New Sydney ADS-B Station
 

I have almost completed the setup of a new ADS-B Station for Sydney, located in the Northern Beaches.

Thanks first up to AirNav Systems for supplying me with a free RadarBox receiver, as one of 50 people in
the world they selected to expand their global reception network.

ADS-B operates at 1090MHz, so the antenna, location and coax is critical for good reception. After searching
a number of suppliers and forums, I decided to go for a special antenna from DPD Productions in California. Their
57 inch 9db gain model looked to be perfect, however it was too long to ship at a reasonable price, so Dave
made me a special slightly shorter version that just fits the max shipping dimensions for the US Postal Service
(performance will be only slightly less that the 57 inch model). Being a special, it took about 10 days to build
and another 10 days for delivery using the US Postal Service. Dave from DPD productions was extremely helpful
all the way through the process, so very happy to recommend DPD.

I received the antenna last Tuesday and mounted it on the roof ridge on Anzac Day. Immediately the reception
was very good, but mainly on the eastern quadrant. The best reception with the antenna mounted in this location
has been 280nm (518km) which is about as good as it gets.

DPD Productions Antenna mounted on the new 3 metre mast.
http://www.16right.com/adsb/ADSB%20Aerial.jpg

The screen shot below shows the Polar diagram of the reception, which has been excellent from north around to
the south east. There are regular plots out as far as Coffs Harbour, and 100nm plus out to sea.

This afternoon I mounted the antenna on a three metre mast on the ridge of the roof, instead of being just at
roof height, and the polar diagram is now starting to build quite well out in a westerly direction. The 3 metre mast
gives me a better outlook to the west, and being a line of sight transmission, any obstacles will affect the signal
received. It will take a day or two to build the new Polar diagram for this antenna setup.

Only thing left to do now, is to replace the RG58 coax with RG213 to maximuze the signal from the antenna.

http://www.16right.com/adsb/ADS-B%2001.jpg

Great news Grahame. The antenna mast looks beaut. Will also be great to see the plotter diagram again after a few days 24/7. Keep us posted.

The 280nm hit looks like it came from the south at about 160 degrees. Did you manage to capture the HEX and Altitude of that hit? As there's been a few spikes of late popping up again. However, I occasionally get QF93 and VA11 passing by in that direction from, MEL to LAX, when they're flying a more northerly route. Which reminds me, I really must keep my SBS Plotter blacklist up to date ;)

Will you share to PlanePlotter also? Let me know your code if you do. PM if you prefer.

Had actually debated the idea of creating a separate Aircraft Plotting Sub Forum here (ie: for all things related to ADS-B and Mode-S, including discussion on all the various SBS-1 devices and for people to talk about their own feeds, share info and problms etc) Might be a good way to keep in touch with some of the Sydney and other Australian based sharers.... hmmm, food for thought.

Great post, and look forward to more interesting SBS stuff from you in the future.

Cheers,
amsy

What an upload to Flightradar 24?

Welcome to the world of ADS-B Grahame.

A few of us tried to import DPD antennas last year but were not successful due to the US postal requirements regarding length. Interesting that Dave has come up with a solution.

Can I make a suggestion regarding the RG213 coax? Check out LMR-400 coax first.

While LMR-400 is more expensive than RG213, the db/100 lost is about half. It may not mean much for local plots but if you are chasing distance, every little bit helps.

http://www.timesmicrowave.com/cgi-bin/calculate.pl

Cheers,

Noel

Very nice. I'd love a set up like that, but I'll probably loose my job, relationship and become vitamin D deficient. :p

Thanks Noel, I have left the purchase of the coax until last, as I would like to install the best option, however first up wanted to ensure that the antenna location was optimal. Thanks for the advice on the LMR-400, I will definitely follow up on your suggestion.

PS: I just checked the figures on you web site link for my setup, and LMR-400 has a Total Run Attenuation of 1.9Db and Efficiency of 63.9% , while my existing RG58 has a Total Run Attenuation of 7.2dB and 19% efficiency. RG213 was 3.3Db and 46%. LMR-400 definitely looks like the way to go based on these figures - I should see even more improvement on reception.

I checked the setup of my custom build antenna, and Dave says it is a 7 element instead 10, and around 6Db instead of 9Db - still does a great job.

At the moment I am publishing the RadarBox screen (5min refresh) at http://www.16right.com/ under ACARS Map (just scroll down). I had to restart my laptop yesterday evening, and it looks like the Polar plot needs to build again from the ground up. At the moment there is a spike plot to the west that looks abnormal.

Kurt: I did not see the details of the 280nm 160degree plot unfortunately.

