978 MHz In the UK

Hi All,

I have just got piaware working on my raspberry pi.1090MHz …I am in the UK and wonder if there is a way to decode the aircraft at lower levels and landing at the local airport.

Thanks for any help…Barry

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UAT 978Mhz is not used outside of the U.S.A.
There are many threads regarding optimising gain, better antennas, coax and filters, that could you you improve your reception.
Antenna height has a large impact on reception. The signals at these frequencies are largely line of sight, Ensuring the antenna has a clear view of the horizon will give you the best range,

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Hi Jon
Many thanks for your reply and I have only just got my raspberry pi and piaware working and really pleased with it.
I live close to Liverpool Airport and the aircraft pass over my house to get there and I never see any below 1000ft
So my question is when flying over the UK do the aircraft still use 1090Mhz when at very low level or switch to another frequency.
I admit I am using the small mag mount antenna while looking for a good outdoor one
Thanks again Jon for your help I do appreciate it
Regards Barry G1NPN

They use 1090Mhz at all altitudes. From the ground up to FL600 and beyond.

It is possible that either your receiver cannot see the traffic or that it is overloaded.
You could add a second receiver with the gain turned down low for local traffic.
VRS is great for consolidating aircraft traffic http://www.virtualradarserver.co.uk/

Jon K2TCW/VK2TCW

1090 MHz is basically line of sight.

So depending how far the airport is, at 1000 ft the aircraft will be behind another house or tree probably?

If you don’t see the aircraft flying directly overhead, the gain is likely set too high.
Check this thread for some explanations: Thoughts on optimizing gain

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Hi Jon
I have downloaded and set up Virtual Radar and it seems to be working ok just need to find where to get the flags and silhouettes to add to the program.
Happy to know they use the same frequency so all I need now is a good outside antenna.
Thanks again for taking time to reply
Best regards and 73 Barry G1NPN

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Most light aircraft will not be transmitting ADSB so you are reliant on MLAT which requires enough other feeders around you to pick up those low level flights.

If the aircraft is transmitting but there is no MLAT to provide location, they will still appear in Skyview (or VRS) lists but without distance or heading known

Or they simply are not transmitting anything at all - no transponder of any sort.

I pick up most light aircraft flying over my house but there a few that don’t show. And one obvious no show around here is Jet Provost G-PROV :grinning:

Hi Jon,
I have the same problem in UK.
I have a uAvionix 1090i transmitter next to my ADS-B receiver but I can’t visualise it.

How can I reduce the gain in the settings to try to visualise this transmitter?

Note: ICAO and Call Sign are correctly set on the transmitter, including latitude and longitude that it receives from GPS.

Look for posts of graph1090. Install it so you can see more dump190 stats.

You want to keep tracks with single messages to a minimum and the ADS-B signal level should peak between -3db and 0 db.