Planefinder.net JFK data

[yankees368]

As most of you probably know, planefinder.net is awesome for us spotters. When their local antenna near JFK is operational, we can see high level detail, down to aircraft taxiing around the field. But more often than not, this high level detail is not available at JFK.
Well, I am working with PF.net to fix this. Within the next few weeks, I should have all of the equipment necessary to pick up the ADS-B signals and upload to the site. I already have the antenna, and I am just waiting on the receiver. Barring any unforeseen issues such as a weak signal, the high-level data should be up 24x7x365 from my house.
I will post an update when everything is operational.

This will be my gift to all the NYCAers who helped change me from a cell-phone camera toting idiot, to a DSLR 300mm lens equipped spotter.

[Matt Molnar]

Sweet. We've wanted to do this for years but haven't had the proper real estate to pull it off.

[yankees368]

Hopefully my real estate is close enough that we are able to get high-level data. Time will tell!

[Matt Molnar]

I think the main issue is line of sight, not so much distance. As long as you can stick the antenna on your roof with a 360 degree view of the sky you should be fine.

[yankees368]

Right now, the plan is to work my way up to that. Start with the antenna indoors by the computer, and if that doesn't work, up to the attic, and then last resort on the roof. Should be interesting.

[Dabbey]

Jason, that is a great gift to planespotters around the world.

Looking forward to it, and if it doesn't work out, don't even think about posting here again. LOL

David

[PhilDernerJr]

Indoors probably won't accomplish anything at all, honestly. I wouldn't even waste trying.

[yankees368]

I have nothing to lose by trying. Sticking the antenna next to a window facing JFK should at minimum provide coverage at the field. If not, I will have to work on mounting it to the roof.

[PhilDernerJr]

That would only get communication AT JFK, not stuff in other directions. As I understand it, even putting it on the side of your chimney is no good because the side of the antenna that the chimney is attached to receives no signal through the chimney. So in that example it would need to be placed on top of the chimney.

[gonzalu]

Guys, a little primer on RF. While it is BEST to have a 360 degree unobstructed view of the sky as high as possible, it is not nearly as important as having a receiver and ANY antenna AT ALL :tongue:

I feed the La Guardia Tower for LiveATC.net. You will be very surprised to hear it is using a dipole screw-on antenna on the back of the radio (Radio Shack scanner, old one, crappy one) at a height of 22 stories in Washington Heights, a few miles (about 8 miles?) from LGA tower. Indoors no less, in an OLD building (1920s) with super thick walls.

Anyhow, he will be fine and will get great reception and likely will be more limited by transmission line loss than actual signal sensitivity at the radiator (or in this case the receiver)

Planes in the air transmit with down-facing antennas, semi-directional and pretty high power (sometimes 25 watts) which incredibly, will get you very far.

N2MAV :wink:

[yankees368]

Guys, a little primer on RF. While it is BEST to have a 360 degree unobstructed view of the sky as high as possible, it is not nearly as important as having a receiver and ANY antenna AT ALL :tongue:

I feed the La Guardia Tower for LiveATC.net. You will be very surprised to hear it is using a dipole screw-on antenna on the back of the radio (Radio Shack scanner, old one, crappy one) at a height of 22 stories in Washington Heights, a few miles (about 8 miles?) from LGA tower. Indoors no less, in an OLD building (1920s) with super thick walls.

Anyhow, he will be fine and will get great reception and likely will be more limited by transmission line loss than actual signal sensitivity at the radiator (or in this case the receiver)

Planes in the air transmit with down-facing antennas, semi-directional and pretty high power (sometimes 25 watts) which incredibly, will get you very far.

N2MAV :wink:

Let's just hope the signal is stronger than my Verizon Wireless phone signal at home.

[gonzalu]

Verizon has one or two antennas [near] you.

ADS-B has unlimited number of antennae :tongue: at infinite distances from you. with far greater power than allowed to Cell service.

[yankees368]

The antenna is tuned specifically for the 1000mhz signal of the transponder, so I really don't think that having it inside will be an issue. Although 1090mhz is a bit high, it's still lower than the 1900mhz signal Verizon uses, and much lower than 2100 that T-Mobile uses.
Especially if they transmit at a higher power than cell antennas (they do), I shouldn't have an issue.

[gonzalu]

Like I said, you will pick up stuff... mainly near the fiof course... I think the "network" works best when there is reception and data fed from ALL OVER the place. Being near the field will report accurately what's here and what's near here...

[Zee71]

Jason.......hat's off to you and thank you!!! I think everything will work out fine and all spotters will be very greatful.