At the moment I am looking at where RadarBox save the logs etc. so I can see if there is an opportunity to integrate the existing ACARS feed with the new ADS-B data, and publish the results on www.16Right.com.

well done Grahame, lot's of fun.
I bought the Radarbox in 2007 and was one of the first in Oz to get one (s/n 00082).
took it overseas in 2008 and without it there was no way of picking up the a/c I saw at various airports. Screen gets full quickly at busy airports so was consantly paging up and down.

It has suffered some sensitivity issues and range now is minimal, that's why I bought the SBS-1E in 2009.

I have RG58 low loss cable (12m length) going into the SBS-1E, and as i face south I can pick up flights right up to the Vic border but behind me is a double storey house so limited hits until they pass behind it or over it. Aircraft landing at SYD, I lose at 2500-3000' depending on runway but am close to Bankstown and Richmond so get them down to 100-200'.

With regards to Radarbox logs, they have MyLog which stores all logged a/c and u can use the reporter to create daily logs for e-mails or you can export selected data to a csv file.

The display on Radarbox is better than Basestation as it takes care of overlap better.

Enjoy.

Thanks for your comments Peter, I am enjoying the ADS-B setup already, and had a look at MyLogs this morning. If I can source some LMR400, I think that should complete a very nice ground station.

I have a clear outlook out to the North and out over the Pacific to the East, there is a tree line to the South that appears to reduce the signal somewhat, and not bad to the West, I will see what the afternoon departures to Asia and Europe do to the western plot.

I have seen departures from YSSY pop up at 1000ft, but no Lat/Long until around 2000ft.

This mornings Polar plot has grown quite nicely.
http://www.16right.com/adsb/RadarBox...t 20120429.gif

Hi Grahame,

I sourced all my pig-tails and lengthy LMR-400 from Rojone. They're out at Ingleburn if you fancy the trek. They have very good service and will cater for custom jobs. So just tell them the length of cable run and whether you need SMA or N connectors either end etc, and they'll give you a same day quote on email.

http://www.rojone.com.au/category/c-...oaxial-cables/

Just keep in mind, the LMR-400 is quite a stiff and thicker cable than RG-58 for example, so it's not as easily bent around tight corners. But a straight run from antenna through the tiles in to the roof cavity should work easily, and with that quality cable, it'll be up there for years. Just remember to waterproof your exposed connections.

Thanks Kurt, much appreciated.

I ran the LMR-400 cable this afternoon (replacing the RG-58) and saw an immediate improvement in the number of aircraft picked up, and the maximum range. I was just watching HA452 (N380HA) departing, and tracked it out to 242.2nm (448.5 Km). Once the Polar Plot has had a couple of days to build, I will post an image.

LMR-400 is 10.29 mm in dia, and the inner conductor is 2.74 mm - one fat cable and very inflexible.

Thanks for the setup tips Noel and Kurt.

That's great news Grahame.

I went with the RG213 first off with my setup but changed to the LMR400 after reading about its better overall specifications.

Looking forward to seeing your Polar Plot.

Hi Noel,

This is the Polar plot after 18 hours of LMR-400 coax, and it already gives a good indication of the performance improvement. The left image is RG-58 (outer pink ring is ~168.1 nm), and the right image is LMR-400 (outer pink ring is ~257.6 nm). I needed to use different scales to get all the LMR-400 plot on the map. The coverage in all directions has improved quite nicely, somewhere around the 40 to 50 nm mark.

The number of aircraft being picked up has also increased, reaching the 40-50 mark at times. I have seen 400 messages/second being processed, and up to 2,500 messages from some aircraft.

Needless to say, I am quite happy with the setup.

A live RadarBox plot is available on www.16Right.com and updated every minute (direct link is http://www.16right.com/YSSY/ADS-B.htm)

http://www.16right.com/adsb/RadarBox...03%20RG-58.gifhttp://www.16right.com/adsb/RadarBox...%20LMR-400.gif

My son has just done an overlay version of the two plots above, adjusting for the different scales. The red is RG-58 built up over 4 days, and the Orange LMR-410 after 18 hours, and there are good increases in performance right around the compass.

http://www.16Right.com/adsb/AirNav Radarbox Polar.jpg

Grahame, that's a noticeable improvement especially towards the south east.

Have you setup your share with PlanePlotter? Is your code still xO? Haven't notice any feeds with that code popping up yet.

Yesterday 7/05/2012 I recorded 780 flights on the RadarBox, including this unusual transmission ...

7CF7CA <GND> ... Ground Transmitter 2012/05/07 07:03:05

Any ideas ?

Variable! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/oz-modeS/message/3616

Thanks Donald

Best ADS-B pickup to date is 310nm (574km) out to the east northeast.

