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  • How can I check ADS-B coverage in my region?

    Hi, I hope this is the best forum for this question.

    How can I check to see if FR24 has an ADS-B receiver in my region (Phuket Airport, Thailand, HKT)?

    If it does not, I could provide a receiver to feed data to the FR24 web-site.

    I am a radio amateur, located 1km from HKT international airport.

    But I don't want to go to the expense/effort of providing a receiver if this region is already covered.

    Thanks for any advice

    Simon

  • #2
    You can get a an R820T dongle for under 10USD (ebay, singapore supplier) and see if you can make a difference with it, if it doesn't add anything - you could use it for a SDR reciever.

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by peterhr View Post
      You can get a an R820T dongle for under 10USD (ebay, singapore supplier) and see if you can make a difference with it, if it doesn't add anything - you could use it for a SDR reciever.
      Thanks for the reply, but I really want to know if this website already has coverage of my region HKT. I have no personal interest in watching flight data, but being a radio ham, I do have a very good location with radio masts and in a quiet radio location, just 1km from the airport, atop a small hill. (I own the airport hotels here).

      If I am going to provide coverage, then I prefer to do it with a professional installation, as opposed to a computer dongle. hence my initial post.

      How can I check if coverage is already provided in my region?

      Thanks

      Simon

      Comment


      • #4
        Hi Si,

        Why dont you send this mail to Mike? He can be reached at support@fr24.com

        73's
        de VU2PMC

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Simon43 View Post
          Thanks for the reply, but I really want to know if this website already has coverage of my region HKT. I have no personal interest in watching flight data, but being a radio ham, I do have a very good location with radio masts and in a quiet radio location, just 1km from the airport, atop a small hill. (I own the airport hotels here).

          If I am going to provide coverage, then I prefer to do it with a professional installation, as opposed to a computer dongle. hence my initial post.

          How can I check if coverage is already provided in my region?

          Thanks

          Simon
          Hi there Simon43,

          Welcome to the forum and thanks for your interest in providing ads-b coverage even though you are not that interested in watching flight data. A lot of us here do and will appreciate your efforts in getting phuket covered.

          There was one feeder that used to feed phuket T-VTSP1 but since 2 FR24 receivers F-VTSS1 and F-VTSB1 came online that radarcode has not been seen as the FR24 receivers processes data faster as well as have good GPS timing for timestamping. There is no ground coverage for phuket, and I remember range of T-VTSP1 was limited.

          You could try applying and since you have a mast the coverage should be very good. Coverage is a bit patchy west and north west of Phuket from existing receivers. You can apply for the free receiver here: http://www.flightradar24.com/free-ads-b-equipment
          With you that close to the airport, ground coverage would certainly be guaranteed. So hopefully they approve your application!

          Give it a go to apply, why not?

          Hope coverage for South East Asia keeps gets better! Hope this helps.

          NB: To answer your question whether Phuket is covered, some part is, but there is no ground coverage and is patchy over the Andaman Sea for Phuket. So there is some coverage, but your coverage will be most welcomed!
          Last edited by North Borneo Radar; 2014-03-09, 05:50. Reason: grammar

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by North Borneo Radar View Post
            Hi there Simon43,
            ...
            With you that close to the airport, ground coverage would certainly be guaranteed. So hopefully they approve your application!

            ---
            but there is no ground coverage and is patchy over the Andaman Sea for Phuket. So there is some coverage, but your coverage will be most welcomed!
            Thanks for your detailed reply. What exactly do you mean by 'ground coverage'? At my location, reception of the control tower and ground control VHF is (of course), extremely strong. Are you referring to the ground voice comms or another type of data channel?

            Thanks - Simon
            Last edited by Simon43; 2014-03-09, 06:39.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Simon43 View Post
              Hi, I hope this is the best forum for this question.

              How can I check to see if FR24 has an ADS-B receiver in my region (Phuket Airport, Thailand, HKT)?

              If it does not, I could provide a receiver to feed data to the FR24 web-site.

              I am a radio amateur, located 1km from HKT international airport.

              But I don't want to go to the expense/effort of providing a receiver if this region is already covered.

              Thanks for any advice

              Simon
              1) Check FR24 map. If there are aircraft showing up, there is coverage. If there are no aircraft showing up, there is no coverage.

              2) Apply for a free receiver. If we need coverage and find your location suitable you will get a receiver.
              The world’s most popular flight tracker. Track planes in real-time on our flight tracker map and get up-to-date flight status & airport information.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Mike View Post
                1) Check FR24 map. If there are aircraft showing up, there is coverage. If there are no aircraft showing up, there is no coverage.
                http://www.flightradar24.com/free-ads-b-equipment
                I just checked - no planes in that locality on your map. There are > 220 flights in/out of HKT every 24 hour period, so I would expect to see something on your map, (I can 'hear' the planes at my location.....)

                I'll apply for a receiver

                Simon

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Simon43 View Post
                  Thanks for your detailed reply. What exactly do you mean by 'ground coverage'? At my location, reception of the control tower and ground control VHF is (of course), extremely strong. Are you referring to the ground voice comms or another type of data channel?

                  Thanks - Simon
                  Hi Simon43,

                  Sorry I wasn't clear... jargons lol. Ground coverage means able to receive aircraft signals when they are at the airport. Not every receiver could provide ground coverage, as the receiver would normally need to be close to the airport (no idea how close, and obviously the surrounding terrains will influence that too), but in your case definitely not a problem as you are very close to the airport. An example would be receivers at Hong Kong allows you to see ground traffic, but the receiver in Beijing does not.

                  The mode s signal that you receive is 1090mhz, which gives various information like aircraft position, FL, heading and speed, FYI. You can have a look at www.ads-b.ca to see what the kit is like and in this case, how it was mounted by 1090mhz, one of the forum member here.