[yankees368]

Jason.......hat's off to you and thank you!!! I think everything will work out fine and all spotters will be very greatful.

No need to thank me, if it had taken any effort or expense on my part, I wouldn't have done it. :tongue:

[Matt Molnar]

Is it online now? I see a lot of planes on the ground at JFK...more than the last time I looked.

[yankees368]

No sir, not yet. I don't even have the receiver yet, just the antenna. The data you see is from the part-time receiver planefinder.net has running.

[yankees368]

Ok everyone, I have all the equipment I need! Played with it a bit today, and I'm still looking for the best set up. Even with the antenna on its side on my desk, I pick up everything in the air within probably 60 miles. When I move it around a bit, I even get ground data from the eastern side of JFK! The data is not yet shared publicly, working on that. Here is what it looks like right now.
http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac1/yankees368/photo.jpg

[gonzalu]

Call the Port! It's an emergency... Delta 2363 is about to go into the drink! :tongue:

[yankees368]

In the event of a water landing....

[disco stu]

Delta 2363 will be arriving at gate 1, gate 2, gate 3, gate 4......

[yankees368]

Does Disco Stu really like disco music?

[Speedbagel_001]

Forget about planes on the ground, can it keep track of turtles on the runway? :biggrin:

[yankees368]

Ok, we are fully operational! I don't have the antenna placed in an optimal position yet, but it's good enough. I can pick up most everything in the air in the immediate area, and just about everything on the ground at JFK.
To check it my data is currently up, go to: www.pinkfroot.com/sharestatus.asp?sharecode=Jv

[yankees368]

UPDATE

Here is what the data from my setup looks like for a few hours at JFK

http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac1/yankees368/planefinder.jpg

[Runway1R]

Thats awesome. It would be even more awesome if the lines were color coded for different aircraft types or airlines.

[yankees368]

I'm not even sure that information is transmitted. Though I have some exploring left to do with the program.

[Runway1R]

Airline I'm not sure about, but I would be surprised if aircraft type isnt transmitted.

[kps9999]

I'm hooked on Plane finder...Now I gotta divert money from the camera gear fund to get an ADS-B receiver:)

Karl

[yankees368]

Here is what the data looks like after being collected uninterrupted for nearly a week.

http://d3j5vwomefv46c.cloudfront.net/photos/full/629397304.jpg?key=1280800&Expires=1343945774&Key-Pair-Id=APKAIYVGSUJFNRFZBBTA&Signature=HqgNqII-jxcV1qX5vIB-LDbjBxSaigpBlz9EGMio5Oa3wUeX5HA48srIjSFMrm9zp0GaW0 ~TvuFzFC3dG1CBKqgcrSOxF6HsQyPbUqRWUEdMTeVenL0fDili fNBIGX66BVy0VpejeYL6tIVPH5uFhWQaMEsQcmIzYv~UMC8VCR w_

[Runway1R]

There's no picture. try photobucket or something.

[yankees368]

Fixed!

http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac1/yankees368/pf.jpg

[aircraftenthusiast2000]

Hi yankees368,

I really enjoy watching the aircraft on the ground at JFK on Planefinder thanks to your feed. Unfortunately your feed is not online as i type! is this temporary?
I also read an earlier post in the forum that you plan to offer the JFK feed 24/7/365 which would be magnificent.
Hopefully your excellent JFK ground feed will be back running soon.
Thanks for providing this feed yankees368.

aircraftenthusiast2000

[yankees368]

I just saw that it is down as of 30 minutes ago.
Barring any hardware failure, the server should just require a reboot.
I'll post again in about 20 minutes.

[yankees368]

Up and running

[aircraftenthusiast2000]

That was quick yankees368.
The JFK ground radar is now showing traffic on planefinder,
Many thanks for your very quick response.
aircraftenthusiast2000

[yankees368]

No problem.
The server laptop lost sync with the wireless network, not sure why.
I've made some changes that will hopefully prevent that.

[aircraftenthusiast2000]

I would like to send out my deepest sympathy and condolenses to the people of New York following the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy.
I hope yankees368 is ok.
aircraftenthusiast2000

[yankees368]

Hello! Thanks for your concern. We were very lucky in our location, zero damage. Just no power right now, and likely won't be back online for quite some time.

[aircraftenthusiast2000]

I am please to hear that you are ok yankees368 and did not suffer any damage.

[yankees368]

I'm at JetBlue T5 right now, so I will sub in for my ADS-B receiver. I see B6 I<3NY, JETS, An ElAl 747 and 777,Singapore A380, and a Delta 744. :-)
Don't forget the Korean A380, which is right on time.

