LHRSIMON From United Kingdom, joined Apr 2002, 1342 posts, RR: 25 Posted (4 years 10 months 2 days ago) and read 10247 times:
Im looking at getting a PC/Radar system. There are 2 main ones on the market here in the UK. The SBS1 from Kinetic & the AirNav system.
What i need the system to do is the following. I live near LHR and can see (from a distance) aircraft either landing or laking off from LHR. I also get tons of traffic overhead. I want a system thats easy to set up (just plug into my PC USB) that means i can get the reg/flight numbers for all these aircraft high above and in/out of LHR.
Can anyone point me to what system is the best. I have looked on the web and seen screen shots etc etc. I like the AirNav system and like the format but looking at the screenshots it seems to show aircraft details for flights above a certain height , but nothing for the aircraft at a lower height either in or out of LHR. Are aircraft on finals or departing from an airport not visable to the radar until they are above a certain height ???
Thanks in advance for any advise.
Canon 1D Mk III,Canon 20D+17-40 L f4.0,70-200 L IS USM f2.8,400 L USM f5.6,135 mm L f2.0, 50 mm f1.8,1.4 x II extender
LHRman From United Kingdom, joined Mar 2004, 398 posts, RR: 6 Reply 1, posted (4 years 10 months ago) and read 10223 times:
Line of sight is what you need. If you can position your aerial where you can see the aircraft then you'll see them on the radar screen. I myself have a SBS and love it.
Pm me your email and I'll send you some screenshots (msn would be easier if you have it).
Diamond From United States of America, joined Apr 2004, 3279 posts, RR: 66 Reply 3, posted (4 years 9 months 3 weeks 11 hours ago) and read 10123 times:
I was just reading up on this myself.
I was disappointed to learn that at least one of them (AirNav Radarbox) still enforces a 5-minute delay.
But they do have an interesting side-by-side comparison on their site:
Ajd1992 From UK - England, joined Jul 2006, 2645 posts, RR: 6 Reply 5, posted (4 years 9 months 2 weeks 6 days 14 hours ago) and read 10102 times:
Quoting Diamond (Reply 3):
I was disappointed to learn that at least one of them (AirNav Radarbox) still enforces a 5-minute delay.
And the SBS doesn't
My dad has one and the stuff you become aware of is unreal. We've just spent 11 days in Palma and with it we managed to see a Kazakh Govt. A320, a Venezuelan Falcon 900/A319CJ and a lot of other exotic stuff.
To cap it off, when we were driving back from the airport, we saw the Venezuelan convoy with Mr. Big Shot in his limo. Only problem was the police stopped the traffic 20 minutes before he went past....
Diamond From United States of America, joined Apr 2004, 3279 posts, RR: 66 Reply 6, posted (4 years 9 months 2 weeks 6 days 8 hours ago) and read 10095 times:
Quoting David L (Reply 4): Is that just for the network data or does it also apply to the data received by your own receiver?
Apparently the delay applies only to network data (which you must subscribe to, after the initial free period of one-year).
" ... Aircraft detected "live" by your RadarBox antenna will always appear in their actual positions. Watch the aircraft on the RadarBox map, then look out of the window to see the actual aircraft ... "
But for network data (flights out of range of your own box) they say the following:
" ... If you are watching an aircraft on final approach to an airport using Network data, with a speed of 180 miles per hour, the aircraft will actually be 15 miles ahead of where it is shown on the RadarBox map ... Because these aircraft are out of sight, or are much further away (maybe thousands of miles away!) then the 5 minute delay is of no importance ... "
They are probably right that the delay "shouldn't matter", but the fact that flights over Palm Springs are delayed by 5 minutes, while flights on arrival into LAX are real-time does bug me a bit.
Diamond From United States of America, joined Apr 2004, 3279 posts, RR: 66 Reply 8, posted (4 years 9 months 2 weeks 5 days 19 hours ago) and read 10063 times:
Update - I just bought two AirNav boxes. One for home and one for my office. They should be here in 2 days!
Dirkou From United States of America, joined Jun 2003, 571 posts, RR: 0 Reply 10, posted (4 years 9 months 1 week 5 days 8 hours ago) and read 9937 times:
>I was disappointed to learn that at least one of them (AirNav Radarbox) still enforces a 5-minute delay.
I have one AirNav RadarBox (previously had a SBS-1) and they DO NOT enforce any 5 minute delay. They do it just for the network data, something SBS-1 does not have.
RadarBox is a superior product including network data (you see not only the planes you receive but all the others from other users). Their support is outstanding and they are about to release the new version of their software tracking planes over NASA earth views. Amazing.
Dirkou From United States of America, joined Jun 2003, 571 posts, RR: 0 Reply 11, posted (4 years 9 months 1 week 5 days 8 hours ago) and read 9936 times:
Have a look at this RadarBox screen shot created with the new version of their system.
Shows Heathrow approach in real-time. Amazing. SBS-1 is faw away from this.
Dirkou From United States of America, joined Jun 2003, 571 posts, RR: 0 Reply 12, posted (4 years 9 months 1 week 5 days 8 hours ago) and read 9936 times:
Have a look at this Screen Shot created with RadarBox with Heathrow final approach in real-time. Amazing.
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