[UK-CONTEST] Aircraft Reflection Path Plot

Tue Jan 10 09:20:39 PST 2012

Hi Colin,

Your SBS will plot aircraft that FR24 won't see, for various reasons. A lot 
of the propjets and small twin airliners, plus lots of executive and light 
don't have Mode B (broadcast) and the web based radars don't see them. So 
it'll be a little while before your box is redundant.

FR24 is fine for AS contacts as it generally see 99% of the big jets.

Bob G8HGN

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Colin Wilson" <colin at sheffield-live.co.uk>
To: "Rob Harrison" <robharrison at g8hgn.freeserve.co.uk>; 
<uk-contest at contesting.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2012 5:15 PM
Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] Aircraft Reflection Path Plot

> That's my SBS redundant then!  This is a very good website, most 
> impressed!
> Thank you
> 73
>
> Colin CT7ACG/G3VCQ
> www.glenridgealgarve.com
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Rob Harrison" <robharrison at g8hgn.freeserve.co.uk>
> To: <uk-contest at contesting.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2012 4:17 PM
> Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] Aircraft Reflection Path Plot
>
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> What you also have to know is regular long didtance flights can be up to 
>> an
>> hour either side of their alloted times, and due to weather flights can 
>> take
>> completely different tracks across the country, not due to our WX, but
>> Atlantic WX, making the flight enter UK airspace in different positions. 
>> A
>> classic is the SIA021 rarely seen down here, but recently has come in via
>> southern Ireland and routing to Dover. Normally this flight goes via
>> northern UK.
>>
>> Don't ask me how I know, you'll get too many pages of answers, hi.
>>
>> Bob G8HGN
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Ray James" <gm4cxm at yahoo.co.uk>
>> To: "Ken Eastty" <ken.g3lvp at btinternet.com>; <uk-contest at contesting.com>
>> Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2012 1:08 PM
>> Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] Aircraft Reflection Path Plot
>>
>>
>> Hi Ken,
>> Having checked the path plot between GB3ANG (IO86MN) and your location in
>> IO81WV, air traffic between Manchester and EI would not be useful to you.
>> That path is too far south west of the mid-point which in your case is
>> between Kendal and Settle.
>> The east/west Manchester/EI path is also "side-on" to you which is not 
>> the
>> most favourable anyway.
>>
>> They can produce reflections but of far shorter duration than those
>> travelling in or close to the path your directing to.
>> Your actual mid-point towards ANG is very flight active, being on a 
>> regular
>> flight path and should produce superb results.
>>
>> However, the path plot between you and IO67UF identifies a mid-point in 
>> the
>> Irish Sea triangulated between Whithorn, St Bees Head and the northern 
>> tip
>> of GD.
>> This is definately not on a regulally used flight path so opportunities 
>> to
>> hear the Isle of Skye beacon will be rare but not impossible.
>> Like a HF contester would plan ahead with greyline knowledge, propagation
>> forecasts and more, this is an area were VHF+ contesters can optimise
>> potential results.
>> Use of regular flight paths can give very good results, even by chance 
>> and
>> without recourse to knowing when a reflection opportunity is available
>> though it helps a lot to know so as not to waste time.
>> Use of rarely used flight paths opens up opportunities to work rarely 
>> worked
>> or heard locations/multipliers. In your case, IO67.
>> Yesterday for example there were numerous opportunities.
>>
>> 05.55 DAL6 767-400 Detroit - Heathrow 33,000'
>> 08.00 VIR206 747-400 San Francisco - Heathrow 37,000'
>> 10.15 ICE542 757-400 Keflavik - Paris 39,000'
>> 10.25 BAW48 747-400 Seattle - Heathrow 33,000'
>> 16.25 BAW9 747-400 Heathrow Phoenix 31,350'
>> 22.00 ICE455 757-200 Heathrow - Keflavik 38,000'
>> 22.20 DHK972 767-300 East Midlands - Cincinnati 31,975'
>>
>>
>> In relation to the total UK/EU to/from North American air traffic in 24
>> hours then that is a very small number and even the majority of those 
>> were
>> in my opinion borderline cases but possible due to the wider beamwidth of 
>> a
>> 4m antenna over what I'm used to on the likes of 70cm, 23cm and 13cm. 
>> Only
>> the first two were in what I would consider prime mid-point positions and
>> there were a fair number of other G/GM flights that veered west of the
>> Cumbrian coast that could possibly have produced an audible signal from 
>> the
>> beacon and if not, certainly a visual trace using Spectran or other
>> waterfall display of your receiver bandwidth.
>> The method I used to determine these possibilities is very easy.
>> Establish the mid-point using the SM7LCBpathplot software on his website.
>>
>> Go to www.planefinder.net
>> Zero in on UK airspace and in particular the midpoint area you are
>> interested in.
>> Click on the "Playback" icon.
>> Set a date from the calendar.
>> Set a start time.
>> Set the speed of playback. I usually use 120x normal.
>> When you see an aircraft approaching the mid-point circle (as indicated 
>> on
>> the pathplot map) then hit the pause button to enable you to pause
>> everything and click on the jet to identify everything about it including
>> the height.
>>
>> Range depends on numerous factors of which height and the size of a jet
>> (area of reflection) are the most important.
>> You're 650km from GM8RBR's beacon. Something over 800km is the maximum I
>> believe for a jet at 40,000' so you are very comfortably within that.
>> An SBS receiver would be useful for portable stations where no internet
>> connection is possible but range would be a negative as I believe that 
>> even
>> with a very effective 1,090MHz antenna there's a limit of about 400km.
>> That's fine for seeing traffic within 400km but it is important to know 
>> what
>> is further away than that and coming closer so you're prepared for a 
>> maximum
>> range contact (or CQ calls) on both inward and outward flights and not 
>> just
>> outward.
>> As you say, the online resources are free and provide all the advance 
>> notice
>> you need.
>>
>> Good luck!
>>
>> 73 Ray GM4CXM
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: Ken Eastty <ken.g3lvp at btinternet.com>
>> To: uk-contest at contesting.com
>> Sent: Monday, 9 January 2012, 22:50
>> Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] Aircraft Reflection Path Plot
>>
>>
>> Aircraft Reflection Path Plot (Ray James) -
>>
>> Thanks for that Ray, this is no doubt the mechanism which permits
>> reception of GB3ANG here (IO81WV) on 2 & 4m for most of the time
>> providing there's plenty of traffic in the airway between Manchester &
>> EI. It's a pity that the plots don't include the height at which an
>> aircraft would have to be flying for it to be 'seen' from both ends of
>> the path but I suppose that it only takes a few moments to calculate it.
>>
>> So far I've not heard GM8RBR's new 10W beacon on Skye (IO67UF) on 70.1
>> Mc/s except via ms. The typical height of most airliners would seem to
>> be insufficient to act as a reflector over this path.
>>
>> 73...
>>
>> Ken
>>
>> G3LVP
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>>
>
> 