                  Originally posted by Simon43 View Post
                  I just checked - no planes in that locality on your map. There are > 220 flights in/out of HKT every 24 hour period, so I would expect to see something on your map, (I can 'hear' the planes at my location.....)

                  I'll apply for a receiver

                  Simon
                  Good, and good luck. Hope it will be approved. Let us know if it does get approved. All the best.
                  Last edited by North Borneo Radar; 2014-03-09, 07:49.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    OK, I have spent a little more time to familiarise myself with the functionality etc of the website and receiving equipment.

                    For my location (Phuket International Airport), I especially have an unobstructed view west over the Andaman Sea/Indian Ocean. To the east is the top of the small hill where I am located (some metres below the brow of the hill), but mounting the antenna atop my amateur radio mast will clear the hill.

                    However, having looked at available coverage in my region, I can see that the existing receivers at Hat Yai and Surat Thani seem to cover the eastern direction just fine, whilst (as you previously mentioned), westwards has minimal coverage.

                    It would make sense if I used a directional antenna. I would also receive the ground wave signal from the planes sitting at Phuket Airport, 1km away.

                    I spent 20 years working as a space and satellite equipments/antenna designer and integration manager, (Marconi, ESA, Dowty Aerospace etc), plus longer than that as an active HF/VHF/UHF radio ham. So I have previously designed and built L band helical antennas, yagis etc. The receiving frequency for this equipment is close to the ham band 1296MHz, so I'm familiar with that and have an antenna analyser that will work up to about 1.1 GHz.

                    So - this looks good fun to implement a receiver/antenna to provide long-range reception over this sea path

                    Simon

                    Update: Knowing little about airplanes(!), I assume that planes follow a designated flight path across the oceans, albeit at different altitudes, (rather than flying randomly across the ocean...

                    Therefore, how can I get details of the flight paths used to cross the Indian Ocean, from India to south-east Asia? If I can see a map of these designated flight paths, then I can correctly align my directional antenna to ensure maximum received signal from that direction, (I could also use a high gain, narrow beam-width antenna to really maximise the reception distance)
                    Last edited by Simon43; 2014-03-10, 13:36.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Simon43 View Post
                      OK, I have spent a little more time to familiarise myself with the functionality etc of the website and receiving equipment.

                      For my location (Phuket International Airport), I especially have an unobstructed view west over the Andaman Sea/Indian Ocean. To the east is the top of the small hill where I am located (some metres below the brow of the hill), but mounting the antenna atop my amateur radio mast will clear the hill.

                      However, having looked at available coverage in my region, I can see that the existing receivers at Hat Yai and Surat Thani seem to cover the eastern direction just fine, whilst (as you previously mentioned), westwards has minimal coverage.

                      It would make sense if I used a directional antenna. I would also receive the ground wave signal from the planes sitting at Phuket Airport, 1km away.

                      I spent 20 years working as a space and satellite equipments/antenna designer and integration manager, (Marconi, ESA, Dowty Aerospace etc), plus longer than that as an active HF/VHF/UHF radio ham. So I have previously designed and built L band helical antennas, yagis etc. The receiving frequency for this equipment is close to the ham band 1296MHz, so I'm familiar with that and have an antenna analyser that will work up to about 1.1 GHz.

                      So - this looks good fun to implement a receiver/antenna to provide long-range reception over this sea path

                      Simon
                      Brilliant. I only started my venture into ads-b just more than a year ago. No ham radio experience at all. I did build a DIY yagi from TV antennas for ads-b. It didn't work when it rained. Still it was satisfying building something with your own hands and find out what it can do and cannot do.

                      Think your application should go through. There will be a second round of form to fill in if your initial application is considered, you will need to take pictures of your location and upload it to the form. Here is a bit of info about the application process:http://forum.flightradar24.com/threa...ll=1#post46072

                      It will be great to have coverage towards the Andaman Sea from you. Omni directional antenna is the 1 provided by FR24 and range could be quite good is well position, for example the Ho chi minh F-VVTS1 and the ones at Hong Kong. You can experiment after you get the kit I suppose. Good to have you in the forum btw!

                      See you around.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        This is what you want http://wiki.modesbeast.com/Accessori...agi_for_Mode-S

                        And if you get SBSResources you may find the required waypoints in international outline files contained there. These will be common points the aircraft aim for on approach to the island etc.
                        Posts not to be taken as official support representation - Just a helpful uploader who tinkers

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Simon43 View Post

                          Update: Knowing little about airplanes(!), I assume that planes follow a designated flight path across the oceans, albeit at different altitudes, (rather than flying randomly across the ocean...

                          Therefore, how can I get details of the flight paths used to cross the Indian Ocean, from India to south-east Asia? If I can see a map of these designated flight paths, then I can correctly align my directional antenna to ensure maximum received signal from that direction, (I could also use a high gain, narrow beam-width antenna to really maximise the reception distance)
                          I just noticed this added post of yours.

                          Try skyvector.com and look at World Hi for your area HKT/VTSP, that would show your the flight paths of a/c and waypoints. Btw, not all aircrafts are trackable because not all are equipped with ads-b. Normally the newer generation planes are equipped i.e. A320 B739 B777.... the list goes on.

                          On another matter, any news about your application?

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Hi Simon,

                            Lost the other thread that you started to keep tabs on the Phuket feed. Hopefully you can post it either here or at flightradar24 feeder chat thread to keep us updated with your progress. Cheers Simon.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              I do wonder if it's worth making a direction antenna - unless you want to eliminate interference. The omni directional antennas on the fr24 receivers seem to cover to the horizon anyway.

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