Need some help please!!

[kazandlee]

Hi Folks,

I now have the cash to by a radar box, and need some advice, can you guys please help me with some of the questions i have.

My intrest is in a radar box is purely the facination with flight, i love looking up at the planes wondering were it going, where its from, i am not a frequent spotter but do try to get to Manchester a few times a year.

I live 90 miles away from Manchester, how far can i expect to get with the rb or the sbs?


I understand that the line of sight rule applies, but with an aircraft being over 30,000 feet up this rule is extended, am i right, so although an airport may not be in my line of sight, the aircraft maybe, eg, from my window i can now see a plane that is on its intitial desent into one of the London airports.

If i have the antenna on a window cill at say the front of the house, does that mean i will not pick up aircraft at the rear of the house.


If i can visualy see 10 aircraft in the sky, will my RB or SBS pick them up.


What about this so called LIVE tracking, ive heard that it is delayed by upto 10mins, or is this just when the network is connected.


Is the program easy to use, i am not a wizz with P.C's.


The only place i could put my antenna is on the window cill, will this be sufficient.


Can i listen to audio from particular aircraft as im watching it on radar.


Lastly, i have managed to convince my other half of the importance of this piece of kit for my pleasure, now she has agreed, i must by the best one, till today after looking at this forum, i was going for the RB, but now im unsure so i will ask this, if it were you, and you had the cash there ready to spend and knowing what you know now, which one would you go for?????

Thanks for your help!

Lee.

[Roadrunner]

Hi there.  Line of sight applies and if the Antenna on the Radarbox can't see the aircraft it won't pick it up.  You can pick up aircraft it can see for 200 plus miles but curvature of he earth will take over after about 250 miles. If anything gets between an aircraft and the antenna you will loose it, buildings trees etc. I am 6nm from Luton's runway 26 (on the extended center line) and can see aircraft down to 600-800 feet. It varies according to weather conditions.  Stansted is 14 miles in the opposite direction and I can see them to about the same height.
You will only see on the radar aircraft fitted with Mode-B which is not everyone. Most Biz jets, General aviation aircraft and military will not appear on the radar but they will appear in the list - with altitude but no position details. 

With regards to which to buy - I have both and they each have their own strengths and weaknesses so you may want to look a bit more at what you want before making your choice.

Best of luck

[Csmith]

I've been a SBS-1 user for 1 and a half year and bought RadarBox 1 month for comparison. All I can say is that I've stopped using SBS-1 as soon as I discovered the RadarBox Network feature. You can see what other users see in real-time all over the world and this makes the difference. RadarBox 2007 software is much more powerful too with lots of new features like the Mylog and Alert.

[Csmith]

BTW what you receive from RadarBox HW and your antenna is real-time. What you see from the network is 5 minute delayed (due to security reasons).

[AirNav Support]

Hi Lee,

A lot of your questions have been answered above by other customers but ones that haven't:

- RadarBox is very easy to use and needs to little configuration to provide you with a detailed maps and functions that other companies cannot come close to.
- RadarBox software is also jammed packed with functions such as alerting and report generating

The biggest advantage is the network which allows you to view traffic from anybody else RadarBox who is connected. Therefore giving you tracking across the world which is a worlds first.

Hope that helps.

[Roadrunner]

These features

Hi Lee,

A lot of your questions have been answered above by other customers but ones that haven't:

- RadarBox is very easy to use and needs to little configuration to provide you with a detailed maps and functions that other companies cannot come to close.
- RadarBox software is also jammed packed with functions such as alerting and report generating

The biggest advantage is the network which allows you to view traffic from anybody else RadarBox who is connected. Therefore giving you tracking across the world which is a worlds first.

Hope that helps.

You need to be aware that some of these features will only be available to you when AirNav finally sort out the annoying habit that Radar box has of crashing at regular intervals which will not allow any descent length of monitoring!

[kazandlee]

So, AirNav, when will these apparent crashing problems be solved, the last thing i need is problems, i have one chance and one chance only to buy the best system, i dont want to be lumbered with a system thats full of bugs!

These features

Hi Lee,

A lot of your questions have been answered above by other customers but ones that haven't:

- RadarBox is very easy to use and needs to little configuration to provide you with a detailed maps and functions that other companies cannot come to close.
- RadarBox software is also jammed packed with functions such as alerting and report generating

The biggest advantage is the network which allows you to view traffic from anybody else RadarBox who is connected. Therefore giving you tracking across the world which is a worlds first.

Hope that helps.

You need to be aware that some of these features will only be available to you when AirNav finally sort out the annoying habit that Radar box has of crashing at regular intervals which will not allow any descent length of monitoring!

[AirNav Support]

The issues are affecting a small amount of users. To those who are affected we creating patches to rectify the situation.

Our support staff and development staff are around to answer any query or issue and get to the bottom of. I think everyone on this forum can vouch for the support staff being quick and helpful when being called upon.

[Roadrunner]

There is no doubt that your support staff are attentive and keep offering advice and suggested ways to improve the device. No doubt you will get there, and it will THEN be a wondeful device, hard to beat. In the mean time a few of us do have major problems with connectivity. As I type this I have just noted mine has disconnected within the last few minutes, and that is without the photo option running!.

[spotter70]

Hello
Can i just add that i have been Running Radarbox for a while now i do not have the Sbs-1 but i have been running it alongside one that a friend of mine has.
There are a number of differences that has been said.
But for someone starting out in this area of Aviation Radarbox is the way to go as in this case it is Tailored to the indivivdual requirements of Kazandlee.
Sbs-1 is very powerful but not as user friendly as Rbox .
Sbs-1 is i think is  more suited to the technically minded hardcore aviation enthusiast. Unlike the person who is asking the question which is best for there needs  as an Aviation Enthusiast starting out.
Radarbox has a few glitches in the system and they are affecting some people i am one myself with disconnection problems but the Patch has sorted out some other ongoing niggles.
If the person in question just wants some tracking Hardware and software and just wants to sit in the Garden or gaze  out of the window and see aircraft and track where they have come from and going to Radarbox wins.
Obviously the decision is not mine but  when i made mine i think i made the right decision with the Radarbox.
Kinetic who make Sbs-1 have had no competion until now and they have cut prices so it makes it look attractive so things are hotting up.
One last point
I run my radarbox from a laptop which makes it more portable than Sbs-1 and i can get it all in my laptop bag and move around easily.
Support is there and Airnav do deal with the problem and this forum is very good to sort out any questions.Also there are a lot of Sbs-1 owners who also have Radarbox if its just for comparison then its an expensive one .I for one will stick with my Radarbox as the possibilites appear better.
Hope this helps in the decision
Regards
Spotter70

[kazandlee]

Thanks for the advice spotter, i have made a decision to buy one, just one very very last question, how do i know if my portable scanner is compatable with the RB, this option is a must for me as i enjoy also listening to aircraft.

[AirNav Support]

Not sure what you mean Kazandlee. RadarBox does not use a scanner in any way.

If you want to listen to aircraft then you just need get your local frequencies and save them in your scanners memory.

[kazandlee]

Mmmm!  Thought i saw a screenshot of an onscreen csanner that you could add on to auto tune to the frequency of the plane i was tracking, i must be wrong, will try and find that screenshot.