RadarBox Software Download ?

[Pinza]

Thanks everyone for your quick and reassuring replies!

Looks like I'll be installing software on my main (home) laptop with a back-up on my Samsung netbook.

My next problem is going to be the fact that I live in a groundfloor flat - unsure of the coverage I'll get! At least I can venture out in the car...

Just come back home from a round Britain cruise where I enjoyed 'virtual' ship-spotting with AIS. Inland Rugby is not a great place to be to receive coastbound AIS signals - should be better placed for RB reception once I've sweet-talked upstairs neighbour into relocation of aerial...!

Look forward to receiving my RB2009 setup midweek and becoming an active member of this forum.

Chris

[MrT]

Thanks everyone for your quick and reassuring replies!

Looks like I'll be installing software on my main (home) laptop with a back-up on my Samsung netbook.

My next problem is going to be the fact that I live in a groundfloor flat - unsure of the coverage I'll get! At least I can venture out in the car...

Just come back home from a round Britain cruise where I enjoyed 'virtual' ship-spotting with AIS. Inland Rugby is not a great place to be to receive coastbound AIS signals - should be better placed for RB reception once I've sweet-talked upstairs neighbour into relocation of aerial...!

Look forward to receiving my RB2009 setup midweek and becoming an active member of this forum.

Chris

Hi Chris,

Me too !

Hopefully mine should be here by the end of the week.

Can't wait.

Cheers,

Paul.

[gleff]

I'll be ordering my RB in the next few days.. but if it's anything like the SBS-1 (in fact I believe it's a bit better from what I heard), you should be able to pick something up pretty easily, unless of course, you're no where near aircraft or an airport.

I'm in Sydney Australia and own an SBS-1 and I pick up aircraft up to around 35nm for low altitude aircraft, and 185nm for high altitude aircraft from my living room in an apartment building which is surrounded by other buildings using the stock mag mount antenna.  Admittedly, the positions are lost often so I can't track for long periods of time, but considering how little sky I can see from my veranda and my antenna is in my unit, not outside (it sees no sky), I think it does remarkably well.

Incidently, I'm about 20nm from the airport, live near the bottom of the apartment building and the flight path is on the opposite side of the building.  When I last did a polar graph, I found I picked up more on the other side of the airport rather than what's physically visible and close which is kinda weird.

I'm rather looking forward to getting the RB simply for the color maps, and alerts functionality.  Both sadly missing in the Basestation software for the SBS-1.  Still like the SBS-1 for other things, but RB has huge potential if they continue to update the software with improvements especially if they did things like allow more customization of aircraft data on the radar screen itself.  The more you can customize about what you see, the better this product will be.. 

I think you'll enjoy the RB (even though I'm using the SBS-1 at present, i've played with the software to get an idea if it's worth buying, and i've decided to go for it.  Just got to wait a few days to buy from my dealer here.)

Geoff

[Jeremy]

I would guess your RF path is full of reflections from other buildings so your polar diagram will be somewhat disorted.
J.

[gleff]

I would guess your RF path is full of reflections from other buildings so your polar diagram will be somewhat disorted.
J.

You're probably right..  Seeing as though I can't change my location.. just curious as to whether buying something like the 1090SJ mk 2 would improve things if I place it somewhere on my veranda?

[Jeremy]

I don't know nthe spec of the anternmna but usually the longer they are the higher gain they are and also the lower angle of lobs on the polar diagram. Anything outside will be better than inside.
J.

[MrT]

I'm in a 1 storey house in Melbourne's outer eastern suburbs.

I'm almost under the Narre Fix so should get a lot of overhead traffic.

Will be interesting to see just how well it performs indoors.

I'm going to really spoil myself this week with the addition of a new scanner, the
Uniden UBCD396T

My old Uniden Bearcat's battery is dead and I can't find a replacement battery.

The new Scanner should compliment the RB nicely. I'll be listening and watching from the poor house for months to come though!

Cheers,
Paul.

[gleff]

I don't know nthe spec of the anternmna but usually the longer they are the higher gain they are and also the lower angle of lobs on the polar diagram. Anything outside will be better than inside.
J.

Hmmm.. Okay.. thanks.. I might need to take a gamble and try it then.  Incidently here is the specs.

http://www.ssejim.co.uk/26-sseads1090sj.htm

Not knowing antennas I have no idea if this is going to benefit me as being better than the stock antenna.

[gleff]

I'm in a 1 storey house in Melbourne's outer eastern suburbs.

I'm almost under the Narre Fix so should get a lot of overhead traffic.

Will be interesting to see just how well it performs indoors.

I'm going to really spoil myself this week with the addition of a new scanner, the
Uniden UBCD396T

My old Uniden Bearcat's battery is dead and I can't find a replacement battery.

The new Scanner should compliment the RB nicely. I'll be listening and watching from the poor house for months to come though!

Cheers,
Paul.

You'll love the scanner.. I have one myself.. I also have the UBCD996T.  Both are really great scanners.  It'll feel like Christmas for you having both the RB and scanner to play with ;)

[MrT]

G'day Gleff,

Yes, the Uniden's are fantastic. I bought my Bearcat XLT200 from Dick Smith, Penrith way back in 1993. Its still going strong, just the clip on battery is dead and I can't find a supplier anywhere. Seems they don't make them anymore.

I could have put fresh nicads in it, but I hacked it to be hot wired from the mains, now its toast as I have a damaged input pin from plugging and unplugging it millions of times : (    !!!

[Jeremy]

I don't know nthe spec of the anternmna but usually the longer they are the higher gain they are and also the lower angle of lobs on the polar diagram. Anything outside will be better than inside.
J.

Hmmm.. Okay.. thanks.. I might need to take a gamble and try it then.  Incidently here is the specs.

http://www.ssejim.co.uk/26-sseads1090sj.htm

Not knowing antennas I have no idea if this is going to benefit me as being better than the stock antenna.

The spec shows zero gain which is a bit surprising. The standard mag mount has some 5 Db gain from memory which is worth having.
J.

[John Racars]

Wacars?

I started with that and worked my way up.

Hi All,

I started the hobby also with ACARS. I did this with the Lowe Airmaster. The software was included with this decoder. Later on I used WACARS-software as well. You can download this software for free on this site. At the moment I am using the AirNav ACARS Decoder in combination with the AirNav Radarbox. This combination works to the complete satisfaction of me.

[gleff]

The spec shows zero gain which is a bit surprising. The standard mag mount has some 5 Db gain from memory which is worth having.
J.

So does that mean the antenna will probably not improve things for me?

[Jeremy]

Not a lot. However it is designed for outside. The issued mag mount will deteriorate in the outside elements.
Your aim must be to get an aerial outside and as high up and in the clear as you can.
Any outside aerial will work 50% better than something in doors, even if it is propt up against a wall.
Ask the flat above you if you can hang the aerial from his window ledge on a bit of string.
J.

[gleff]

Not a lot. However it is designed for outside. The issued mag mount will deteriorate in the outside elements.
Your aim must be to get an aerial outside and as high up and in the clear as you can.
Any outside aerial will work 50% better than something in doors, even if it is propt up against a wall.
Ask the flat above you if you can hang the aerial from his window ledge on a bit of string.
J.

If I can get a 50% improvement eg. maintaining aircraft position for twice as long as opposed to twice as many, or twice as far, then I'll be happy.  It's a shame I couldn't secretely put the antenna on the top of the building and somehow get the signal to my unit.. But alas I don't think it's possible.  I'll have to make do with putting the antenna on my veranda.  I don't think hanging it an extra metre above my veranda will help much under the circumstances.