AirNav Systems Forum
AirNav RadarBox and RadarBox24.com => AirNav RadarBox and RadarBox24.com Discussion => Topic started by: RodBearden on September 05, 2010, 01:30:32 AM
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I'm planning to stay at the Renaissance Hotel at Heathrow soon on their Spotters Package deal.
Has anyone done this already and do they have any advice?
I'm planning on taking the laptop and RadarBox - I assume you can't open the windows, and they're probably triple-glazed, so will I get any reception at all?
I saw this week a photo on Airliners.net taken presumably from the Renaissance. Any hints about photography?
And are there any good pubs/retstaurants within walking distance?
And how much does the WiFi cost? If there's any reception, I'd like to share it.
PS I have Googled it and read the read a lot of the stuff that's out there already ;-)
Rod
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Rod,
Stayed many times at the Renaissance on their spotters package. Rooms that they use are excellent with great views of the southern runway. Don't know if you are a smoker, but they do include a limited number of smoking rooms (it used to be 4). At check-in try and avoid being given a family room as these have a connecting door and could turn out to be noisy depending on who is next door. A good breakfast is included but other meals can be expensive much better to use 'The Three Magpies' pub just along the road where you can get a great meal for two for what it would cost for one in the hotel. Another tip, if you run out of your free hoppa tickets, the normal service bus (bus stop just outside the hotel) is free, just make sure it's going to Heathrow Central. It's free within the Heathrow perimeter to encourage workers at the airport to leave their cars at home.
Finally, your room will be on the 'Club' floor which gives you free access to the Club room which has great views and free soft drinks. My tip is to take a few bottles along to your room as the staff have the tendency not to refill the stock until the Monday.
Not sure how the RB reception will be as I have not taken it but windows as far as I remember are only double glazed. Never tried the wi-fi. Have a great time. You'll love it.
Ian
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Many thanks for all this info, chaps - it's just the sort of thing I was looking for.
I've also been recommended The Pheasant as a good place to eat that's not too far.
Looking forward to it - haven't been to Heathrow for years (if you can't fly somewhere from Manchester or Blackpool, it's not worth flying to ;-)
Rod
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Hi Rod
I am so jealous!! Never knew this existed so have just been looking it up. If I wasn't disabled I'd be going there too with me son Andrew-we are both plane daft :) (or should I say plain daft).
If we get a hint of anything unusual here in Orkney its mass panic and excitement.
Hope you enjoy your break.
Claire
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I've personally been many times in teh Renaissance hotel and in one word it is superb for spotters like us. Try to wake up before 6 AM not to miss the wide-body activity until 10 AM.
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You mean 6AM --- IN THE MORNING??? This is meant to be a holiday!
The wife will be well pleased!
OK - I'll try it the first morning and see how it goes. We got up at 5AM in Vegas to do our Grand Canyon flight/helicopter/helicopter/flight day last month, so I know it's possible. As you can tell by the timing of many of my posts on the forum, I'm a night owl and not a lark. There had better be a good breakfast to look forward to!
How we suffer for our hobby ;-(
Rod
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LOL. Wife sleeps while you stay at the window looking at those B777/B/44/A380 landing. From 6 AM to 7 AM it's amazing.
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All right - you've sold it to me.
Wonder if I can move the bed to beside the window! If I can set a RadarBox alert to sound the alarm when aircraft are within 500 yards of me I might get the best of both worlds :-)
Rod
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Rod,
If you are due to go soon, you will be able to take advantage of the early sunrise. The winter months are not the best time due to the dark mornings. Incidentally, the big stuff usually starts to arrive from 5.30am starting with the flights from Hong Kong.
Keep quiet so as not to disturb the wife and if she does start to become irritable, treat her to to a pampering session of steamroom, sauna and massage which is available in the hotel leisure club and usually gives you some peace from any moans for a couple of hours. Unfortunately there is no pool but there is a well equipped gym if she is that way inclined.
Ian
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Thanks, Ian - very handy hints;-)
Rod
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All right - you've sold it to me.
Wonder if I can move the bed to beside the window! If I can set a RadarBox alert to sound the alarm when aircraft are within 500 yards of me I might get the best of both worlds :-)
Rod
Rod
Couldn't you get your wife to nudge you every time something half decent crosses the threshold?
Obviously she would only have to do this from around 5:30 am until around your normal getting up time?
That way, your normal sleeping pattern wouldn't be too badly disrupted
Seems logical to me ;-)
Rich
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Well, been there, done that! For those who are interested, here's a detailed report.
What a great experience! Even the wife said WOW when we walked in and saw the stunning view over the airport. Many thanks to Ian, Terry and others who PM’ed me – your advice was spot-on.
I was lucky that the inner window opened easily, so photography, while it was still through one sheet of glass, was possible, and there was a nice wide sill for the standard RadarBox aerial and camera.
(http://www.rbearden.toucansurf.com/Miscpix/RB1.jpg)
The hotel is right beside the touchdown point for runway 27R, so great landing shots are easy, and when it is being used for take-offs, most planes pose nicely beside you while they’re waiting.
