Indoor Aerial Reception with Inner London

[E14]

Hi Guys
              Im thinking about buying a RB system in a few weeks but just wondered how good the aerial supplied will be if its next to the window. I live in house close to London City airport and general reception of VHF etc is ok. As this works on 1090mhz does anyone else have a similar setup with inner London and how well in NM does it perform.
Im aware the external one will be far superior but this is not possible at the moemnt.

Many Thanks
James

[AirNav Support]

The site below it showing an indoor antenna and getting good range.

http://www.akzah.com/blog/static.php?page=radarboxLondon

[Allocator]

James,

See the polar diagrams here - some of these are from the standard antenna sitting on the window ledge:

http://radarbox.gofreeserve.com/html/polar_diagrams.html

[E14]

Thanks Guys. That gives me a really indication of what to expect. Interesting to see where there are objects in the way such as buildings, mountains etc how the signal gets blocked.

Now to decide where to buy from. Any ideas?

[tarbat]

I think Flightstore are still the cheapest at the moment
http://www.flightstore.co.uk/prod/KINAIRNAV/

But worth checking the list of other dealers - http://www.airnavsystems.com/radarbox/dealers.html

[E14]

Thanks for that. Just seen the flightstore cost is nearly £50 cheaper but Im not sure if this is updated 2009 version.
Is the updated 2009 version that different from the old software?

[Allocator]

The only difference is that the 2009 sticker boxes come with the RadarBox 2009 software on CD, but this can be downloaded free from the AirNav website anyway, so it doesn't really matter what it says on the box.  The hardware (receiver) is the same.

[E14]

Very good price so just ordered. Looking forward to having a go at this.
Thanks for all the help

[E14]

Well got me box and have started it up. Got around 30 flights on my indoor aerial but I knew it would limited due to the building next to me. Defiantely going to have to get a outdoor aerial but wondering what one is best???
Certainly my polar diagram looks very weird. (not sure if this should have gone in screenshots but just ties into the thread)
Gotta get to work this thing is adictiive :-)

[Allocator]

Hopefully your polar diagram will build up as you pick up more aircraft - how long did you run RB before you got this diagram?

[E14]

This was in the first few minutes of switching on the box for the first time. I did notice it get a little bigger as the day went on.
Typically I pick up around 30 aircraft during busy periods but as some get a bit far away they drop out and then re-appear.
As a first day new user these are the things Ive noticed.

1. Will not pick up Turbo prop aircraft from London city airport(presume system not fitted??)
2. Just opening window and holding aerial increases planes from 30 to around 65
3. Quite simple menu layout although it would be nice if every plane showed where it was going to/coming from in an easier format than EGLL EGLC etc.

Now looking around for the best external aerial which is not too big.

Great system and good fun to use

J
 

[tarbat]

1. Will not pick up Turbo prop aircraft from London city airport(presume system not fitted??)

Many will appear in the aircraft list, but not on the map.  Explained in this video - http://www.airnavsystems.com/radarbox/video/Non_ADS-B.wmv


3. Quite simple menu layout although it would be nice if every plane showed where it was going to/coming from in an easier format than EGLL EGLC etc.

A difficult compromise, since anything longer would take up a lot of space.  If you select an aircraft, the full names of each airport are displayed in the photo/detail window.

[Allocator]

This was in the first few minutes of switching on the box for the first time. I did notice it get a little bigger as the day went on.

J
 

The polar diagram continues to build as you pick up aircraft, unless you clear it using the Preferences menu - so it is better to look at the polar diagram after a week or so to give you a better idea of your coverage.  For example, you appear to have no coverage at all to the east - but this might be because you haven't picked any aircraft up from that direction yet.  Just watch the way that the diagram extends as an aircraft is detected in a "new" area.

[EK01]

Welcome E14

If you are not sure what airport EGLL,EGLC, etc relate to, the easiest way to find out is to go to the top of the screen and enter the airport code in the box next to where it states weather. Then go to the get weather box and in the drop down menu select decoded METAR and within a few seconds the weather details for that airport will come up but, more importantly it will also show the full airport name relating to the coded form.

Cheers.

[E14]

Thanks Guys that makes it easier.

Now to decide which external aerial.

The £49.95 one with the 5dbi gain or the Watson 1m whip which I think is around £79.95?

Also been reading about the coax choice on here. It seems with longer distances its best to use heavier quality grade 50ohm coax and then terminate it with the smaller coax to the RB. Is the socket type the RB uses called SMA? and what type of coax is it rg58?