AirNav RadarBox Featured ADS-B Station August 2021 - Ron Diol

Ron Diol taking a selfie in his hangar - Image courtesy of Ron Diol

Ron Diol, an AirNav RadarBox ADS-B data feeder, is a retired IT administrator and teacher. A passionate aviation and HAM radio buff, he is a pilot and a licensed HAM radio operator who has been flying for nearly 40 years and currently owns his own plane. Diol has a workstation in the hangar where works on various projects.

EXTRPI013339 ADS-B Station:

Ron's station has a range of 275 nautical miles and is ranked #43 in the US and #207 in the world.

The image above: MyStation Page for Radarbox Data Sharers (Feeders)

The retired IT administrator started tinkering with SDR modules a few years ago and fell in love with the technology ever since. He is a RadarBox feeder and currently feeds data via the RadarBox 1090/978 ADS-B Dongle receivers that are connected to his Raspberry Pi 3B+.

Learn how to build your own ADS-B receiver and how to share data with us by clicking here.

Ron Diol's Rasp PI 3B+ - Image courtesy of Ron Diol

"My name is Ranjit Diol from Dowagiac MI USA. I started on flight tracking projects when they first became available about 7 years ago. I chose to use Raspberry computer boards since they were economical and relatively easy to use. Since then, I have built several different types. I built my RadarBox station over a year ago when the firmware became readily available. My RadarBox station has been on 24/7 since then, with the exception of some storm-related power outages."

Ron Diol's hangar - Image courtesy of Ron Diol

Ron Diol's hangar - Image courtesy of Ron Diol

Installation site: 

ADS-B 1090MHz antenna installed on top of the hangar - Image courtesy of Ron Diol

The standard ADS-B vertical antenna is installed at Dowagiac Municipal Airport (C91), in Dowagiac, MI., at 800 feet MSL, mounted about 20 feet from the ground side of his hangar.

Ranjit gives some tips for new feeders: "The biggest problem many users encounter with ADSB stations is antenna location, especially in cities or wooded areas. Open areas with a good line of sight are ideal for optimal reception. I am fortunate enough to be able to set up my stations at my hangar at the airport. I have internet access via a wireless bridge to my home, which is very close to the airport." he says. 

Diol discovered RadarBox through an aviation forum a year ago, and since then, he has started to build his own ADS-B project. And recently, Ron acquired RadarBox 1090 and 978 MHz FlightSticks to upgrade your setup and expand your ADS-B project.

RadarBox 1090 and 978 MHz FlightSticks - Image courtesy of Ron Diol

About being part of RadarBox's global ADS-B network, Ron says: "Besides having the satisfaction of providing a useful service, the membership perks that RadarBox provides are a big plus." 

Dowagiac

Dowagiac is a city in Cass County, in the state of Michigan, in the U.S. The population was 5,879 at the 2010 census. It is part of the South Bend–Mishawaka, IN-MI, Metropolitan Statistical Area.

The historic Dowagiac Station on Depot Drive - Michael Tomko - CC BY-SA 3.0

Dowagiac - Pat Moody - Moodyonthemarket.com

AirNav RadarBox Global Coverage Map

We currently have a global ADS-B network of more than 24,492 receivers in over 173 countries across the world. In 7 days, 727 new ADS-B receivers were added worldwide. An extraordinary number! It demonstrates our effort to always invest in the quality and safety of our services.

We receive more than 4 billion ADS-B messages on our servers every day, including bandwidth usage of 3.48 billion Tbytes monthly.

The image above: AirNav RadarBox global coverage data

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