Loss of Range

[bratters]

Sounds like aerial problems 9M. Suffered myself - identical symptoms - and you'll find other instances in the forum. Either the connector on the lead or the input connector on the box. Best way to test is to try another aerial if you can. No improvement then it's the box.

[southernsteve]

Hi I am new here. Just to put my two penneth in, I am about 5 miles south of LGW and my current range with the supplied aerial on my porch roof is Stansted to the north, Swinden to the west and mid channel to the south. Got a big black hole to the east thanks to the house and a hill behind. Did follow something out over to the south west of France yesterday and anotHer up to Humberside the other day. Generally getting between 40 and 75 a/c depending on time of day. If anything this number is on the rise.

[9M-ISJ]

Sounds like aerial problems 9M. Suffered myself - identical symptoms - and you'll find other instances in the forum. Either the connector on the lead or the input connector on the box. Best way to test is to try another aerial if you can. No improvement then it's the box.

Hi,

I am 99.9percent sure you are right (and I 99.9 percent knew this before I started posting!!)

I shall have a fiddle about this evening when I get home and see what I can do.

Fingers crossed that I can firstly find the problem and secondly then fix it!

[bratters]

9M I don't know your warranty situation but be reassured that my local dealer was excellent when handling my faulty box claim.
I now regard the aerial connector with great suspicion but I can't fault Airnav for their back-up.

[9M-ISJ]

Hi,

It is still under warranty, however I bought it second hand (from a forum member here) so I am hoping it doesnt come to that!

[AirNav Support]

If it does, its usally a quick turnaround if the device does not have serious fault.

[9M-ISJ]

OK, and I hope that things can be driven off the sieral number alone?

As I say I wasnt the original purchaser of the unit, so I dont have the original sales receipt (or even the knowledge of where it was purchased from)

[AirNav Support]

Yes thats not a problem.

[9M-ISJ]

OK,

If needs be, and I pray that they dont, who do I take the unit to? Anybody that sells them?? (I would probably pick Transair at Fairoaks)

[jgrloit]

I had a similar problem, and it turned out that while the centre cable was OK, once I had carefully cut off the heatshrink the braid was completely broken.

I have it working inside now, but could do with a source for a spare cable and aerial for the unit.  All those seen in shops are BNC not SMA - AirNav and source for aerial spares please?

[viking9]

This chap will make up a cable with connectors for you.

http://whwestlake.110mb.com/#01

Tom

[ACW367]

ISJ

I tend to agree with you. I live in High Wycombe and I have been experiencing serious degredation with range of my supplied aerial this last week.  I traditionally have a range of around 120 miles in certain directions.  This last week I haven't logged anything over 30 miles range.  The network shows that aircraft are still flying at greater range in positions I previously would have picked them up. 

My daily totals logged are down from a traditional 1500 to under 400 with the aerial in the same location.  The network shows south England has returned to its normal traffic density following the disruption earlier this week.

I put it down to atmospherics and was waiting for metreological conditions to improve.  Your post seems to confirm this is the case.

[bratters]

I had a similar problem, and it turned out that while the centre cable was OK, once I had carefully cut off the heatshrink the braid was completely broken.

I have it working inside now, but could do with a source for a spare cable and aerial for the unit.  All those seen in shops are BNC not SMA - AirNav and source for aerial spares please?

Go here for any leads/connectors - most helpful.

http://www.garex.co.uk/contact.htm

[9M-ISJ]

ISJ

I tend to agree with you. I live in High Wycombe and I have been experiencing serious degredation with range of my supplied aerial this last week.  I traditionally have a range of around 120 miles in certain directions.  This last week I haven't logged anything over 30 miles range.  The network shows that aircraft are still flying at greater range in positions I previously would have picked them up. 

My daily totals logged are down from a traditional 1500 to under 400 with the aerial in the same location.  The network shows south England has returned to its normal traffic density following the disruption earlier this week.

I put it down to atmospherics and was waiting for metreological conditions to improve.  Your post seems to confirm this is the case.

Now that is interesting, as I have had a very good look at all of the connections in my rig and nothing seems to be wrong.

However, there can be no denying that my unit simply isnt pick up a third of what it was 10 days ago before I took it to the US

(As I said, my normal aerial is fixed in the loft,, all I did was break the connection when I went away and then reconnected it upon my return - unless the connector on the back of the RDB got damaged whilst I was away it was HIGHLY unlikely that any other part of the rig has changed)

I wonder if it really is atmospherics after all?!

[viking9]

Well I've logged 1400 aircraft so far today from my very poor location in a valley. If anything that's slightly higher than usual. I'm currently receiving 200 plus messages/sec and there are 43 aircraft in MyFlights.

Tom