(http://www.rbearden.toucansurf.com/Miscpix/Egyptair.jpg)
On both sides of the room-width window, concrete pillars stick out a foot, reducing sideways visibility for human eyes and RadarBox aerials, but the aerial was happy being set up right next to the glass, so its angle of view was wider, and it could see what was coming before I could – perfect for warning of approaching interesting stuff. I was glad I had paid for the internet at the hotel (pretty expensive at £15 per computer per 24 hours – wired and wireless available) because the concrete pillars did cause significant drop-out of aircraft from, at a guess, about 10 to 3 miles from touchdown, but the live network filled in the gaps beautifully. There were also some gaps in the coverage where I could actually see aircraft, and I wondered if the radio signals were being reflected off the glass.
The one problem was that I got complacent, and often forgot that there are still some non-ADS-B aircraft, even at Heathrow, and that led to cussing and rushing for the camera when an interesting bizjet or cargo aircraft suddenly appeared without warning.
The RadarBox range was very impressive – see the polar which was just from 2 days’ use, through glass and in the south-facing window.
(http://www.rbearden.toucansurf.com/Miscpix/Polar.gif)
Most useful arrangement was to have the map with two views – one showing just the landing lineup, and one showing either a wider view for seeing what was taking off and on the way in, or showing detailed movements around the airport. The small size of the laptop screen wasn’t a problem, even though I’m used to by 22-incher at home. I just hid a few of the less relevant grid columns to make more room for the maps.
(http://www.rbearden.toucansurf.com/Miscpix/Maps1.gif)
I tried applying an altitude filter to avoid clutter from overflights, but soon abandoned that when I realised that it also hid flights with no altitude showing – with status of N/A or Ground so ground aircraft at the airport disappeared too!
On the Saturday and Sunday mornings, 27R was used for takeoffs, but on Monday morning, it was used for landings, so I was up at 6AM and yes – it was worth it – a brilliant stream of heavy stuff, and I didn’t disturb the sleeping wife too badly!
The room itself was on the compact side, but crammed with all the facilities you would expect, including tea and coffee making, at least three power points, and a button to turn on the Do Not Disturb light outside.
The spotters’ package at the Renaissance includes a guaranteed runway view (we were on the third floor – I’m sure that would be preferable to the second), free English breakfast, free car parking, and entrance to the Club Lounge, also on the third floor, with free soft drinks, tea and coffee, two free internet PC’s, and the same stunning airport views. There’s also a £20 deal where you can get a day’s parking and access to the Club Lounge (but photography through two sheets of glass). Outside the hotel there’s a garden with picnic tables and a pretty good runway view, obstructed a bit by trees and the airport fencing. There is apparently a Sunday Spotters meeting there every week.
(http://www.rbearden.toucansurf.com/Miscpix/View.jpg)
The hotel itself has the standard facilities including a gym and spar (no idea what they’re for), a shop, hairdresser and bureau de change, restaurant and a friendly bar that does good snacks. On the Sunday night we went to The Pheasant – a real “country” pub less than 15 minutes’ walk away. It does bar meals but we went to the restaurant – about the same price as the hotel restaurant, but a really different experience – well recommended.
Overall a brilliant weekend and I certainly want to do it again. And do take your RadarBox – it really adds to the experience.
Rod
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Hi
That all sounds fantastic. Glad you enjoyed it so much. I'll keep fingers crossed we make it some day.
Claire
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Rod
Brilliant write up, was surprised at how the polar diagram looked given it was 'hotel glass' that was quite some distance you were reaching out to.
All the best
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Yes - I was amazed that I got any coverage to the sides and especially to the north. I wonder if the metal Virgin hangar, and other metal airport buildings, were reflecting the signals towards me.
Rod
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Rod,
Good to have you back and catching up on the logos. It must be a relief to be back from a lousy weekend at the Renaissance. You didn't mention if you had done the dutiful thing and treated your long-suffering wife to the spa!
On the Club floor you will probably have noticed to executive rooms. Bit late now but forgot to mention that at check-in you can 'chance your arm' and ask if they are vacant and at the same price as the standard rooms. Basically, they are 2 standard rooms together, one is your sleeping area and the other is converted into a lounge area with extra TV. Allows for less chance of disturbing a sleeping wife. We managed to obtain one one year but haven't been lucky again. Still you can always try next time.
Ian
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And there will be a next time!
Thanks for that advice, Ian - I'll give it a go, though we did manage very well with the one room.
BTW, I'll be putting some of the 980 photos I took on my website siometime in the future - I still haven't got round to doing the pics from my recent US holiday there yet.
Rod
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Sounds like a good weekend,fancying it myself. How to you get the diff. colours on the airport
outlines? have tried it on mine,setting diff. colours for runways etc., but they just show the colour selected for airport outline.
Regards
John.
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Hi John
If you've got the outlines provided with RadarBox, and/or the ones in the Outlines thread, yoiu can't change colours of individial elements. To do that you need the high-resolution outlines that are available here: http://sbs-resources.com/downloads/index.html - they come with the colours already defined as in my screenshot.
Download the full program from that link and install it, but you don't need to run the installed program - just use Windows Explorer to copy the airport outlines that you want to the RadarBox Outlines folder. Remember to delete the existing outlines for those airports or you will end up with a rather messy double-outline.
