I am currently working on the Raspberry Pi I have installed in the loft as a web server and aircraft spotter. It’s been a while since I mentioned it here. I thought I’d just chuck up some images.
Aircraft Tracked
This picture gives an idea of how many aircraft can be tracked at once. Be aware this was early on a Sunday morning.
Radar Splat
This splat shows how far away aircraft are detected. Please note I am not where the blue dot is, that would be quite weird. The smallest locus is up to 9,999 ft, the green is 10,000 to 19,999 ft, the purple is the 20,000s and the red is above FL300.
These communications contain many items concerning the virtual radar system that lives in my loft and you can see a selection here. A short while ago I decided to buy an pre-amp and filter for my system to improve the range and number of aircraft being received. So, this communication now requires a large number of pictures to give you an idea of what this means.
Pre Filter Range 1
In the above picture you can see that there are around 20 aircraft and the black area [the range of the receiver] doesn’t quite reach Norwich, Portsmouth, Bristol or Calais. There is the NW-SE block as described before.
Coloured Splat
This coloured splat gives pretty much the same information but uses colours for the ranges of aircraft at different altitudes.
I bought a filter which only allows signals close to the 1090MHz requirement through to the USB stick I bought. It also acts as a pre-amp so there is an overall 14 dB gain.
Pre-Amp and Filter held securely in place
Here is the whole Virtual Radar system living in the loft:
Pre-Amp Filter, USB, Raspberry Pi
Once this kit was turned on I looked at the DUMP1090 output from the Raspberry Pi and pretty much shat myself at the number of aricraft shown:
Initial DUMP1090 view
When this view is compared to the twenty or so aircraft that I had before you can see an immense improvement in the receivers ability.
Virtual Radar Server View
Virtual Radar Server is a program I use on the RPi for a more detailed view, there are quite a few customisations you can create also. It is the software that will create the splat over time, keeping track of the aircraft and their position.
Holy Splat!
The distances have increased as has the overall coverage. I now track around 100 aircraft at a time. For a small sum of money the overall increase in detail has been terrific. I can now reach over northern France, over Wales and a lot of the channel to the SW.
I have noticed that I have decreased range in two directions on the ADS-B receiver.
There’s a waist!
Because the colours represent the ranges at different altitudes I’ve got a version with just one colour.
Constriction
This one shows a clear restriction in range in the NW and SE direction as marked by the red line. I do not know what is causing this but I have an observation to make. I live in a row of terraced houses and the direction of the road matches the constriction direction. While the aerial is in the loft there is extra “stuff” in the way in these directions because of the houses next to me.
Terrace
I’m pretty sure this matches up. There is definitely a correlation. Whether that means there’s causation I don’t know but it seems reasonable. I might write a communication about altitudes and the natural obstructions around me [I’m looking forward to the maths involved].
Further to my previous communication about my virtual radar set I now have been investigating what can be done. I’m waiting for a Raspberry Pi and then I will be able to move the aerial unit higher in the house.
In the mean time, here is a “splat” of what I can “see” using the original aerial and no RPi.
Radar Splat
Here’s a version zoomed in a little. I’m thinking of taking the unit to the Lake District soon!
Radar Splat
The different colours represent aircraft at different altitudes. The higher the plane the further away it can be seen.
