Update on Airnav Radar Box!

What can I say, wow! this is an amazing piece of kit that transforms aircraft spotting and airband listening to a whole new level! (big statement, I know, but completely true).

Airnav radar box arrived yesterday and after a few teething problems getting the drivers on the supplied CD to install correctly ( I still hate windows Vista!!) I was up and running in no time. Within seconds of connecting to my 'radar box' the lights were flashing on the front and data started to stream in, now admittedly when your using the supplied antenna indoors you cannot expect to receive aircraft from any great range. I don't want to get technical here, but the transmissions are on 1090Mhz which means it's SERIOUSLY line of sight reception, even more so than the VHF/UHF airband.

I was getting a modest 40-50 nm radius reception in most directions (just like airband though, it all depends on antenna location AND aircraft height).

I have not got the time today to go into great detail about the amazing features, but you get a 'picture' of air traffic in your area in real-time complete with a datatag very similar to what the air traffic controller would have on his radar screen giving such details as flight number, destination and departure points, ground speed, registration, altitude and whether that aircraft is climbing or descending etc. and if your connected to the net, the software will download a picture of the very aircraft your looking at which is automatically downloaded from airliners.net!

Needless to say, I'm impressed but I will post again when I have more time to discuss this amazing bit of kit further!

All the best for now, Mark.

Airnav Radar Box

After some 30 years of airband listening, I've finally taken the next step and splashed out on an Airnav Radar Box. If this bit of kit does everything it says on the tin, I'll be very impressed. The idea of being able to 'see' in real-time commercial aircraft flying through my area on a 'radar screen' providing me with all the same information an air traffic controller is seeing is an exciting prospect!

Also this particular product has the ability to 'see' traffic just about everywhere in the world by being able to connect to the Airnav network via the internet allowing you to receive the information from other Airnav Radar Box users globally! (albeit with a 5 minute delay in the interests of security and international laws).

Having looked at it's competitor, the Kinetic SBS-1 (now available as the 'er' version with built-in airband radio and more expensive) I believe the Airnav Radar Box looks a better product with it's networking ability and highly customisable interface but I'd be glad to hear from SBS-1 users who believe their product to be the better one!

Delivery is expected today so I will post again with my findings once I've had time to play with it.