The Basestation Wish List

[Anmer]

Many years ago I was invited by Kinetic to prepare a Basestation "Wish List" and in doing so consulted with numerous people including Bones.  The list was presented and some items were implemented but many were not.

There were nearly 100 suggested improvements and we scored them to help Kinetic prioritise development.  Some were bug fixes, others added value. 

I won't list all the suggestions, just the top scoring ones.  Those in blue have been implemented:

Aircraft Details Window
Retain dimensions between Basestation sessions

Aircraft List
Scroll list using mouse wheel as well as scroll bar
Make all database fields available
Choose fonts, colour and size
Fix bug when dragging list boundary too far right

Data Update
Update data (such as operator flags) without having to restart Basestation

Windows
Undock/dock Map and Aircraft List

API
Publish API

New Features
Set local QNH to show correct height above AMSL
Drag map with mouse
Option to avoid aircraft label conflicts
Separate land/sea colours
Support TIS-B
Separate colours for Waypoint Dots
Delete records and sessions
Allow all data fields to be added to aircraft labels
GUI for editing Basestation.ini and Basestation.xsl files
Data sharing option
ACARS integration
Display interested aircraft in different colours in list and on map
Alert function
Multilateration
Weather overlay
Reinstate "Last Seen" field in Aircraft Details window
Direct editing within Aircraft List
View inactive aircraft record without need to launch Reporter
Select and display (only) ascending, level or descending aircraft
Apply filters to aircraft list
Add aircraft type field - helicopter, twin prop, single prop, twin jet etc. for type filtering
Option to suppress on-ground traffic
Multi-column sorting of Aircraft List

Please feel free to suggest others and/or comment on these.

[Roadrunner]

Interestingly TaylormadeRF shows a page with the heading SBS-3 and SBS-3 plus. Are they bringing out yet another model rather than upgrading/altering the SBS-3 and other models.?

[G4UMW]

According to the website the SBS-3 Plus is a pack which includes the SBS-3, masthead preamp, antennas, cables etc.

[Keef]

Thanks Anmer,

Interesting list.

I have to say most of those things I've not really noticed, but you obviously did some very thorough testing.

My personal preference for fixes would be, in no particular order:

Scroll list using mouse wheel as well as scroll bar - Yup, makes life easier.

Make all database fields available - Nice to have.

Set local QNH to show correct height above AMSL - Yes please.

Drag map with mouse - Using arrows seems so difficult now I'm used to 'dragging' a map on most interfaces.

Option to avoid aircraft label conflicts - I live in 'busy' area so that might be difficult to get right, but a great thing to try and achieve.

Data sharing option - I use the tools kindly provided: MMS/SBS1 Client/Basestai0n patch, but for simplicity it would be good to have it built in - even if it was a subscription option.

Multilateration - Yes please, but I understand how complex it is to implement, and again a subscription may be necessary for some or all users.

Those are my thoughts, but no criticism as such. Basestation and my SBS1-eR do keep me happy.

Cheers,

Keef.

[Chris-G0WTZ]

Roadrunner

I am just re doing the web site to make it more obvious that there is a drop down under each heading. If you go to where it says SBS-3 & SBS-3plus there are several sub menus below that tab

Regards

Chris

[Roadrunner]

According to the website the SBS-3 Plus is a pack which includes the SBS-3, masthead preamp, antennas, cables etc.

Thanks for the clarification 

[Keef]

It's interesting to see how the 'Wish List' thread has turned into a discussion about SBS-3 and websites.

It seems Chris is happy to to talk about new sales in this thread whilst ignoring the topic at hand.

Just my opinion, as always!

Cheers,

Keef.

[moonie31]

It's interesting to see how the 'Wish List' thread has turned into a discussion about SBS-3 and websites.

It seems Chris is happy to to talk about new sales in this thread whilst ignoring the topic at hand.

Just my opinion, as always!

Cheers,

Keef.

Please forgive me if I am wrong but I dont think Chris works for Kinetic anymore??? But runs his own business selling the things amongst other things??

Andy

[Keef]

Andy,

You are of course right in saying Chris no longer works for Kinetic, however as I understand it he is effectively the sole agent for SBS-3 (and Pucks when they arrive).

As Kinetic no longer deal with the public for sales and Chris does then I would perhaps expect him to be interested in what the punters find good and bad about the products he sells. I know technically BaseStaton is not sold as it is available free from the website, but it is essential for use with the SBS line of products.

Cheers,

Keef.

[IanH]

Most of the things on that wish list that are of interest to me are dealt with in some way by PlanePlotter.

I do have the BaseStation aircraft list showing (since it shows what is local, ie not shared) but the PP map overlays the BaseStation radar screen.

So BaseStation for me is primarily the data source for PlanePlotter with Reporter being used occasionally.

Ian

[viking9]

Anyone else found that when PP is driven from Basestation it loses about 25-30% of local aircraft?

Right now I'm showing 80 aircraft in Basestation and only 66 in PP.

Tom

[Anmer]

Right now I'm showing 80 aircraft in Basestation and only 66 in PP.

What Basestation timeouts do you have Tom?

[viking9]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the steer, they were way too long in Basestation.

When I made them similar the numbers came out equal. 

Tom

[Chris-G0WTZ]

It's interesting to see how the 'Wish List' thread has turned into a discussion about SBS-3 and websites.

It seems Chris is happy to to talk about new sales in this thread whilst ignoring the topic at hand.

Just my opinion, as always!

Cheers,

Keef.

Keef I have the list and of course I interact with Kinetic and they do make changes based on customers requests.
There is much going on but the danger as always is if I say I am looking at something people get expectations.
I find it best to keep quiet until we are almost ready to implement a change.
That is why we are shouting about the Ipad/Iphone App now as its release is imminent
I suspect there will be nothing major to shout about until we roll out the Pucks which is our current priority.
Radio User has the ADSB Puck so I would take a look at this months upcoming copy to see what Pat Carty has to say about it

Keep asking we are listening

[Keef]

Thanks Chris,

Sorry I've taken so long to reply but I somehow missed your post.

I do appreciate you are one of the better people to deal with and I understand updates have to be prioritised.
And once again for the record my SBS-1er never misses a beat, I'm very happy with it.

Another thing to add to the list maybe?

How about having the option to have the links declared in the 'Aircraft Details' window open in the default browser rather than hard coded to open in IE?
Or better still have an option setting to give the user the choice of IE or whatever the default browser may be?

From memory it may have already been raised, but I couldn't see it in the list..

Cheers,

Keef.