[aircraftenthusiast2000]

Hi yankees368,
Just seen your excellent JFK feed is back online on Planefinder. I am surprise to see it back online so soon, but very please it is.
I am having problems viewing Planefinder at the moment. The planefinder page is freezing and i am not able to click onto aircraft or open the playback and map options. Are you experiencing the same thing?

[yankees368]

Happy to be back online. I'm not sure about any issues, sorry.
And I got some news about the other receiver that would periodically be online around here. It was based in Long Beach, so you won't be seeing it again anytime soon. It's just me now.

[aircraftenthusiast2000]

Hi yankees368 i hope you are well.
I was just thinking would you be able to show your JFK ADS-B traffic on Flightradar24 as well as Planefinder?
I view Flightaware JFK airport activity radar and see they get there live aircraft movements from Flightradar24.
It would be great if you could help.
Regards
aircraftenthusiast2000

[eric8669]

Hi yankees368 i hope you are well.
I was just thinking would you be able to show your JFK ADS-B traffic on Flightradar24 as well as Planefinder?
I view Flightaware JFK airport activity radar and see they get there live aircraft movements from Flightradar24.
It would be great if you could help.
Regards
aircraftenthusiast2000

Stay tuned to this thread......... :)

[yankees368]

I've been working with FR24 for some time to get a second system up and running, but Sandy interrupted our plans, and now they are having some distribution issues. It's still being worked on. Stay tuned, as Eric said.

[aircraftenthusiast2000]

Thanks yankees368 & eric8669,
I look forward to this with great anticipation.
aircraftenthusiast2000

[yankees368]

It's possible that the FR24 JFK data may be up and running as early as tomorrow.

[aircraftenthusiast2000]

Wow that's great news yankees368.
I look forward to your JFK data being on FR24, as improvements should be noticed on the Flightaware JFK airport activity map which gets its live aircraft movements from FR24.

[Cary]

It's possible that the FR24 JFK data may be up and running as early as tomorrow.

Awesome! You should drop the hint to FR24 that they should let you filter by airport in their app (not sure about iPhone, but the Android Pro app doesn't have it...I thought it would be a basic feature) :tongue:

[yankees368]

Awesome! You should drop the hint to FR24 that they should let you filter by airport in their app (not sure about iPhone, but the Android Pro app doesn't have it...I thought it would be a basic feature) :tongue:

Trust me, the hint has previously been dropped

[yankees368]

Antenna, receiver, and server received today. Just waiting on the last bit of cabling, due in any day from the USPS.

[aircraftenthusiast2000]

Excellent yankees368, I will be eagerly watching FR24 JFK Map for your data to go live.
aircraftenthusiast2000

[Landing Lights]

I'm looking forward to it too!

[aircraftenthusiast2000]

Hi yankees368, I believe i am seeing your wonderful JFK data on FR24 with radar code F-KJFK1.
It is good to see.
Many thanks
aircraftenthusiast2000

[yankees368]

It is indeed online.

[aircraftenthusiast2000]

When you click onto an aircraft on FR24 you get a flight information display on the top left off page and at the bottom of that list is radar ident.
F-KJFK1 radar ident i had not seen on FR24 until now, and also no JFK traffic on ground at FR24 so i guessed this would be your new feed to FR24.
I am seeing your JFK coverage good on FR24.

[yankees368]

Yup. I see it now. The antenna provided by FR24 is much smaller than the one from PF, so ground coverage seems to be spottier.

[aircraftenthusiast2000]

I am just very pleased to have much improved JFK coverage on FR24 which benefits Flightaware JFK airport activity map.

[yankees368]

The antenna they provided is much smaller than the one PF provided, but we will be changing that soon. FR24 has ordered an equivalent antenna.

[aircraftenthusiast2000]

The antenna they provided is much smaller than the one PF provided, but we will be changing that soon. FR24 has ordered an equivalent antenna.
Excellent, i am all for anything that brings added improvements to JFK aircraft tracking.

[aircraftenthusiast2000]

Hi yankees368.
I hope you are well and had a good Christmas.
Has the bigger antenna from FR24 arrived?
With the bigger antenna, i was thinking you might also pick up traffic near Newark below 800 feet?

[yankees368]

It did. It has been installed for a few days, right next to the PF antenna. However, it still does not seem to get equal reception. Don't know why.

[aircraftenthusiast2000]

As well as JFK, your aerial is picking up EWR traffic down to 700 feet which is a nice bonus.

[yankees368]

http://i1341.photobucket.com/albums/o743/yankees369/snip_zpsad66311b.jpg (http://s1341.photobucket.com/user/yankees369/media/snip_zpsad66311b.jpg.html)