SBS 'hot spots'

[wizzair]

I would like to know of any other locations in the NW where an SBS has a good range/aircraft pick up.

I mainly run mine from home but get frustrated with poor range and number of aircraft picked up even with a 13ft pole fixed to the rear of the house and a JIM-75 pre-amp attatched - I am only 9 miles west of Pole Hill as the crow flies.
Max range (ever) - 184 miles over Stirling (sometimes) otherwise 80 miles normally.
Max aircraft - Mid 80's during Monday - Friday but this has declined in recent weeks.

I do use it sometimes at MAN the best number picked up is 119 when going over Barton Bridge !

I have tried it at Pole Hill this afternoon with good results.
Max range - 270 miles over Amsterdam and a couple picked up near Shannon.
Max aircraft - 175

I have heard Mow Cop, Stafford is a good spot has anyone any others?

[viscount]

As radio waves generally travel best in straight lines (ie line of sight), it comes as no shock that the best SBS reception is on a mountain top. Why else was the Pole Hill aviation radio beacon put there in first place? Bet Moel Famau is just as good and the likes of Snowdon or Ingleborough are fantastic - power supply might be a problem though as my understanding is that SBS eats its way through lap top battery power! Living in the valley next to Pole Hill could well be the reason why your reception is limited, in that context while a roof aerial should help, it cannot replace sheer altitude! Take your SBS up to 36,000ft and reception will be truely amazingI would expect!

Although I am not an SBS owner (yet), I thought the principal use by the 'spotter'/enthusiast was to identify overflights and imminent airport arrivals, thus a radius of information of 35-50 miles would be reasonable, expected and attainable. Where SBS has an advantage over airband is that as all the signals are coming down from altitude the signals can come from some distance as the is no relance on ground radiating transmissions.

[wizzair]

I included my 'home' reception issues as a bit of background information for the thread as not everyone has an SBS (They are addictive - forget the TV) - I expected Pole Hill to be good for the obvious reasons why it was originally sited there but it was better than expected for a Sunday afternoon ! (62 new hex codes logged in less than 1 1/2 hours compared with 13 today in 12 hours at home)

In terms of SBS use the obvious over the top and arrivals are great but a lot of users like me run them 24/7. For me checking traffic through the zone while I have been at work (And asleep !) and building up known hex codes in the database is just as important as following inbound arrivals.

As these gadgets are very popular it is also a thread starting point for SBS/AirNav users on NWAN that I have not seen before.

My original question still stands for anyone that roams about with an SBS - Wallasey and Winter Hill springs to mind as sites that may offer good SBS visibility

Plug me into an AWACs !

And thanks for the reply.

Regards
Keith

[CloudWarrior]

Nice car. Is that a dent in the roof?

[CloudWarrior]

This morning I had a double take at the altitude circled. When I refreshed the database it turned out to be a USAF U2!


And talking of high altitude flights, there is a customer I go to near Preston, about 8 miles east of Warton, and twice I have picked up this exceptionally high contact.


Mow Cop, south of Congleton, is a ruin on the top of a ridge, there I picked up 231 contacts. The furthest was a RYR B737 south of Ireland!!

[Biggles]

Just a question relating to the high level contacts US U-2 plus ?, do they show up as a trace/detail on the screen or just text info that they are or have been about ?
I did hear I presume a U2 a couple of years ago working London Airways he knew he had contacted the wrong channel when he asked for descent clearance down to FL600 and the controller nearly choked asking for a repeat of the clearance he wanted. He got a typical drolling USAF answer of "sorry sir wrong button" then silence. ;0

[CloudWarrior]

Military aircraft never track on the radar, but will show up on the list.
Exceptions are USAF bizjets and airliners.
Although I have tracked a Brazilian AF Hercules.
Some military aircraft dont appear on either, Ive been suprised by a RAF Tornado at LPL that overshot but didnt appear on the list!

[CloudWarrior]

Had the misfortune to work in Hull today, so after finishing early, I took a trip to Spurn Point to run the SBS. Was hoping for some inbounds to London that track down the east coast.
I logged:
QANTAS A380 ;D
AirAsia A340
Cathay A340
2xJAL 777
ANA 777
MAS 747
AirBerlin DHC8

[dovermire]

Jun 28, 2009 21:39:06 GMT 1 viscount said:

Although I am not an SBS owner (yet), I thought the principal use by the 'spotter'/enthusiast was to identify overflights and imminent airport arrivals,

For those of you that would like an SBS, the cheaper alternative is the programme PlanePlotter (PP) www.coaa.co.uk/planeplotter.htm this costs 25euros which includes upgrades. The upside to this programme over the sbs is it can actually show non positon aircaft using the 'sbs feeders' that supply it with info - has to be set up first, which is normally straight forward.

Anyway, screenshot shows @ 06:30 this morning what is happening over the UK etc. My uploading by my SBS is in green, other uploaders is orange.

Second screen shot shows PP accuiring the position of F-HBLA E135 which does not show it's position on SBS.

The third screen shot shows F-HBLA (circled in blue) as a position shown aircraft, the programme PP updates itself every 60 seconds and is very accurate, providing the map you are using in PP is as well.

Dave O

[dovermire]

Jun 28, 2009 17:23:01 GMT 1 wizzair said:

I mainly run mine from home but get frustrated with poor range and number of aircraft picked up even with a 13ft pole fixed to the rear of the house and a JIM-75 pre-amp attatched - I am only 9 miles west of Pole Hill as the crow flies.

Morning,
Use to use a JIM 75 pre amp myself wth my sbs, can't remember which setting I used A,B or C, but what I can remember was I only ever had it at 75% maximum rotation of the preamp adjuster, anything above this degraded the signal and actually picked up less aircraft - just a thought.

Dave O