AirNav RadarBox Featured ADS-B Station - January 2022 - Kevin (EXTRI008911)

The Image Above: Kevin Bradford, Chief Pilot and RadarBox feeder in Illinois, USA 

Kevin Bradford has been feeding AirNav RadarBox since 2018. He is Chief Pilot for a small company that is based out of Quincy, IL, USA. "During my spare time, I enjoy volunteering at church, playing Minecraft with my kids, learning a new musical instrument, working at a local radio station, and teaching." Says Kevin. 

His antenna is approximately 40 feet above the ground and is mounted on top of a hangar at the Quincy Regional Airport in Quincy, IL, USA. He currently uses a 26" 5dbi antenna, 75 feet of CFD400 low loss coaxial cable (N Male to SMA Male), a 1090MHz Mode S filter (SMA Female to SMA Male), an RG316 SMA Female to SMA Male patch cable, an SDR Dongle with an integrated 20dB amplifier, and a Raspberry Pi 3.

The Image Above: Kevin's Setup (Raspberry Pi 3)

The Image Above: Kevin's Setup (1090MHz Mode-S filter - SMA Female to SMA Male)

Bradford station has a range of 248 nautical miles and is the number one station in the state of Illinois, and the 13th highest ranked station in the RadarBox ranking for the US. Really an impressive range!

The Image Above: EXTRI008911 Station Page

Kevin also shares with us about his experience feeding RadarBox: "I was prepared for a lot of reading, measuring, experimenting, and not being afraid to ask what may seem like silly questions. I handled the physical set-up just fine, but I still depend upon others to tell me which commands to use on the RPi. I was not at all familiar with Linux-based operating systems and/or programming before starting this project. Being able to access the device via VNC Viewer and Putty remotely has been amazing because I am not at the hangar very often." 

Installation Site 

The Image Above: Antenna South View - Photo Courtesy of Kevin Bradford 

This photo is facing South. The black antenna on the top is the ADS-B antenna. The white antenna below that is connected to a low-power transmitter that re-broadcasts cell tower signals inside the hangar to improve cell phone reception when working inside. The black antenna near the bottom of the mast is used for over-the-air television signals.

Still, about how he found out about RadarBox, he tells us: "I found out about RadarBox while doing research about Raspberry Pi projects, which got me interested in SDR projects and ultimately feeding to RadarBox."

The Image Above: Antenna East View - Photo Courtesy of Kevin Bradford 

Kevin states that: "A good majority of the messages are received from this direction, so it is very nice having a nearly unobstructed view. "RPi and SDR Dongle" - I have secured the RPi to a wall in an office on the inside of the hangar that has excellent Wi-Fi reception. Some of the extra cabling and power supply have been secured and hidden above the ceiling tiles."

Quincy 

Quincy is known as Illinois's "Gem City", is a city in and the county seat of Adams County, Illinois, United States, located on the Mississippi River. The 2020 census counted a population of 39,463 in the city itself, down from 40,633 in 2010. As of July 1, 2015, the Quincy Micro Area had an estimated population of 77,220.

Bayview Bridge - Taken by Paul Nordmann

The Image Above: RadarBox Stations - Ranking

AirNav RadarBox owns a global ADS-B network with over 27,600 receivers in over 175 countries around the world. In the last 30 days, 229 new ADS-B stations have been added worldwide. If you'd like to share flight tracking data with AirNav RadarBox, apply here.

The top 10 ADS-B stations:

1st - EXTRPI026798 (Austria) - Lassing - Max range: | Score: 38201

2nd -  EXTRPI024344 (Brazil) - Jaboticabal, SP  - Max range: 363 | Score: 36761

3rd - EXTRPI013923 (Brazil) -  Lavras, MG -  Max range: 462 | Score: 36696

4th -  EXTSHA193730 (Austria) - Krems an der Donau - Max range: 402 | Score: 36341

5th - EXTRPI005741 (Brazil) - Americana, SP - Max range: 362 | Score:  36341

6th - PGANRB500358 (Portugal) - Azores - Max range: 350 | Score: 34301

7th - PGANRB500810 (United States) -  Leoti, KS - Max range: 348 | Score: 33161

8th - EXTSHA192219 (United States) -  Brooksville, ME - Max range: 423  | Score: 33061

9th - EXTRPI026970 (Germany) - Miltenberg - Max range: 403 | Score: 32661

10th - PGANRB501028 (Italy) -  Locorotondo - Max range: 344 | Score: 32581

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