UK & Ireland MLAT Project

[Mutt08]

The original post was deleted by Mutt08.  I have reinstated it as there are relevant replies.

Mutt08 has also tried to delete his forum account.  This is a good example of someone joining the forum to promote a topic but not willing to answer questions.

Anmer

We are pleased to announce that we now have the MLAT radar system for the UK and Ireland set up.

The actual website is private for feeders only. You can gain access by feeding into the system, whether just adsb or mlat or both.

There is no charge for feeders to this site. It is an amateur site and will always remain so.

You can see a snap shot of the coverage here: http://server.mlat-radar.net/coverage/ This page is updated at 04:00 every morning.

We can offer solutions for dump1090 on the RPi, dump1090 for Windows, Kinetic products with port 30006 available and of course the Beast based systems. I am sorry but the AirNav products do not work with this solution.

If you would join our happy band of feeders, please drop us a line at support@mlat-radar.net and we will get back to you.

I am sorry but we can only accept applications from the UK and Ireland. We can accept feeds from regions of France, Belgium and Holland where UK coverage overlaps.

A truly free AMATEUR run mlat radar system for the UK and Ireland.

For more details contact: support@mlat-radar.net.

[Anmer]

Thanks for posting the invite.  Sorry, but exciting new developments always raise questions.

If I understand this correctly, apart from the AirNav System RadarBox, all other specialist Mode-S and DVB-T receivers can be used to send data to a hosted, server application?

Is there a local feeder app to install?  And is is specific for the receiver?  Can you expand on the "client side" setup?  Are there Linux and Windows versions?

Where does the MLAT plot get calculated?  Is it at the server?

What about precise timing?  PlanePlotter requires NTP to be run on the client.  Does the server check feeds for accuracy including receiver location?

I'm running FlightAware's PiAware which, I understand, can also contribute to MLAT plots.  I also understand it uses the same code?  Does your server need a separate feed from me or can it make use of the PiAware data?  And are your server plots shared with FlightAware or any other group or individuals?

How is the server funded, especially if demand exceeds expectations?

What is a typical upload bandwidth usage?

Are the MLAT plots only available to view on the password protected website map?

Does the map show all possible plots or does it "block" some aircraft?  And does the map show aircraft credentials, such as callsign, type, registration and operator?

I think it looks interesting and further details may encourage more contributors.

[Anmer]

Hopefully we'll get a reply?

[IanH]

I'm not getting many MLAT hits to the NE of me these days so I thought I'd give this a go.

I received a response to my e-mail within 4 hours which gave details of what to do.

Is there a local feeder app to install?  And is is specific for the receiver?  Can you expand on the "client side" setup?  Are there Linux and Windows versions?

There is client software to download - the directory I was pointed to only had Windows files (possibly to avoid any confusion) so I don't know if there is a Linux version. WinXP thru Win8 are currently supported. Once unzipped, a batch file needs to be edited to include latitude/longitude/altitude, username and some customisation for receiver. For an SBS-3 outputting via direct IP, I had to include "sbs" and "30006" in the appropriate locations in the batch file. That suggests other receivers need similar parameters. Once that was done, I started the batch file. Checking online to see if it was working and talking to other receivers correctly showed all ok.

What about precise timing?  PlanePlotter requires NTP to be run on the client.  Does the server check feeds for accuracy including receiver location?

I'm running NTP for PP but there was no request to do this. If, as suggested, it is similar to the Flightaware software, I read that is taking timing from the aircraft transmissions (??).

What is a typical upload bandwidth usage?

Seems to be the same as PlanePlotter according to Win7 Resource Monitor. And yes, i am running PP at the same time.

Are the MLAT plots only available to view on the password protected website map?

Seems like it - and only MLAT plots are shown on the map.

Does the map show all possible plots or does it "block" some aircraft?  And does the map show aircraft credentials, such as callsign, type, registration and operator?

In the short time that I've been using it, it is not blocking USAF KC-135/C-17/C-130,RAF Tornados/Typhoons/Sentry nor a Cessna 750 or Galaxy 200 that FR24 was not showing details of. Display is customisable to show same info as VRS. I have it showing Flight number, Reg, Altitude but I did check and it will show model code (eg DH8D) and operator code (eg BEE) amongst other options.

It's not going to replace PP as my main display since that shows all plots. And I would need yet another monitor to display the MLAT Radar! But a useful option to run in the background and occasionally check what else is out there and not being shown by PP.

Also looking at the thread previous to this, http://radarspotting.com/forum/index.php/topic,5230.0.html,  may also answer some questions since it seems to be the system in use.

[Anmer]

Thanks Ian.

I was hoping that the original poster would answer, especially when this forum is being used to promote this new MLAT option. 

I have no objection to such promotion as long as support is provided here as well. 

[IanH]

Agree that it is bad form not to respond to the original post.

I'll send on a message 

The response to my request came from Jon Fear who was combining VRS feeds -his last sign on here was back in April.

[Keef]

I've joined this feed and the responses to my application were timely and helpful.

Hopefully it will prove to be a useful addition to the hobby and offer a good alternative to get unrestricted MLAT plots other than using PP as some (including myself) find it a bit difficult to use at times.

Anyway, enough about PP and back to the MLAT project...

The emails sent to me were very clear and it does seem to be a good way to get MLAT plots.

From what I see the default is MLAT only plots, but selecting 'GB MLAT Merge' from the option 'Menu!Receiver' shows all plots.

So far it seems good to me.

Hope this is helpful to others considering it as an option.

[IanH]

Good find - I was going to ask whether they had considered showing all plots instead of just MLAT. Not sure that GB MLAT Merge receiver or VRS-World were there the other day.

BUT as soon as I select one of those my MLAT hits all move. For example a C-17 that was over North Devon suddenly moves to over Peterborough (where it was half an hour ago). That seems extreme since an ATP only jumped from over Lincoln to over Scunthorpe but then froze. Overall MLAT hits now showing fewer updates - not as responsive as ADSB plots.

Not quite ready for the combination yet I suspect - probably a recent addition that will be worked out.

I hope so.

[Keef]

I hadn't done a comparison between the two, I'll have a check tomorrow.

Thanks for the feedback.

It's looking good though.

[Anmer]

But still no reply from the original poster or answers to many of my questions.

Somehow I think the forum has been "used".  Noted.

[Anmer]

I see Mutt08 has now deleted his original invite and tried to delete his forum account.

Also noted.

[IanH]

The FR24 code he put in his signature was a mistake since a quick search identified him 

[Keef]

I have sent several emails to support@mlat-radar.net asking for a reply on this forum, I've received no replies.

Very disappointing.

I'm not sure what the problem is with replying to the forum but I don't like the attitude.

[IanH]

He obviously still has his forum account since I received a PM:

Ian H,

Regarding the post that you made to the Radarspotting forum on the 10th July at 06:24pm.

I quote from your post that I have also attached below, "The FR24 code he put in his signature was a MISTAKE since a quick search identified him".

Can I ask you, why was it a mistake?

Now that you have identified me, what do you intend to do about it?

Is their some kind of threat being implied?

I look forward to your reply & any futher posts you care to make on the said forum regarding this matter.

Steve...

The mistake was including an identifiable item in the signature which anyone could follow up. No threat just responding to the comment that you were leaving the forum without replying.

[Anmer]

He obviously still has his forum account since I received a PM:

Shame he can't be bothered to reply to my original (and valid) questions. What does he have to hide?