PilotAware ATOM Station Manual

To detect and re-transmit glider and mode-s mlat locations and provide virtual radar server

Table of Contents

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Building and installing a PilotAware ATOM Station to detect and re-transmit glider and

Mode-S MLAT locations and provide Virtual RADAR SERVER December 2020.

Table of Contents Click in the link.

Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 2

Issue History ..................................................................................................................... 3

ATOM-GRID Uplink ........................................................................................................... 3

What you need to do ........................................................................................................ 4

What Parts are Required .................................................................................................. 4

Installation High Level Diagram ........................................................................................ 6

Installation ....................................................................................................................... 6

Location for the Electronics .............................................................................................. 6

Location for the antennas ................................................................................................. 7

Typical Antenna Array Construction. ................................................................................. 7

Making up the Co-Axial Cables .......................................................................................... 7

Connecting the Electronics ................................................................................................ 8

Locating and Naming your Site ................................................................................................. 9

Location Information ............................................................................................................... 9

Station Name ......................................................................................................................... 10

Downloading and installing ATOM-GRID Software. ......................................................... 11

Configuring the Software for your Specific Location. ....................................................... 11

Logging in .............................................................................................................................. 11

Configuring your Individual ATOM GRID unit. ......................................................................... 12

Testing the Installation ................................................................................................... 15

Check PilotAware transmission to and from the ATOM-GRID Ground Station. ......................... 16

Check Reception from The ATOM GRID Ground Station. ......................................................... 17

1090MHz Reception. ...................................................................................................... 18

Flarm Reception. ............................................................................................................ 18

The Full Set of Receptions ............................................................................................... 18

ATOM GRID Home Page .................................................................................................. 19

Other Columns in the Home Page ........................................................................................... 20

Rebroadcast........................................................................................................................... 20

ATOM GRID RADAR. ....................................................................................................... 21

Configuring Virtual RADAR Server .......................................................................................... 22

Summary ........................................................................................................................ 22

Addendum ..................................................................................................................... 23

Parts Required to build an ATOM-GRID uplink ........................................................................ 23

Parts for The 3 Antenna Array Support ................................................................................... 24

Other Useful Hardware .......................................................................................................... 25

Page 1 of 25

Table of Contents

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Summary of Contents for PilotAware ATOM Station

