Radarspotting

Dear PlanePlotter User,

We are writing to you today to let you know about recent developments of which you may not be aware. Whilst many of us receive regular updates via the PlanePlotter Support Group on Yahoo (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/planeplotter/), we are aware that many PlanePlotter users are not group members and it is to those members we are addressing this information update.

If you are also a member of the PlanePlotter Yahoo Group, we apologise for the duplicated information contained here.

For the last few months we have been tracking Oceanic air traffic via a network of satellite ground stations.
Data is collected from the Inmarsat geostationary spacecraft and using specialist software, written by Jonathan Olds from New Zealand, plus SDR#, we are able to plot the positions of aircraft that use satcomms.

In the image I have placed here :
http://oi65.tinypic.com/2expyrd.jpg
you can see an example of Oceanic coverage. The picture shows just Inmarsat and Sit rep reports.

How is it done?

We use a system of satellite dishes set up by a small group of fellow PlanePlotter users pointing at the spacecraft. It is similar to receiving satellite TV.

Can you help?

Anyone with a satellite dish of 1.2 metres or more can try this.  All that is required in addition to the equipment you may already have, is a special "C" band LNB plus the free software, SDR# and JAERO.

As a community we have a wealth of Radio/TV and computer knowledge, so if you are looking for a new project, why not give this a try?  We are looking to set up new dish systems all over the world to support our existing satellite ground stations.

By all means contact John via email (john@satcom.freeserve.co.uk) for further information and guidance.
You can also find detailed instructions in the PlanePlotter Wiki :
http://planeplotter.pbworks.com/

Inmarsat tracking is the latest addition to PlanePlotter's versatile armoury, which already gives the user access to aircraft locations via ADS-B, Mode S multilateration, ACARS, HFDL, VDL-2, Mode A/C via Beamfinder, and Radio Direction Finding [DF].

Thank you everyone, for your continued help and support.

Best wishes

The PlanePlotter Support Team.