New RB 3NM SE of EIDW

[AirNav Development]

Can you confirm you are using the provided RB antenna with the provided base?

Without the base reception will decrease. All the tests done show that the RB hardware unit has more sensivity than the SBS-1 unit so it can be an antenna problem. Email our support if you need our help or suggestions.

[Dec]

Hi,

Yes I'm using The RB antenna and base provided, I should have stated that while using SBS-1 I upgraded to a high gain whip which I guess would be twice as long as the one supplied with the SBS-1, also I had being using an M-75 pre-amp.

kind regards.

[EINN-07]

Hi Dec / Dub33 / JohnnyB

I'm in Barefield just outside Ennis. The RB antenna as per the literature is an outside antenna. I tried it indoors first and then outdoors and  progressively higher until I had it outside on the rain gutter with the RB balanced on the window frame. There is no substitute for as high as possible in clear air and clear of all obstructions. The as-supplied antenna does a fantastic job with it's only limitation being cable length which is a function of signal loss - and that's maths which are too hard for me.
When you look at what you are receiving on the RB you need to look at the geographical position of your aerial - are you in the middle of a housing complex or apartment block or the middle of the country - are there trees ( yes trees ) around you ? I bet the Sugar Loaf and Ben Bulben throw a shadow on your polar diagrams from Dublin and Sligo.
If you can get an antenna to a higher point than the as-supplied cable will stretch then you can use a dedicated 1090 Mhz antenna which works best with ultra low loss co-ax. I live at the bottom of a hill which gives a wonderful blind spot to the east using the standard antenna. I could only get high level aircraft from 30 miles when coming from the east.
The only solution was to go higher which I was able to do and did with spectacular results. I will post a screen shot on the screen shot forum in the next day or so. The antenna is a 1090 Mhz external dedicated SBS antenna which I bought from Jim Finch in Southampton ( ssejim.co.uk ) and using 12m of Westlake 103 ultra low loss co-ax. I steered clear of the pre amp since these amplify noise as well as signal,  but in all honesty if you can get an antenna high enough and clear enough you won't need a pre amp.
Net result - I can now get aircraft over Belfast and the Irish Sea.

Hope this helps

All the best

Gerry

[johnnyB]

Hi Gerry,
I'm actually at one of the highest points in Sligo and i have the aerial as high as i can get it with the cable supplied and mounted on the base plate but because the aerial is at the back of the house i only get a very limited view of the Atlantic (see the pic attached) i also can only track planes at Knock down to about 3000 feet, probably due to the mountains

I'm hoping that with a new aerial i will be able to mount on the chimney or at least on a pole at the back of the house to clear the roof i should get an unrestricted view of the Atlantic and increase my range over all.

With that said i couldn't be happier with the Radarbox, its the best thing i've seen in a long time.

Cheers

P.S. AirNav, Any idea when the Aerial pack will be released?

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[Dec]

Hi Gerry,

Thanks for all the information, much appreciated, seems you got good results with your new antenna.
I checked out that website ( ssejim.co.uk ) looks like a decent antenna and with your results I think it could be worth investing.

As an experiment I put the RB up in the attic (using a laptop) with the supplied antenna at the highest point,
It was interesting how much of an obstruction the likes of the chimney stack and being in a mid terraced house the obstruction caused by houses either side.

Other than that and the fact the antenna was in doors I was impressed with the distance that was achieved towards the east and southeast, from the screenshot looks like I picked as far as Liverpool and maybe a little further, and the southeast of Wales.
But back in Ireland coverage wasn’t that great, the weakest points being southwest.

Overall I think looking at my screenshots the best place for my current antenna is attached to the gutter.
Other than that I’m going to look at the possibilities of getting a dedicated 1090 Mhz antenna and mounting it on the roof.

Regards

Dec






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[Dub33]

Cheers Jerry

Thanks for all the info, and looking forward to seeing the screenshot with your new antennae.

I'm fairly close to making a purchase, but, still not entirely sure which way to jump, as yet.

I've attached a screenshot of my current coverage with the existing RB antennae, I'm not sure, which altitude applies, to how far out, so, I asked AirNav and they noted they would include an altitude analysis of the Polar diagram in the next version of 1.4 or a little later.

Its great to see a few other irish users of the RB, if theres any particular time that you guys want the RB switched on let me know, and will do my best to accomodate..


Best regards
Pat aka Dub33
 


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[EINN-07]

Hi Guys

I'll put the screenshots up on the screenshot section of the forum

All the best

Gerry