My SBS-3 - First Impressions

[Anmer]

Having recently acquired an SBS-3, I've started to compare it to my SBS-1eR.

I'm approaching this carefully, one step at a time as the SBS-3 offers a lot more than the SBS-1eR, particularly the Software Defined Radios.

To begin I've spent the last few days comparing the Mode-S data and I was pleasantly surprised.

Just like the first firmware upgrade for the "classic" SBS-1 and the subsequent release of the smaller SBS-1e, the SBS-3 is delivering more aircraft and greater range.  I don't know how Kinetic has achieved this but I'm pleased with the results.

To run the comparison I set up the SBS-1eR and SBS-3 running the latest versions of Basestation (V168) with the same settings and timeouts.

Both are sharing the same external antenna with preamp via an RF Systems SP3.

Using seperate PCs connected via Ethernet and running Jetvision's excellent SBSPlotter, I ran the two Basestations for 48 hours to get comparable plots with SBSPlotter autosaving every hour.

As can be seen from the screenshot, the SBS-3 (yellow) was outperforming the SBS-1 (orange).

I then swapped the antenna feed from the RF Systems SP3 to eliminate any possible bias.  The results were similar.

Next I checked the SBSPlotter results for maximum range and message counts.  The screenshot shows that the SBS-3 recorded a maximum range of 233.2 NM compared to the SBS-1eR's 227.2 NM.  You will also note the SBS-3's greater message rate of 48 msgs/sec compared to 36 msgs/sec.

Finally, I periodically checked to see if more aircraft were plotting on the map at any one time.  The SBS-3 always had more aircraft, ranging from between 5%-15%.

I've just grabbed comparative screenshots a few seconds apart and tried to highlight the extra aircraft from the SBS-3 which was showing 114 aircraft compared to 104 from the SBS-1.  That's an extra 9.6%.

I will do further tests and start to explore the SDR radios and report back.

In the meantime I'd welcome the thoughts and experiences of other SBS-3 customers, especially those with earlier SBS-1's or competitor receivers.

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[Tracker]

Hi Mike

I currently have the SBS-3 and Beast  V1.40.

I have also owned the Radarbox, SBS-1 and SBS-1ER and have previously sent you comparisions using SBSplotter.

I have been running the 1.40 beta firmware in my Beast since late January and at the moment the Beast is still ahead at my location. I have only been running the SBS-3 for two days so there is still time for improvement but the Beast gives about 10% more range.

It is still too early to make a proper judgement and I will wait a few weeks before I make any conclusions.

[Anmer]

Thanks for sharing your own experience, it's much appreciated.

When I did a comparison between the SBS-1eR and an original Beast in June last year, there was little between the two.  But the Beast has moved on and I'm hoping to get hold of another one so I can run the tests again.

Interesting times. 

[Tracker]

The SDR's in the SBS-3 give better performance than the internal radio in the SBS-1er although still not up to the quality of my scanners.

Like many I had difficulty setting up the digital streaming in to VLC and eventually settled on port 30008 which produced reasonable audio but it could have been better.

I have now settled on using a pair of headphones plugged in to the audio socket of the SBS-3. I use one of the receivers for Tower and Ground and the second receiver for Approach since they are more than 8mhz apart.

I have set them up so Tower transmission comes from the left earpeice and Approach from the right.

There is some background noise from the radio but through headphones it is much more tolerable.

At least I am now using the radio in the SBS-3 which I was not able to in the previous SBS-1er.

[apgphoto]

I would have to agree with you Mike that the 3 gives better range and reception over the 1-ER, for me I have gained approx 10-15NM in distance and it does seem to pick up the faint signals better.

I havent touched the radios, not of interest for me.

[north borneo radar]

Hiya Tracker,

any chance of sharing  your findings about the beast vs sbs 3 after using it for sometime? Is the mode s beast giving more range still? how do you find the sbs 3?

[Anmer]

When I'm back home on Monday I'll post some comparisons.

[north borneo radar]

thanks in advance for that Anmer. specifically how well both perform for low flying aircraft/ground planes is of interest to me as I am about 8 miles away from the airport (well, there is a hill in between)

cheers mate.

[Anmer]

When I'm back home on Monday I'll post some comparisons.

Here are two screenshots comparing data from the Beast and SBS-3.  Taken within seconds of each other, both receivers sharing the same external antenna via an RF Systems SP3 splitter.

The Beast seems to have a slight edge on the SBS-3.  I'll leave them running and will grab similar screenshots later today.

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[Anmer]

Two more screenshots.  Again The Beast has the edge.

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[north borneo radar]

thanks for the screenshot comparisons... there isn't a lot of SBS 3 Vs Beast comparison available so it's great to have some info.

I know which to go for now.

[Anmer]

I know which to go for now.

All I'd add, and this is my personal opinion, is that the SBS-3 ships with the free Basestation software which I prefer to PlanePlotter, a chargeable extra.

Then again I don't use the SBS-3 SDRs and have little interest in ACARS as currently implemented by Kinetic.

[Brian]

The free Basestation software can also be used with Mode-S BEAST hardware.
http://f5ann.pagesperso-orange.fr/BEASTavecPPetBS/index.html
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ModeSBeast/msearch?query=basestation

[vicbeo]

I'm a beginner in this... I have a raspberry pi 2 working with dump 1090 + antenna 1090mhz (uoutdoor), sharing with FR24 and FA.

I'm so interested to buy a SBS-3.

Does it possible to share traffic information with FR24 without PC?

[Anmer]

Does it possible to share traffic information with FR24 without PC?

I don't think so but you can feed FlightAware direct from an SBS-3.

https://flightaware.com/adsb/sbs3/