New Zealand Radar

[Oblivian]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/6324213/Teen-arrested-for-pointing-lasers-at-aircraft

Counties Manukau police spokesman Detective Inspector Dave Lynch said the 18-year-old was arrested after pointing the laser at three separate aircraft as they came in to land at Auckland Airport yesterday (26-1-12) - temporarily blinding air crew.

For both a plane tracker, AND amateur astronomer using a green laser.. this doesn't help my cause on either count.

[nzradar]

Hi Tahii,
Great to have you onboard. There's a growing number of ADS-B'ers here in NZ but it would be cool to have someone in the far south covering Dunedin/Invercargill. If your budget allows it, start with a small decoder like the microadsb and then grow into a more powerful decoder like the SBS-3 or Beast once you start craving for extra range! Also if you are after range, then a decent antenna and cable will be what you'll desire soon after! There' plenty of local suppliers for cable and even Hi-Tec Arials in Christchurch will make you a 1090 MHz, so you don't have to go offshore for that stuff. If you have broadband all the better as you can then share your data on networks such as FlightRadar24.com.

Sing out if you need help, there's plenty of us now!

[NZCH]

Welcome aboard Tahii.
I echo Mike's comments, so if there is any help I can provide, then please feel free to holler.
I think there may be plans to cover Dunedin in the near future, so Invercargill just about completes the puzzle.
Regards
Brent NZCH (currently in sunny/snowy Denver, CO)

[nzradar]

NZ Squawk Codes

Hey Guys,

I've been analysing some of my gathered Mode-S data hoping to categorise the squawk codes. For the better part this seems to be OK with, for example, squawk codes of 5xxx seemingly to be domestic scheduled IFR flights, but I was always under the impression that 0xxx were always international IFR flights originating from departure points in NZ. However, it seems that only 02xx are int. IF flights as i have some small private planes seen squawking 03xx and 04xx.

Is there anyone out there with an idea what these 03xx and 04xx categories might refer to?

[Oblivian]

Ill check my dbase when I get home and see what info I can extract out to compare since I mirror your setup to an extent.

Might give us an idea on paths/routes they use.

/Edit

A quick look at the 3s, I was about to say its non commercials crossing the strait. But then I notice QF18 was txing 0345 at one point. I have a Cessna, P28 and the wee Albatros ZK-CCP all txing 03xxs

Likewise, similar aircraft txing 04xx. And some of the REACH and foreign visitors showing. Incl QF18 again.

[nzradar]

Yeah aircraft coming in off Oceanic routes into NZxx will have had their squawks assigned by their respective departure authorities so I don't include them as the code could be anything.

Route info on some historical Mode-S only flights would be near impossible....doh!

[Oblivian]

Of course, I didn't think of that.

Anyway, I asked someone 'in the know' and the answer was this

I understand the 03XX and 04XX are allocated to specific aircraft, i.e. if you own a light plane you can have a dedicated code to squawk. Powers that be will hold a list of what code goes with what plane.
All international flights are allocated 02XX as you found.

[scanhorse]

Australians name Air NZ airline of the year

Air New Zealand has been named 'International Airline of the Year' in an Australian survey.
Roy Morgan surveyed nearly 4000 Australians who had used an international airline in the previous 12 months.
Air New Zealand was rated the Best International Airline for customer satisfaction in 2011,
with an average satisfaction rating of 89%.

more............

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/australians-name-air-nz-airline-year-4751948

[Oblivian]

NZCH to lose AirAsia-X KL Route

http://www.myfew.net/airasia-x-to-suspend-services-to-christchurch-new-zealand.html

Azran Osman-Rani, CEO of AirAsia X said “The decision to withdraw from Christchurch was a difficult one, but was made taking into account our strategic focus in consolidating our network on markets where we have built up stable, profitable routes. We have, since the suspension of our flights to Europe and India, increased flight frequencies to Tokyo, and opened up a new route to Sydney, Australia. AirAsia X will continue to further expand in its core markets and add frequencies on existing routes.”

http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2012/03/12/airasia-x-to-suspend-services-to-christchurch-new-zealand/

[Jarrak]

Hi NZ thread, I just joined :-)

I'm looking at getting a receiver setup in Auckland - as far as I can tell there's only one in AKL at present and I think it's recently returned after possibly being offline for a few days (nth bound a/c on NZPM all the way to just NW of HLZ then they disappear).

Can anyone advise the approximate geographical location of the NZAA1 receiver? If I go ahead with my own install it will be in Hillsborough, good line of site to the airport. I guess a bit of redundancy can't hurt? Any tips and hints would be very welcome.

Best, Bryan

[nzradar]

G'Day Bryan,

The more the merrier I say! The NZAA receiver may not be too far from you if I recall, might even be Hillsborough as well. There's a couple of guys with SBS's up there and using masthead amps and heavy coax so they get big ranges, damn them!!

The only tip/trick i can offer is to get your antenna up high, otherwise enjoy the hobby and talk to us occasionally in the chat room of an evening/weekend, and if you haven't already found it there's some useful info on my web.

Mike (NZPM)

[Oblivian]

^^ I can vouch for that. Part the reason I got into it was seeing how easily laid out it was

I can't get over the range that NZAA gets, And I thought NZCH was good.

Recently added LMR400 to my monstered borrowed from here and there setup. So far maxing out around 154n with descent strength at that range. But still a few holes sitting inbetween.

[Murray]

NZAA

Hi I noticed that NZAA feed has been down for the last week or so. Is there only one feed bringing us NZAA- whatever the situation was -great to see NZAA back on line. Would be interested if there is a story attached.

Cheers
Murray

[Oblivian]

There is 2, but one comes and goes.

The date shows the last received data:

317 NZAA-1 2012-04-18 11:08:23 Anonymous
318 NZAA-2 2012-02-18 07:37:50 Anonymous

http://radar.piopawlu.net/radars

[Oblivian]

Seems someone else has joined in the mix

We now have a Net1 uploader covering Christchurch/wellington region. Even taxiing A/C on the ground at NZCH!