -- and knowing its altitude, which can tell you if it's an overflight, ascending or descending -- gives me a big leg-up for working the radios to find them talking to ATC or on tactical frequencies. These boxes add an additional dimension to the search process that easily have increased my audio loggings by an order of magnitude. ADS-B tracking is cool and fun, but it's just not possible, IMHO, to rely completely on these boxes: they are Just Another Tool in the toolbox.

 

[abqscan]

Since you have both, which box do you prefer?

 

[jmhayes]

Since you have both, which box do you prefer?

I prefer the SBS-1, but only because my #1 interest is in building external software that manipulates the database. Kinetic did a great job in designing and implementing the database part of their product, and left it wide open for modification by those who have the skills and proclivity to do so. As an example, if you double-click on an aircraft on the map or in the grid-listing, it launches a "details" window that gives you a look into the database for that aircraft, and a simple edit window for updating fields -- I've completely replaced this display with a radically customized version that is much more in line with my interests/needs. I run my boxes 24x7, so historical access to the data is very important to me: I certainly look over at them from time to time during the day, but the user interface isn't as important to me as the database is.

I am aware that my main interest isn't the same as everyone else's

I keep the RadarBox (and continue paying for the network service) because I like the capability to take a peek at the other sharing member's aircraft, though I'm also an active sharer on the PlanePlotter network -- which also includes the capability to share ACARS and HFDL position reports.

I will say that AirNav has spent a lot of effort to make their solution capable and attractive for someone who doesn't want to tinker at all and just wants a 100% out-of-the-box experience. That's not what I'm looking for, but I know that for some people it's the dealmaker.

Due to my interest in the data side of things, I've spent some time helping AirNav understand the features I'm looking for and to their credit they have made changes over the years to help support the efforts of us external developers -- including nearly wholesale support of the Kinetic network data formats, so that most of the external programs people have built work for either the SBS-1 or the RadarBox at this point ...

They are both good; get them both!

 

[abqscan]

get them both... Got it! Thanks! =)

 

[MtnBiker2005]

Any update ?

When do you think the detailed write up for the blog be posted! ?

I plan on writing up a more detailed blog post about the AirNav Radar box bundled with the DPD productions antenna..

 

[VK2GEL]

+1 for DPD antennas.

 

[Landyman]

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.

Alas you have been miss-informed about Europe and particularly the UK.

International airliners are so equipped, but military and light civil aircraft are not equipped.

I live on the flight path of RAF Mildenhall, where all the large USAF aircraft pass over my home before landing at Mildenhall. They do squawk, but their location is scrambled and therefore not decoded by my AirNav box.

The British Army helicopters also pass overhead a bit lower and they likewise don't appear on my AirNav map.

They appear on the list, but without their location details.

Most civil light aircraft are not even equipped with the necessary equipment.

There is a program, PlanePlotter, that with many radar boxes sending the time of receipt of these transmissions via the internet, is able to approximate the position of these 'position-less' aircraft.

I do however have more aircraft plotted on my map than your sample.

Reg.
UK

 

[RedRooster]

RadarBox and DPD Productions ADS-B Antenna

I also used the DPD antenna with my RadarBox. Prior to the installation of the DPD antenna, I used the supplied mag-mount antenna and grounding disk in the window of my 5th floor condo. I was logging about 3800-3900 flights/day. Since installing the DPD antenna (again in the same window) I usually log more than 4800 flights/day. I also noticed, depending on weather conditions, I can track a flight on approach and landing about 3-400 feet lower than with the mag-mount.

 

[Markb]

A couple of things:

For those of you who are interested, you can check out

RadarVirtuel.com with a Volcano Ashes Layer and get a view of much of the Radarbox/SBS ADSB data throughout parts of the world.

As far as the "USB extender" option, I purchased a Lantronix UBox 2100. I love it. It basically enables any USB device to run on your LAN, similar to a print server.

Mark