Wow :eek: - maybe the anti-DPD hype from Kinetic is because they're jealous of its range :p

At what altitude Grahame?

I will see if I can dig it out of the log tonight Kurt.

Noel --> Does SBS Plotter work with AirNav ?

No, I don't think so Kurt. It's an add on for the Kinetic BaseStation program and takes a direct feed from the SBS port. Besides, the outline it draws most likely can only be read by BaseStation and not by Airnav's RadarBox.

I have run some calculations on the RadarBox log since I installed the LMR-400 Coax, and came up with the following reception details. I had to eliminate a few strange westerly longitudes to tidy things up a bit. Based on the scale on the current Polar plot, not all of these pick ups fit within the plot (not sure why, maybe the scale on the plot is not exact). These are only the entries above 250nm.

Sorted by Start Lat/Long distance from Mona Vale (Start NM column shows the distance).
http://www.16right.com/adsb/Log%20By%20Start%20NM.jpg

Sorted by End Lat/Long distance from Mona Vale (End NM column shows the distance).

http://www.16right.com/adsb/Log%20By%20End%20NM.jpg

Maybe the screenshot below from this morning helps to understand the data above a little more. The selected flight here is PBN81
from Christchurch to Brisbane (small white circle on right of plot), and it was plotting at 362.7 nm out (671.7 km), however it was not updating the Polar plot. I
am guessing that flights like this one tracking across, and outside the Polar plot are not included for whatever reason. There
are probably rules that define how the Polar plot is built, and maybe some flights just fall outside these rules.

The last flight on the list, Air Canada B772 C-FIVK, plots as the blue dot just outside the 295nm ring at about 48 degrees. This
confirms that the radar rings are reasonably accurate, and that the long range flights in the data above have just not plotted.

Either way, I could not be happier with how the RadarBox and LMR-400 Coax are performing, a 393.7 nm (729.1 km) plot is just
amazing.

http://www.16Right.com/adsb/ADS-B Plot 20120510.jpg

Hi Grahame,

Amazing coverage :eek: - get that feed onto PlanePlotter would ya!

I concur with your range rings; I've validated them off the rough land indentation we see just to the NE of YKMP with your map a few posts above saying its 192.9nm. My map has it at about 205nm, but that's because my home location is about that in difference to the south of you. So your rings are accurate.

With your plot, you may have a setting enabled to ignore plots that are in excess of a certain nm range. I know with SBS Plotter, you can limit this factor to try flush out any rogue hits through Basestation. Something for you to look further into with your software to allow you to plot everything you see.

In lieu of you sharing to PP, is there any chance you could increase the field of view for your 5min update image on 16Right? Right now your outer ring is showing to be roughly 200nm, any chance you could increase the view to include those NE plots and take it to about 350nm similar to the range showing in the plot image you've posted above? Also, could you actually increase the image size?

Look forward to chatting more with you on Saturday.

Thanks Kurt,

I don't think I have the Preferences Range filter set, but I will check this again.

I have not looked at sharing the data with PlanePlotter, but don't have a problem with that (I will just check my AirNav Systems agreement to see if it specifically mentions this).

I can zoom the image out a notch or two, it is just a compromise between Range and Detail. The image size appears to be a fixed size GIF that FTPs every minute to my web site. I don't recall seeing any setting for the image, however I will check (there maybe some third party addins that will do the trick).

See you on Saturday morning.

Kurt, I zoomed the plot out one step, any further and the aircraft details vanish. There are definitely no range filters set, so it looks like the plot may be restricted to ~300nm, or those 390nm aircraft passing laterally outside the plot area do not fit the plot algorithm.

With a little more coverage now along the east coast, I was watching an interesting handover of JST4 from about 200nm east of Brisbane. Initially logged on PlanePlotter by sharer oO about 442nm out of YSSY, then switched to sharer Eu who logged it off the far north NSW coast, and finally over to sharer qR (me) over 318 nm out of YSSY, and then all the way in.

Also just noticed qR showing VH-VOZ at 31000ft and around 407 nm out of YSSY heading northeast.

Thank you Grahame for your feed with PlanePlotter. The range you are obtaining to the north-east is outstanding and very much appreciated :D

A few more long range plots on Thursday and Friday ...

http://www.16Right.com/adsb/Log By End NM 20120514.jpg

My son calculated the area of my current Polar plot at 320,986 sq km, which is almost the size of Germany.

Hi folks!

Forgive me for my otherwise newbie enquiry to this, but I have been following this thread with great interest.

I'm interesting in getting a system like this, very much like Mark Taylor's one that was displayed at the Rowers Club the other evening. In hindsight, I should have gone up to the computer to have a closer look, though the food and company were more of a distraction than anything!

