Over the last few days the number of ADS-B reports received have dropped off. Nothing changed with antenna or setup - does this happen? Today 24471 - whereas 4 days a go 110538? Piaware system. Any ideas? Or has there just been less traffic - seems quite a large fall off?
16Feb 15Feb 14Feb 13Feb 12Feb
24,471 47,102 105,838 120,889 110,538
AIrcraft seen
934 1,057 1,281 1,366 1,417 1,248
Is this just me or typical of fluctuation?
Mike
I have seen traffic drop off due to bad weather.
It could also be water or ice in the antenna, antenna connector or coax line.
If the antenna is outdoor, did you use dialectric grease on the inside and self sealing tape on the outside of the N-connector?
My TV jams one of my setups. It is behind a dresser in the corner of my bedroom(the antenna is also there). When it is on, the traffic drops off significantly.
Thanks Jon,
Well since posting I unplugged the flight aware dongle and removed a short USB lead, then plugged the dongle directly into the RasPi 3. Suddenly much livelier activity - so maybe that did the trick. My antenna is in the loft here and since upgrading to a flightaware dongle from an old TV dongle traffic has been higher. Then I moved across to a Raspberry Pi last weekend and traffic was good until the last day or so. So maybe the reboot has helped. regards Mike
Repeating something I’ve written before–
Numbers go up, numbers go down. Was it something I did, did something break, or is it just variations in traffic?
Kind of hard to tell, if you don’t have a reference to compare to, yes?
But how do you get a reference when traffic changes day to day?
Well, look on your stats page at the stations listed near you. Look at a few in more detail. Pick one close to you (similar terrain, that kind of thing), similar numbers, and been around for a while (so you’re betting they’re going to continue to be around – but past performance is no guarantee of future behaviour).
I keep a spreadsheet with the numbers for my stations, and the numbers for my local reference station. Since I’m on the Left Coast, I collect numbers at around 4:30 in the afternoon, which is around 00:30 UTC, the end of one record keeping day and slightly into the next.
That way when I go to update my numbers, and like today, gee, things have dropped quite a bit! What happened? But looking at my other site, and my reference site, all the numbers are down. Okay, it’s not just me. Traffic is off locally.
The spreadsheet helps when I make changes in my setup (I have a test system that I tweak). Make a change, watch results for a few days. Did it help, hurt, or not change much? With data, I can make a determination.
Have fun–
bob k6rtm
I find it more “fun” when I’m wondering about there possibly being some untoward change in my “station” to monitor the FA page which shows only the A/C I’m receiving (and sending).
In the past when everything appears to be working optimally I’ve noted which quadrants/bearings have reported at the greatest distance, what those distances are, where on the map the A/C “dropped off”, and the altitude of the A/C. Then I monitor for A/C headed out on the same tracks of the above and note what the distance is when they drop off and their altitude. If it’s all about the same as my base line, No problem. If it’s significantly different maybe I should go outside and look at the antenna or do something else clever.
The only significant variables here are the A/C’s EIRP and my station’s operational condition (and possibly FA’s servers).
FlightAware keeps past stats on your ADSB stats page.
You can go back to almost any date by clicking on the “Show position distribution for:” and then clicking on the calendar for the day you want.
This will show the daily stats and the distribution for that day.
It is a little clunky to use but we actually have plans to improve this.
There are so many variables in the amount of data received. The only thing I have been able to isolate is rain. I have a problem on the roof. If we get heavy rain, something gets wet and EVERYTHING gets worse. As we dry out, range, numbers all start to return.
The only kicker is cold. If wet and freezing all parameters go through the roof. The ice is doing something positive. This will be fixed within two weeks with a new antenna, new mount, and greatly improved wrapping and waterproofing connections.