OGN-R map query

[Gary Nelson]

Is it possible to see graphically just the UK ground stations (I assume OGN-R) that Pilot Aware can actually receive secondary FLARM from. I saw on the Pilot Aware website www.pilotaware.com/ogn that there is a link to the OGN range tool. This link advises to put "PW%" into "Show All". I thought I did this and got the graphic display that I have (hopefully) attached here. You will see it shows lots of green balloons and some red and purple ballooons and a couple of blue balloons

I couldn't readily work out which of these are transmitting the FLARM data to Pilot Aware and would be grateful if someone could clarify and also what each colour code means as the map doesn't seem to have a key on the side as to what each colour represents?

 

[Admin]

All the PilotAware stations are prefixed PW, so for example PWBidford, PWTopcliffe - etc
The easiest way to view is as follows on the ognrange site

http://ognrange.onglide.com/#PW%,max,all,52.314106_-0.836421,8,#00990000:#009900ff,circles;

On this site you can show contribution on a per station basis, or use a wildcard '%', hence PW% shows all PilotAware groundstations

thx
Lee

[Keithvinning]

Is it possible to see graphically just the UK ground stations (I assume OGN-R) that Pilot Aware can actually receive secondary FLARM from. I saw on the Pilot Aware website www.pilotaware.com/ogn that there is a link to the OGN range tool. This link advises to put "PW%" into "Show All". I thought I did this and got the graphic display that I have (hopefully) attached here. You will see it shows lots of green balloons and some red and purple ballooons and a couple of blue balloons

I couldn't readily work out which of these are transmitting the FLARM data to Pilot Aware and would be grateful if someone could clarify and also what each colour code means as the map doesn't seem to have a key on the side as to what each colour represents?

Gaz
When you choose pw% the green heatmap area that comes up is where PilotAware has been detected from one or more OGN-R antennas. This is where you are likely to see gliders using the uplink
Knowing where the OGN-R antennas are is only a rough indication as the footprint of each installation is different. By looking at the heatmap if it isn’t green then we need an OGN-R installation in that Area. All offers to put one in your area greatfully accepted.

[Gary Nelson]

Thanks all:

1.      So looking at the OGN map with PW% (as I have pasted below) are you saying a Pilot Aware user flying over any area shaded green should be in range of a OGN-R ground station and will be sent position details of any glider/aircraft in the (same area?) using Flarm

2.      What are the criteria for what Flarm users are picked up in this way i.e in terms of distance - do they both have to be within the same OGN-R ground station?

3.      I have noticed when you go on the OGN Website you get the following key and what is the difference between the old stations and the 0.2.1 stations (I assume UP or DOWN simply means if currently functioning or not?: .....Blue icons represent UP old stations, Mauve ones DOWN. Green is 0.2.1 or above and UP, Red is DOWN new.

[Keithvinning]

1.      So looking at the OGN map with PW% (as I have pasted below) are you saying a Pilot Aware user flying over any area shaded green should be in range of a OGN-R ground station and will be sent position details of any glider/aircraft in the (same area?) using Flarm

More or less. The green area is where a PilotAware unit has been in range of the OGN-R as you surmise. However at the fringes this may have been a PilotAware with a better reception than average. However the principle is correct this is where you should see gliders equipped with FLARM or OGN trackers.

2.      What are the criteria for what Flarm users are picked up in this way i.e in terms of distance - do they both have to be within the same OGN-R ground station?

Yes both the gliders and the PilotAware units must be coincidentally being picked up by the OGN-R. The range that the gliders are pickled up is greater than PilotAware as the receiving antenna for FLARM is a higher gain antenna than that for PilotAware. So in essence the range for PilotAware can be assumed to be the range for Gliders. Be aware that the heat map is horizontal not vertical so if a glider or PilotAware is hidden behind a mountain it will not be detected. A banner on the PilotAware RADAR screen indicates if and how many OGN-R station are being received. No banner means no reception.

3.      I have noticed when you go on the OGN Website you get the following key and what is the difference between the old stations and the 0.2.1 stations (I assume UP or DOWN simply means if currently functioning or not?: .....Blue icons represent UP old stations, Mauve ones DOWN. Green is 0.2.1 or above and UP, Red is DOWN new.

This is under the control of the OGN Red mean down but the others are not necessarily of much use. We have 28 stations upgraded at the moment growing weekly. So even though an area is green we will be seeking out other locations in the area to add redundancy and greater availability.

[Gary Nelson]

...... A banner on the PilotAware RADAR screen indicates if and how many OGN-R station are being received. No banner means no reception.

Does this banner also appear on the Pilot Aware radar you get when only using Sky Demon?

[Moffrestorer]

Hi Gaz and Keith,

I’d rather assumed that the OGN terminology meant something different; UP meaning direction, therefore transmitting as in the PW OGN-Rebroadcast and Down meaning only receiving OGN?
Happy to be corrected!

[exfirepro]

Chris,

The UP or DOWN WRT stations on the ognrange map refers to whether the station is ‘UP’ i.e. active or ‘DOWN’ i.e. inactive, but it is driven by data being received or otherwise by the OGN servers. The stations can often be functioning fully, but still show on ognrange as ‘DOWN’, if for example there is no recent traffic, so take the colour codes with a pinch of salt.

Don’t confuse this with the UP-OGN labels which appear on your Nav Screen via PilotAware which indicate that this is a contact visible via ‘Uplink’ from a PAW OGN-R Rebroadcast unit.

Regards

Peter

[Moffrestorer]

Don’t confuse this with the UP-OGN labels which appear on your Nav Screen via PilotAware which indicate that this is a contact visible via ‘Uplink’ from a PAW OGN-R Rebroadcast unit.

That’s exactly what I was doing! The fact that the UP / DOWN labelling indicates “serviceability” of ground stations never even occurred to me. Thanks for the clarification Peter.

Chris

[exfirepro]

Gaz,

I have also updated the ‘PilotAware User’s’ map originally started by Ian Fallon, by adding two extra ‘layers’ for ‘active’ and ‘in development’ OGN-R stations, see link and ‘instructions’ here...

http://forum.pilotaware.com/index.php/topic,140.msg12843.html#msg12843

You don’t need to login to view the map and can quickly filter out ‘normal’ PilotAware Users by temporarily ‘deselecting’ the PAW Users layer. You still need to use ognrange to see the ‘coverage’ though.

 I still need to move a few ‘stray’ users off rogue extra layers to tidy the map up, but don’t want to do so without contacting them first.

Regards

Peter

[Keithvinning]

...... A banner on the PilotAware RADAR screen indicates if and how many OGN-R station are being received. No banner means no reception.

Does this banner also appear on the Pilot Aware radar you get when only using Sky Demon?

Hi gaz no it does not. SD is an independent product for which we can request stuff but have no influence. Perhaps if enough folks asked them something could be done.