Australian Regional Airlines Cannot Track

I am based in Mackay, Queensland Australia and I am running a Kinetic SBS-3 unit. I can successfully track all the commercial aircraft in the area with the exception of the regional airlines like Qantaslink Dash 8’s and the Virgin ATR72s. There is another unit feeding Flightaware in the same area and it does not appear to be tracking these aircraft either.

Does anybody know why this would be the case because I believe these aircraft do have ADS-B systems fitted?

Thanks

They only have a Mode S transponder (depending on the make and model), Mode S only transmits the ICAO24 code, squawk and altitude, but no location [lat, long], speed or heading, though some may transmit the flight code. REX VH-ZLC has been recently fitted with ADS-B and the new QantasLink Q400 aircraft (VH-LQO should be in-service soon) will have ADS-B fitted.

Thanks Bidgee.

Pretty slack considering my humble Arrow has ADSB fitted with ADSB out.

Cheers

It requires the aircraft to go out of service, which is mostly done when the aircraft is required to have its regular inspection and maintenance. They need to fit the equipment needed (including antennas for the ADS-B and GPS, if not yet already fitted and run cable.

Airservices ADS-B mandates 2014-2017

I notice that the Dash8s and ATRs in southern Qld appear in Flight Aware via their feed from ATC Radar.

Mackay is covered from the Swampy Ridge Radar near Eungalla - it is currently classic Mode A/C radar so you won’t even see them as positionless replies.

At the moment these aircraft avoid the ADS-B mandate by not seeking to operate at FL290 or above. By 2017 that option won’t be available.

Beta feature… if you are an ADS-B feeder, go to your account management page and enable “Show position-only flights” which should do what you want here.