RadarBox24.com New Locations

[Rethymnian]

Alan, Ingo, thanks for your feedback! Kind regards, Markos from sunny Crete

[Rethymnian]

Hi Alan and Ingo, included in the box of the AirNav RadarBox ComStation, were 4 metal rods, probably to be used as a radial on the antenna, 3 on the side and one right on the top. I do not use them at present. Question: Does AirNav wants me to stick all of them on the antenna anyway, or should one only use them in case of a bad reception?

Markos

[neroon79]

Markos don't do it, it will kill your ADS-B/mode s reception if you apply them.

The three on the side will generate a virtual ground plane above the 1090MHz antenna part, which is used for ADS-B/mode s reception.

I haven't connected these parts too. They are only neccessary for improved VHF Radio reception.

Ingo

[Rethymnian]

Hallo Ingo, Danke fuer deine schnelle Ruckmeldung. Ich hatte sie montiert aber keinen wesentlichen verbesserten Empfang festgestellt. Darum habe Ich sie nach deiner Nachricht schnell wieder entfernt. Warum waren sie im Paket? Ich konnte keine Hinweise finden, warum die ueberhaupt drinne seien sollten. Na ja, nun weiss Ich es. Thanks!

Markos

[neroon79]

Hallo Markos,
Ausnahmsweise mal auf deutsch sonst sollten wir aber der Höflichkeit halber beim Forum üblichen englisch bleiben.

Airnav arbeitet hier leider voll nach dem Leitfaden das Anleitungen vollkommen überbewertet sind.
Einige nutzer der ersten Comstations hatten massive Probleme mit dem ADS-B Empfang nachdem sie die "Stäbe" montiert hatten.
Od das Problem bei Deiner Antenne nicht mehr auftritt ist mir nicht bekannt.
Da sie aber für den ADS-B Empfang nicht benötigt werden kann man sie auch weglassen.

Ingo

[Rethymnian]

Hi Ingo, as I speak several languages I thought it might be easier, haha. English it is, tally-ho! Anyway I got rid of the rods, as a decrease in reception is definitively not what I am looking for. I was just annoyed that I could not yet get my reception in the direction south-south east up, grgrgr. I guess I will need to find a more optimal location for the antenna.

Thanks for your help and keep up the good work!

Markos

[Rethymnian]

https://www.radarbox24.com/stations/PGANRB300799# UPDATE!

Ingo, after tweaking my aerial I have improved my reach overall and am now even biting out a big chunk of western Turkey ;-) Some gains towards the East, but unfortunately besides a spike going South no noteworthy gains in that area. As my station is located on the North Coast of Crete, I come to the conclusion that the 3 big mountain ranges on Crete, the Lefka Ori in the West, the Ida in the middle and the Dikti in the East, are seriously hampering my reception. As I am not able to move any mountains, I guess I must be happy with the 98% coverage of the whole of Greece :-)

Markos

[Runway 31]

Looking great Markos.  Yes the southern coverage will be being cut off by the mountains.  I was just looking at your feed and noted an unknown and found it to be AT43 SX-NIK so now added into d/b.

Alan

[Rethymnian]

Hi Alan, be prepared for many new unknown flying objects, as I come across them quite frequently, after I had adjusted the aerial, haha. Although I am not looking 24/7 at my screen as I need to work too, what do you want me to do when I see these unknown planes? Where do I need to report them?

By the way I also see quite a lot of Italian and French military planes coming by. Where are the Yanks, Brits and Greeks, who are always buzzing above my head, as here at LGSA / CHQ we have the largest NATO military base in the whole Mediterranean? Or do they have their transponders switched off, do not have one or are they concealed?

Markos

[Runway 31]

Hi Markos,

If you want to report unknowns please feel free to do so on the Database updates thread http://www.airnavsystems.com/forum/index.php?topic=8314.10395.  Hex code will do but if its available its callsign/flight ID will help.   Most military aircraft are not ADS-B equipped so will not show on the map.  They should however show on the Flight List unless they have their transponder switched off.

Alan

[Rethymnian]

Roger that!

[Rethymnian]

Alan, a thought from my side. You agree with me that the mountain ranges to my South are blocking my reception in that specific direction. How about my super reception towards the North? I am breaching my 5 ring radius easily. Are the mountains now working in my favour and giving me a turbo boost in that direction? Or is it the large body of water directly in front of me, that is helping the signal along? Or is it perhaps a combination of both?

Markos

[Runway 31]

Marcos,

My own feeling is that it will be the large body of water which is ensuring the great coverage to the north

Alan

[Rethymnian]

Alan, the "crazy" foot print that I have presently got, drives me nuts, as mine just looks weird, especially with the spike going south! Some stations have an almost perfect reception inside their 250 NM radius. I am nowhere near to that perfect circle. I already mentioned the mountain ranges over here earlier, but actually I am in a gap between 2 ranges, thus I reckon I should have at least a better coverage, compared to the one I am getting now. Who or what determines how the foot print looks like? Is it just AirNav or is it based on an average of the contacts which I am able to establish? This brings up another point. How comes that the foot print does not vary on a daily basis, as planes are never in the same spot? Or is the whole foot print thingy just  cosmetic?

Markos 

[Runway 31]

Markos,

It is determined by the aircraft you pick up and it does not vary as it is built up over time, 7 days I believe from looking at the range grid.  When you got your unit initially your coverage pattern was small but it is filled in as each hours/day passes and aircraft are picked up. 

ADS-B coverage works by line of site from your antenna and there are lots of factors such as the topography of your area, the height of the traffic being picked up, surrounding high buildings, nearby trees etc which can alter the coverage pattern

You will notice RESET beside your max range and I believe pressing it will remove your coverage footprint and allow it to build up again.

Alan