Help Please .. SBS-1 Showing virtually zero aircraft

[IanH654]

Good evening Folk,

I am posting this on behalf of a pal of mine who is having a few problems with his SBS-1. He will be registering on this forum early this evening all being well but I offered to post on his behalf to get the ball rolling so to say. There is a fair bit of worry for him about this as he is off to Toronto at the weekend and was taking the SBS along with him.

He is using
SBS-1 s/n 005420
Laptop - Windows 7 64bit
Basestation Version 159

The problem that he is having is that he is receiving virtually no aircraft on the SBS, the very few that he is receiving are fairly low level and very local. There were two FlyBe Dash 8's, one at 20000ft and the other at 25000ft along with an Easyjet A319 that was at 20000ft whilst I was on the phone to him, also, a British Airways 747 and 767 went over the top at 34000ft and neither showed on his screen or aircraft list.

He states that there are two red lights, a yellow light showing on the front of the SBS box with the blue light flashing intermittently. He has been using the same USB connection point and has checked that the aerial is attached correctly. he further states that this has only been happening in the last couple of days.

Hopefully someone will be able to assist, it would be a shame if the SBS has gone kaput just before a trip abroad.

Many thanks in advance to anyone who can assist.

Ian H

[Anmer]

Reports of SBS-1 failures are very rare indeed.

Has his SBS-1 been working OK recently used with the same antenna and same location?

What antenna is he using?

[IanH654]

Evening Anmer,

Yes, it was OK up until a couple of days ago, same location & antenna etc. He has tried both the supplied aerial along with the one slightly longer with the two bumps (if that makes sense)

[Anmer]

Thanks Ian.

Has he tried a different USB cable and/or PC USB port?

[IanH654]

That's him trying that now ... (He has registered and is awaiting approval by the way)

[Anmer]

There are no outstanding approvals.  Has he checked his emails for the activation one?

[IanH654]

Anmer,

No success with a new USB cable in the original USB port and with other USB ports sadly. Only a fairly low level BA 737 picked up at 15000ft departing Glasgow.

Ian H
PS. No activation e-mail received either, he is not having a good evening !

[Anmer]

PS. No activation e-mail received either, he is not having a good evening !

It's possible that the SBS-1 has had a hardware failure. Best call Chris at Kinetic and get advice.

As for activation emails, there are two awaiting activation from today, one of which has entered his email address as:

"nnnn@btitnternet.com"

Maybe it should have been:

"nnnn@btinternet.com"?

I'll correct and resend the activation email.

[flydroo]

Good Evening lads,Firstly can I thank IanH654 for posting my SBS-1 problem on this forum and for introducing me to the forum.

My problem is ongoing.It started a few night ago. I'm using a Dell Inspiron W7 laptop with SBS-1. We've had a few electrical storms in my area in last couple of nights it's only since Sunday lunchtime I stared to notice the shear lack of aircraft appearing on my Radar screen and aircraft list table.I'm using the larger twin gang antenna...

I have tried another USB cable and USB port but the problem still persists sadly. The most amount of aircraft that have shown on list tonight at one time were 4.They are all local flyovers out out Glasgow to the north. My location is 12 miles north-west of Prestwick but i'm not picking up any Prestwick traffic , Edinburgh outbounds, or hi -level OTT transatlantic movements.

Could the problem be drivers not loading properly? or is my 7 year old SBS-1 just getting old? Would loading the new version .161 help? Or do you recommend a complete re-install?

Thank you to all who have already replied ,any other advice very much appreciated.

Thanks flydroo

[Anmer]

Welcome.

From what I've read, Basestation is loading OK and you're seeing some aircraft.  That suggests the drivers are OK and there's no benefit in reloading any software.

My 7 year old SBS-1 (a much earlier model than your one) is still working perfectly so age isn't a known issue.

Ian says you've tried a different antenna and USB cables and ports and it's made no difference.

It sounds like it could be an antenna or SBS-1 hardware problem, possibly brought on by the electrical storms.  I'm not familiar with the "larger twin gang antenna"?  Can you point me at a website that features this?

I'd recommend phoning Kinetic and asking Chris for his advice.

[IanH654]

Anmer,

I have the same aerial ... Its like the one supplied in the box but with another one one top of it if that makes sense (two bumps on one aerial) ?  I bought mine from Martin Lynch & Sons a few years ago ...

Ian H

[Chris-G0WTZ]

Just a thought if your mate is local try it on his setup Also a bit odd you have two red lights

You should have Red Orange Green and up to 4 blues (The winking light inside is the heart beat).

If you have any antenna with a BNC try it even a scanner antenna will ick up more than a broken antenna

If all that fails give me a call or drop in to us or your local dealer

Regards

[flydroo]

Hi Chris,

I will visit Ian tomorrow and try out a few things before contacting you. As for the lights on the unit they are as you say Red,Orange,Green with One Blue light showing.. Thanks for the Antenna tip i'll give that try . Sometimes the aircraft e.g. EZY A.319 that do show on the list are not showing Lat/Long,Squawk,callsign.
as i type now got 2 on radar and list showing everything as normal. Very frustrating!Hopefully I can get something sorted out before for my weekend trip to YYZ.
Thanks again to all..
Drew

[IanH654]

Sorry folks,
Another quick question.
What is the adapter that is needed to enable a new SBS-1er / SBS-3 aerial to be plugged in the back of an SBS-1 ?   
Many thanks.

Ian H

[satcom]

Hopefully this will be resolved.....but can I mention one other situation where the SBS1 can be wiped out.

Chris ..... remember our discussions about  Chris B in Manchaester ?

He suddenly lost all but a handful of contacts and we couldnt fathom out what was going on.
It turned out to be a cheap wireless camera system  operating at around 1ghz istalled by a neighbour.
Soon as the system was switched off....the plots re appeared.

These systems are illegal in the UK , but there has been a flood of them recently as they are  a fraction of the price of the 2.4ghz systems.

Is there any chance this might be happening here ?


John