If you need more help, PM me.
Rod
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Also have a look in YouTube. There are a few explanational videos on there, can't remember if your question is covered but well worth a look.
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Hi John
If you've got the outlines provided with RadarBox, and/or the ones in the Outlines thread, yoiu can't change colours of individial elements. To do that you need the high-resolution outlines that are available here: http://sbs-resources.com/downloads/index.html - they come with the colours already defined as in my screenshot.
Download the full program from that link and install it, but you don't need to run the installed program - just use Windows Explorer to copy the airport outlines that you want to the RadarBox Outlines folder. Remember to delete the existing outlines for those airports or you will end up with a rather messy double-outline.
If you need more help, PM me.
Rod
Cheers Rod, will try that,just got back from a day at Manchester.
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In case anyone's interested, I've now put a selection of photos from the Renaissance on my website, along with Oshkosh and other US photos, and Frankfurt. This is what happens when I do get out more!
Click the link to my website on the left, or click here: www.rodbearden.net
Rod
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Rod,
Just had a look at the LHR photos. Excellent. Just as a matter of interest what camera and settings were you using ?
Ian
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Thanks, Ian.
I used my trusty old Nikon D70 with a standard (non-VR) 70-300 zoom, which equates to a 105-450 zoom.
The only things I did differently from normal were that I kept the lens hood on to try to reduce reflections off the window to a minimum, and used an exposure compensation of -0.3 to try to reduce the burn-out round the edges of the aircraft as I was shooting against the sun.
Rod
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Thanks Rod. Always interesting to know these things.
Ian
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Rod,
great Oshkosh pics - brings back some memories as I was also there. Were you part of a group or independant?
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Thanks, Paul - we went independently, but bumped into one of the the Ian Allan tours in the motel.
Unfortunately (!) I went with the wife, so Oshkosh was the only proper aviation time I was allowed - had to do other stuff like Yellowstone and Grand Canyon as well, but you might have seen in the US Tour bit that all that wasn't totally without aviation interest!
Rod
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Rod,
if you stayed at the motel in Appleton then that is where I was staying during the show week. I had already been staying with friends in another part of Wisconsin the previous week and had a hire car for that. It was great not being tied to a bus timetable + allowed visits to Appleton etc as the Oshkosh airport itself was a little damp at the start of the week. (12 inches of rain in 2 days the previous week)
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Yes, we were at the Days Inn at Appleton - I went to Oshkosh, spent the first Sunday in the Museum and around Pioneer Airport, and then went to the first three days of the show itself. The wife came to AirVenture on two days and spent the other two in Appleton.
We thought Days Inn was wonderful - really handy for the EAA shuttle bus and a good range of local restaurants, and the staff were really helpful, despite (or because of) thinking that we were Australian! (We did book via an Aussie website.)
Rod
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Rod,
Just as well you aren't on the spotters break at the Renaissance Heathrow this weekend. Not much too see really apart from the same aircraft 3 days in a row !
Ian
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Perhaps they can offer snow-plough-spotters breaks!
Rod
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I could offer a break to BAA on a free of charge basis - the break would be a clean one to the neck ! Myself, my wife and two young children just spent last night trying to sleep on the cold floor of Terminal 3 arrivals lounge. Only space we could find was near the door. Most of the stranded passengers were okay, but I was seriously upset when I attempted to gain one of the last sandwiches on the shelf in a shop. Situation was near bedlam. The sandwich was for my 6 year old son whom was hungry. An ignorant fat bastard elected to push in front of me and snatched the remaining sandwiches. We unhappily settled for the last can of pringles. Queued for 20 minutes - only to be told by the store manager they were closing and we couldn't buy the pringles ! We were unceremoniously ejected from the shop along with all others in the queue. My son burst into tears ... "but Daddy I am hungry". I am not an aggressive chap, but how I restrained myself is beyond me. Overnight my son couldn't sleep, being as he was cold and hungry - luckily my 3 year old daughter managed to sleep on top of my wife. A few drunken idiots shouting profanities wasn't good, although I had the entertainment of watching the rarely seen policemen chasing the drunk around. Ho hum, our well planned 3 week holiday is now screwed, and we are all back home.
The baggage collection area was a shambles. All carousel screens stated "not in service". We had to search through literally thousands of bags to find ours. Every airport staff I asked for assistance said "I don't know" - or words to the same effect.
Credit to Marks and Spencer shop. We finally got a packet of fruit to eat there. Whilst I was queuing, my wife needed to take my daughter to the toilet, and asked an Italian chap to watch our bags. Not only did he watch the bags - he also insisted upon giving his fleece jacket to my wife to keep her and my daughter warm. He refused to take his jacket back even when I re-appeared with my son. What a nice guy.
Sigh - sorry for the rant... just have to get it off my chest !!
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We unhappily settled for the last can of pringles.....
I really wanted those Pringles as well.....I was hoping to get the Prawn Cocktail flavour but a woman took the last of them and I was left staring like you at the Sour Cream and Chive variety which I don't like.
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I disagree. Sour Cream and Chive is the best one!