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  • New to the site, and interested in getting set up.

    Hi Everyone,

    I'm a new member to the forums and I hope I am posting in the right place. I am a TOTAL beginner, but I have really enjoyed watching aircraft on FlightRadar 24 for some time. In my part of the world, the coverage is quite poor and thought it would be really cool to help enhance the network, as well as see aircraft in my immediate vicinity.

    I would really appreciate any and all advice you could give me on what specific equipment I would need to make this happen. As I said, I am a total beginner, and do not know the first thing about equipment needs to track planes, and where I might find said equipment. I do have a Mac Book Pro, so I guess that's a start! Any rough pricing information would also be helpful, as I am a teacher and need to be careful what I spend, or else I'll hear it from the wife.

    I really appreciate the help here, and hopefully I can add to the coverage if I can get this up and running.

    All the best,

    Chris

  • #2
    http://www.flightradar24.com/#!/increase_coverage.php is a good starting point

    There is different pricing and quality of ADSB receivers. Ranging from as low as 60Euro, up to many hundered

    Some to consider:
    MicroADSB USB stick
    MiniADSB
    Mode-S Beast/Transponder Mouse
    Kinetic BaseStation + SBS Series
    PlaneGadget Radar

    A quick google will send you off to pages relating to them.

    Then there is free software that you can use to display locally and then upload to FR24. Or Paid apps like PlanePlotter
    Posts not to be taken as official support representation - Just a helpful uploader who tinkers

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    • #3
      Have a read of these:

      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.


      Mike


      www.radarspotting.com

      Radarspotting since 2005

      Comment


      • #4
        I too am new and very confused on which is best, reasonably priced and easy to get around. Why would I even think about paying out £200+ when I can watch Flightradar24 online? please tell me as I just dont understand and things have moved on quite a lot since my days with a scanner

        Thanks for any help in advance

        Comment


        • #5
          Main reason, you can do with the data received what you like. Many log them to databases smarter than the inbuilt software database and pull reports about Aircraft etc. Its also realtime, and Fr24 is not able to show other aircraft up there that are not transmitting their location. Wheras the receivers are able to see these at the owners side.

          Not all owners of receivers are uploaders, although there is 350 or so feeds to FR, there is quite possibly 3x that out there for peoples own personal use who don't realise the site even exists.

          Also handy for sitting at the airport and plugging into a laptop for instance, and being able to know what you are looking at. If you are that way inclined.

          The pricing varies based on speed of decoding, and accuracy/sensitivity. Much like camera equipment, the more you spend the more quality you get. The USB chip devices are fine for a cheap start point. But may not have the same range as you would hope/expect. And can be slow to process all the data if in a busy area.

          The more expensive are faster to decode what is being received, and often more sensitive so give greater range.
          Posts not to be taken as official support representation - Just a helpful uploader who tinkers

          Comment


          • #6
            Thanks Oblivian, plenty to thinking about & look into further
            I live in a valley so not the best of locations as far as signal goes

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Oblivian View Post
              Not all owners of receivers are uploaders, although there is 350 or so feeds to FR, there is quite possibly 3x that out there for peoples own personal use who don't realise the site even exists.
              I estimate that there are 15,000 or more "hobby" Mode-S receivers, maybe nearer 20,000. But it's taken 7 years to build that market.

              There's a free comparative check list on the Radarspotting.com forum of the commercially available receivers or you can choose from a handful of lower priced "micro" products, some in kit form.

              Living in a valley may restrict your reception of "local" data but there are data sharing networks that can extend your range.
              Mike


              www.radarspotting.com

              Radarspotting since 2005

              Comment


              • #8
                It's also worth keeping an eye on the likes of Ebay as you can get receivers a lot cheaper if you wait for right one to come along.
                I got a SBS-1 in very good condition, with software, standard antenna and USB cable for £160 a couple of weeks ago, so it's worth keeping an eye open if that's the way you want to go.

                Comment


                • #9
                  And don't be put off by the age of the SBS-1.

                  I still have the one I bought in 2005. Kinetic build a good quality receiver and offer excellent support.

                  There are three on eBay right now and I expect more will appear as customers upgrade to the new SBS-3.
                  Mike


                  www.radarspotting.com

                  Radarspotting since 2005

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Anmer View Post
                    And don't be put off by the age of the SBS-1.
                    I couldn't agree more, and they work great with the latest Basestation software from Kinetic as well.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Well after a long break, much deciding and then finding an SSB-1 local to me, I got it along with two antenna and enough books to keep me going for a few years.
                      Now all I have to do is get it up and running, I think it needs drivers or something but have some CD's that came with it so plenty to think about setting this up.
                      Thanks very much for the advice you all gave above, much appreciated and no doubt I will soon be asking for advice very soon

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        You can get free one-to-one support from the Radarspotting.com forum:

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Bril, thanks V much.
                          got it up and running, there was I sitting with loads of paperwork to read through and my son pluged it into his laptop put a short scanner ant on the back of the box (indoors) and straight away picked up planes about 25 miles away. Amazing, now just got to sort out where to put the outside ant and get it going proper.
                          Much more to it than just having it running I know but plenty of time to learn the rest and the link above will come in very handy thanks ;-)

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