RangeCan someone please help. I have been using Radarbox abroad on an indoo

[John1944]

Can Someone please help. I have been using Radarbox abroad on an indoor aerial and for the l;ast 17 days have received aircaraft fron far away as 150 miles, however now I can only appear to receive aircraft that are within a 5 mile range. Anyone know the reason why, the blue light is fladhing about once every 2 seconds and when it does pick an aircraft up is on virtually permanent with the white signal light.
John

[dantheman]

The huge drop in range suggests it's a reception problem so best to start troubleshooting the antenna.Has the antenna been moved or is it in the same location?

Try disconnecting and reconnecting the antenna cable from the back of the radarbox. Is there any damage to the cable or the connectors?

[John1944]

I have checked te aerial and connections and they look OK. The aerial is only about 2 months old. Any more suggestions.
John

[Runway 31]

Have you been using it with lightning around, maybe some static damage.  Would suggest you contact support for advice.  [email protected]

Alan

[CoastGuardJon]

Hi Alan, you don't need lightning around to get static damage, dry wind will cause a charge to develop on the antenna which if it gets big enough will jump to earth.

[Runway 31]

Cheers John, didnt know that.

Alan

[John1944]

Thank you all for your answers. I have not used it in lightning conditions, however it has been used outside in winds of 20 kt gusting 30Kt. Will contact support on my return to UK on Friday. Thans again.

John

[CoastGuardJon]

Hi Alan and John, I learnt my lesson in the 1976 summer = I had a Cobra AM/SSB CB rig (illegal at the time, with PO radio enforcement after us!) which sustained static damage whilst driving around.  As an aside to that another chap nearby had a linear amp (burner) which when in use transmitted in the AM aircraft band around 135 - 136 MHz - I heard him when listening in on the aircraft band so was able to get that sorted without any harm being done or officials getting involved - as far as I remember with the Lin Amp on, he was also transmitting on the harmonics, the fifth being around 136MHz.   Some "traps" in the output of the amp sorted it.

[Runway 31]

76 remember it well it was a great summer, a real scorcher oh and my son was born then as well!

Alan

[Hawkeye]

............. "Would suggest you contact support for advice.  [email protected]
Alan"

…………”Will contact support on my return to UK on Friday. Thans again.
John”

Sorry Alan, but surely the purpose of a company's "Support"  is to respond to a problem with their product when one is raised.
The forum is a means of broadcasting useful, interesting or relevant information to users of the product. That’s why we have one.
Having been submitted to the forum, I can’t think of any reason why John’s problem should be dealt with via PMs. nor why Support would not feel obliged to respond openly to it.

Syd.

[Runway 31]

Syd,

This is not a support forum as you yourself stated "The forum is a means of broadcasting useful, interesting or relevant information to users of the product. That’s why we have one.  "  This is usually done by users self helping, sharing their experiences etc.

While support pop in there is no guarantee that they will read every post to see if anyone needs assistance hence the support email address where you go to and seek assistance by contacting them direct.  John could also as you suggest use the PM system to contact them directly.  Both methods should ensure a response in an appropriate timescale and Airnav suggest this would be within 24 hours.

There is no measure of secrecy or any other motive in my response other than to guide John and I thought this would be understood by forum users as it has been stated on a number of occasions by Airnav.

Alan

[AirNav Support]

We echo the point above, we keep everything via the offical support channels as its easier to organise and track that way. We do contact many customers on the fourm direct or via PM as well if needed but we prefer through the email support so its all auditable.

[Hawkeye]

 Alan,

Oops! Perhaps I could have worded my post better.

I wasn’t suggesting there was secrecy or an ulterior motive either in your response or on AirNav’s part. My thoughts were that as John had submitted his problem to the forum, other members may be interested in any suggestions or solutions AirNav, as manufacturers of the unit could offer. Contact through  [email protected] would elicit a personal reply only.

By the way,  AirNav has addressed the static problem, if that is indeed the cause of John’s problem at :-  http://www.airnavsystems.com/forum/index.php?topic=2759.0

I’ll get mi coat :-)

Regards
Syd

[Runway 31]

Syd,

I agree with what you suggest that we as users come up with suggestions based on our experience but there comes a point when we come to the conclusion that there is a hardware problem which can only be solved by sending the box back for repair.  I believe that this will be the case here and repair should then be arranged through contact between John and Airnav as I advised.

I would suggest that it then becomes up to John as to whether he comes back to the forum and advises users the outcome and of what he was advised as the cause as others have done in the past.

Alan

[John1944]

Gentlemen
To close this question down I have had the Radarbox examined by Waters and Stanton and they said that there was nothing wrong with it, however, they said that they had done a Mod to the radarbox whilst it was under investigation. The reason for the loss of distance was a faulty cable in the aerial base, this is the second aerial now that I have had a problem with connections, the first one being the wire at the radarbox connector. It appears that these connection are fragile and can break if put under any unnecessary stress, I thought that I had been very careful.
Thank again for all your replies, they were very useful.
John1944