ADS-B signals are sent on the frequency 1090mhz. Due to this high frequency they can't get distorted or stopped by obstacles in the way, distance is limited by the line of sight. From your the RadarBox equipment there are a few tips and extra items you can purchase to get you seeing that extra coverage.
Tips:
1.) Height is extremely important so make sure the antenna has a good view of the sky and that it can see the horizon on all sides clearly or as much as possible. If you can't see them horizon due to buildings and terrain then those specific obstacles will block out signals from those areas.
2.) Keep the antenna as far away from other electronic devices as they may interfere
3.) Make sure your antenna has a ground plane (RadarBox Antenna comes with one), this improves coverage.
4.) If you are indoors and can't get your antenna with a clear view experiment with the antenna placing it in different areas and leaving it there for a few days and watching the polar diagram. Even a few cms placement can make a vast difference when indoors.
Other Products
1.) Placing your RadarBox and antenna as high as possible indoors may be difficult with the default cables. Two products which can help are USB extenders which allow you extend the USB cable up to 30 metres and the other is the Ubox which allows you to connect to RadarBox to the box and then use Ethernet cable to your machine.
2.) New Antennas, there are many antennas around, we have listed our favourite below
- GP-1090 Antenna
New Atennas with high gain will allow for better performance but read below as you will need cable and SMA -> BNC converter.
3.) For a new antenna you will need cable. You need make sure you get cables which are low loss so you don't loose too much signal between the antenna through to the RadarBox.
eg. low loss cable Ecoflex-10
The cable will also need SMA -> BNC converter to connect to the RadarBox.
4.) Lastly to counteract any loss in the cables and to improve your coverage further a mast head preamp is must. A mast head preamp is known to improve coverage up to 30% by itself.
e.g AS-1090 Pre-Amplifier for 1090MHz
To find out where you can purchase these from, talk to our dealers who should be able to give you further advise.
