Ireland

[kenwood]

Hi all


Any member from Ireland on the list?
Just bought the AirNav 2009 and seeking some comraidre from EI



Denis

[tarbat]

Hi, and welcome.  Although I'm in Scotland, I know that there's at least four users from Ireland who've posted on the forum.
Dub33 - See http://www.airnavsystems.com/forum/index.php?topic=425.msg2992 and http://www.airnavsystems.com/forum/index.php?topic=439.msg3139
Dec - http://www.airnavsystems.com/forum/index.php?topic=484.msg3623
EINN-07 - http://www.airnavsystems.com/forum/index.php?topic=417.msg2956
dauphin_army - http://www.airnavsystems.com/forum/index.php?topic=42.msg127

[kenwood]

Hi tarbat,


Thanks for the message. i have had a look at them and notice that they haven't posted since 2007 so I assums very few people have the AirNav in EI.

I'm about 15 NM East from Cork Airport. I have the indoor antennaon a shelf in my room. Hope to be able to get an outdoor antenna as it would improve matters big time.



Denis

[tarbat]

Hi Denis.  I often see very good coverage on the network in Ireland, so I suspect at least one or two are still actively monitoring in Ireland.  Maybe they're just not on the forums at the moment.

[tarbat]

Good to see you're sharing decent coverage on the Network!

[malc41]

Welcome to the community, the more the merrier

[kenwood]

Hi agn lads


Yep its very interesting to see whats flying overhead on the screen.
I'm mainly a comms man, being an Amateur Radio Operator, and also interested in
photography, spend some time when in Dublin on the spotters bank at Dub and also at Cork Airport photographying anything that moves but this is a different part of the hobby and I must say I'm really enjoying it so far.

I do notice that I'm not getting the routes that the aircraft are flying, seen on a different thread what they are doing, so hopefully it will be sorted.


Denis

[Mark07]

Hi Denis,
I am located in the NW of Ireland just outside Sligo.  I am running an external Watson ADB-S antenna and picking up flights upto 220nm away over Scotland/Wales (strumble sector) and Lands end sector.  All transatlantic traffic over Ireland also.

I also have my airband radio linked upto a Diamond D-777 external antenna and again picking up clear talk upto 200+ nm away.  Pick up all aircraft on approach to Shannon/Derry/Galway/Donegal/Belfast FL150 and above and obviously Shannon Oceanic clearance/Shanwick OAC/Dublin approach and radar so pretty much all of the country.

If you have any questions let me know.

Mark

[Mark07]

Hi Denis,
This is the coverage I am currently getting.

Cheers
Mark

[viking9]

Hi Mark,

As you are in such an ideal position, how do you explain the poor reception to the west and north of you. I'm 47m AMSL in a valley surrounded by hills. I'm using an SBS whip at 3 metres and my coverage is not much less than yours. Is it because not many aircraft fly in those areas?

Tom

[Mark07]

Hi Tom,
You are right in what you say regarding flight activity that far to the NW, there isn't much.   Any outgoing flights to the USA or Canada I pick up over Northern Ireland anyway so can track them from over the Wirral or Strumble sectors incoming towards my location to approx 90nm to the West.  Most Atlantic crossings are to the South of my location.  However I have the highest mountain ranges in the surrounding counties of Sligo/Donegal/Leitrim right beside my house and these are obviously having an impact on range to the NW of my position.

I would be interested to see the polar diagram of the range you are getting.  Why not post one on here and lets have a look at what you are pulling in.

Mark

[viking9]

Hi Mark,

Many thanks for confirming what I guessed though I had forgotten about the mountains. I would guess that Ben Bulben and Knocknarea (not sure if I spelt that right) are near you. (The Christian Brothers' violence wasn't wasted on me 50 odd years ago - I'm originally from Dublin).

Here's a screenshot of my polar diagram.

Tom

[Mark07]

Hi Tom,
Spelling 100% correct.  I have the following mountain ranges in my way to the west/NW.  Benbo/Bebulbin/Knocknarea/Truskmore/Dartry/Glencar!

You are getting pretty good coverage from your locaton, down into France as well.  With the supplied Airnav antenna my max coverage was approx 140nm, max 25 flights on the 'my flights' tab and max 120 mmsgs/sec.

When I put the external Watson antenna up my coverage went to around 220nm although last night I had one pop up on the screen at 338nm!  The most flights I have had on 'my flights' is 48 and 280 msgs/sec so I think it was 70 quid well spent!

Mark

[EK01]

Mark,
What external Watson antenna are you using. It sounds that it is doing a good job for the price. Are there details on any website so that I can have a look at the spec. etc

Cheers,

Ian

[viking9]

Hi Mark,

I didn't remember the other mountains around you, put it down to old age I suppose.

There is a lot of traffic in this part of the country, what with all the London Airports within range. I'm currently showing 58 flights with around 185 messages/sec. In the busy period I get up to 80 aircraft and up 300 messages/sec. My main interest is in military flights, especially the US Air Mobility Command 'Reach' flights. Most of them are non-positional so I have to use their squawk codes along with PlanePlotter and a free script called 'MyCircles' and the scanner of course to try to ascertain their positions. Many of the 'Reach' flights are civil contractors such as Omni Air and they do give positional information.

The antenna I'm using is a replacement mobile whip for the SBS-1 from Martin Lynch. I chose it as it is weatherproof and I can keep the original mobile whip for when I'm out and about. It's made by MyDel. I tried a couple of gain antennas and a preamp and they didn't seem to give any measureable advantage. The whip is temporarily atop a 49mm plastic waste pipe to which is fixed lid from a Quality Street tin as a ground plane. I've attached a photo taken on this very grey morning here.

Tom