I'm after a system purely for real-time display of in/outbound aircraft, in the display format like the one at Rowers, that had the radar style display with the aircraft tracks, flight numbers and the like, in a similar style to what the ATC would be seeing. What was the system on display and is it similar to the one being discussed in this thread? Do regional RPT aircraft (I.e. Dash-8s, Fokker 50s, Fokker 100s, Metros, etc) have these fitted on them yet? I understand quite a few SAABs do.

My second query is, I understand how the ADS-B systems work, and their progressive implementation across Australia to replace the current airborne radar systems. Is there expected to be any date/deadline to abolish airborne radar with ADS-B and the mandatory fitting to all Australian commercial and military aircraft? What about GA aircraft?

My other objective to getting a system is to see other traffic aside from jet RPTs, like the regionals, GA and if possible, military, around Adelaide/SA.


Again, please forgive me for my newbie-like replies. I've yet to get a full understanding of how it all works, but I am indeed interested in getting one. If anyone is interested in providing further assistance, please drop me a line and I can specify more about my situation, such as where I live and the structure of my residence.

Many thanks! :)

Hi Maikha,

I have just setup my system, however there are other Board Members with far greater experience than me with ADS-B.

Below are some I the things I considered and noticed while doing the setup :-

• There are several base units available, I went with the RadarBox simply because there was a free one on offer (others may comment on the differences between units. Kinetic SBS is another option). AirNav radarBox base unit costs $612.

• The small portable antenna that came with the unit was basically useless at my location.

• Your location, and location of the antenna is very important. The transmissions are bacically line of sight, so any obstacle (mountain, house etc) is going to affect the reception. My antenna is mounted on a 3 metre mast and looks directly out to sea, so on the eastern side of the compass reception has reached 485nm (Christchurch-Brisbane flights). On the western side it is more like 150nm, although I can pickup the Melbourne-Brisbane flights.

• The selection of antenna is also very important, and you can find several options on the internet. After reading a number of antenna sites, I decided to go with a DPD Productions antenna. There are built in California, and Dave had to do a special for me because of the US Mail size requirements. This is a 7 element rather than 10 element, however the performance is amazing. Cost including short N/SMA fly lead and postage from the USA was roughly $189.

• Coax cable is the final area to look at, and Noel posted a link in this thread to a site that has a performance calculator for various cable types and lengths. Initially I used RG58 to try different antenna locations, and finally went with the more expensive LMR-400 recommended by Noel, when I knew the exact length required. This cable connects directly to the antenna, and the base end has a short more flexible fly lead to convert the N Connector to the smaller SMA connector on the base unit. This short fly lead also allows for a little more flexibility with the base unit location, as the LMR-400 cable is very thick and not so flexible. My cable run is under 15 metres and cost approx $129 including N connectors and postage. Kurt also supplied links to a couple of cable sites.

Happy to help with any other questions, and I am sure Kurt and Noel will chip in also.

Base Unit AirNav Systems RadarBox or Kinetic
Antenna DPD Productions ADS-B (SBS / RadarBox) Vertical Outdoor Model Antenna
Coax Cable https://www.eyou.com.au/search/ Times Microwave LMR-400

This is another view of the ADS-B action today from my location up to 7pm (flight tracks on PlanePlotter). Plenty of USA and Kiwi flights out to 250+ nm,
a solid track out to YBBN, and a conga line tracking into YSSY from the north at present. YMML flights track coverage is out to YSCB, and there were
plenty of YMML-YBBN and YSCB-YBBN flights there also. No Kiwi to YBBN flights recorded today.

620 flights to 7pm today, a bit down on weekdays, which runs at 800+ flights.

http://www.16right.com/PlanePlotter/ppimage.jpg

Grahame does your feed go into Plane Finder or Flightradar24?

Jarrad, I am feeding AirNav Systems and PlantPlotter (qR).

Also just added FlightRadar24 to my feed Jarrad.

Awesome Grahame, thanks for that!

When you look at the aircraft details, I am Radar T-YSSY5 on FlightRadar24

Excellent mate, I'm often having a look at what is happening on the east coast!

Hi,

I hope that someone of you is able to help me. I am running an AirNav RadarBox receiver in Coogee and I have got an external antenna. To connect the antenna with the RadarBox I am using an Aircell 5 cable that has female FME connectors at each end. These are connected to adapters which I can connect to either the antenna and the RadarBox.
My problem is that the connection of one of the FME connectors is broken and I need it to be refitted to the cable. But so far I was not able to find a shop in Sydney that can do this.
Does someone of you know where I can get my cable fixed? And where I can buy a new female FME connector as this might need to be replaced as well?

Thanks,
Henning