Page 1: Table Of Contents
Building and installing a PilotAware ATOM Station to detect and re-transmit glider and Mode-S MLAT locations and provide Virtual RADAR SERVER December 2020. Table of Contents Click in the link. Introduction ........................2 Issue History ........................3 ATOM-GRID Uplink ......................3 What you need to do ......................
Page 2: Introduction
Its great fun and also inexpensive to build yourself. However, we don’t expect you to do it all alone. At suitable locations PilotAware will provide you with the electronics (Raspberry Pi, Radio Bridge SD card software and case) free of charge for the ATOM ground based station.
Page 3: Issue History
PilotAware equipped aircraft and forwarding information for safety and Search And Rescue activities. To help you with the costs of upgrading or installing a new ATOM-GRID uplink, PilotAware will, whilst stocks last, provide a Raspberry Pi 2B computer, PilotAware Radio Bridge and...
Page 4: What You Need To Do
1. The PilotAware Antenna. This is used to transmit and receive data to aircraft fitted with PilotAware units operating at 869.5MHz. The PilotAware antenna is connected to the PilotAware Radio Bridge and Raspberry Pi via a co-axial cable and a pigtail with an SMA connector.
Page 5 Building and installing a PilotAware ATOM Station to detect and re-transmit glider and Mode-S MLAT locations and provide Virtual RADAR SERVER December 2020. 3. The 1090MHz Antenna† A third 1090MHz receive only antenna is also used for the ATOM-GRID installation. This antenna collects 1090MHz transmitted data i.e.
Page 6: Installation High Level Diagram
Building and installing a PilotAware ATOM Station to detect and re-transmit glider and Mode-S MLAT locations and provide Virtual RADAR SERVER December 2020. Installation High Level Diagram Antenna 3 OGN-R Raspberry Pi Antenna 2 and PilotAware Radio FLARM 868 MHz Rx...
Page 7: Location For The Antennas
Building and installing a PilotAware ATOM Station to detect and re-transmit glider and Mode-S MLAT locations and provide Virtual RADAR SERVER December 2020. Location for the antennas • The antennas should be positioned vertically and as high as possible avoiding obstacles that would get in the way of transmission and reception, such as walls and chimneys.
Page 8: Connecting The Electronics
N-type to SMA converter and a SMA to Mcx pigtail is used . 2. The coaxial cable connected to the P3i Antenna (shown on the left) is connected firmly to the SMA connector on the PilotAware Bridge. A pigtail can also be used here for flexibility.
Page 9: Locating And Naming Your Site
Building and installing a PilotAware ATOM Station to detect and re-transmit glider and Mode-S MLAT locations and provide Virtual RADAR SERVER December 2020. Radio Bridge Note The FLARM antenna MUST RTL-SDR Raspberry Pi be connected to the RTL-SDR Top FLARM...
Page 10: Station Name
Building and installing a PilotAware ATOM Station to detect and re-transmit glider and Mode-S MLAT locations and provide Virtual RADAR SERVER December 2020. The receiver location app will look something like this. (although since google maps went commercial it will be darker). You will also have to use your smartphone to get the height above sea level in metres.
Page 11: Downloading And Installing Atom-Grid Software
Building and installing a PilotAware ATOM Station to detect and re-transmit glider and Mode-S MLAT locations and provide Virtual RADAR SERVER December 2020. Downloading and installing ATOM-GRID Software. To make the installation as easy as possible new software has been produced that steps you through the installation process.
Page 12: Configuring Your Individual Atom Grid Unit
Also, please note if the router is powered down it may allocate a different IP address. This is called dynamic IP allocation. This can be overcome by giving the OGN-R a fixed IP address. How this is done varies between router makes and is not done in the PilotAware software.
Page 13 Building and installing a PilotAware ATOM Station to detect and re-transmit glider and Mode-S MLAT locations and provide Virtual RADAR SERVER December 2020. You may see something like the following: (21:26:34) FILESYS : Mount RW Stopping Services Do not plug in or remove any SDR dongles whilst this configuration script is running.
Page 14 Building and installing a PilotAware ATOM Station to detect and re-transmit glider and Mode-S MLAT locations and provide Virtual RADAR SERVER December 2020. If the RTL-SDR’s are not detected this will because they are not seated correctly in the USB sockets on the Raspberry Pi single board computer. They may have moved in transit so push them securely in.
Page 15: Testing The Installation
The configuration is now done and the PilotAware servers will get a message to connect you to the secure grid. This has to be authenticated manually to ensure that you are a genuine site so may take some time as the email address is not manned 24/7.
Page 16: Check Pilotaware Transmission To And From The Atom-Grid Ground Station
Check PilotAware transmission to and from the ATOM-GRID Ground Station. To check that the ATOM GRID ground station is working, power up a PilotAware unit outside and in the immediate location. Ensure that you have configured the PilotAware Unit to show ground stations.
Page 17: Check Reception From The Atom Grid Ground Station
MLAT. ‘Connected’ means receiving MLAT data. Internet. ‘Connected’ means connected to the internet. Line 1 of the matrix shows the test PilotAware unit being received by the ground station showing that it is receiving data from PilotAware units. Designated as a PilotAware (P) being picked up locally (l).
Page 18: 1090Mhz Reception
Building and installing a PilotAware ATOM Station to detect and re-transmit glider and Mode-S MLAT locations and provide Virtual RADAR SERVER December 2020. 1090MHz Reception. To check whether you are receiving 1090 signals through the 1090MHZ antenna and RTLSDR receiver log in from the home page...
Page 19: Atom Grid Home Page
Building and installing a PilotAware ATOM Station to detect and re-transmit glider and Mode-S MLAT locations and provide Virtual RADAR SERVER December 2020. 1. PilotAware 2. FLARM 3. ADSB-out (1090MHz) 4. Mode-S (1090MHz)† 5. Mode-C is detected but cannot be shown on the screen as it doesn’t provide a GPS location.
Page 20: Other Columns In The Home Page
When an MLAT target is detected then its latitude and longitude will be rebroadcast Re-broadcasts will only happen if there is a PilotAware unit in the area to pick it up. This minimises the amount of bandwidth used. If there is no one there to receive transmissions we will not send them.
Page 21: Atom Grid Radar
Mode-S MLAT locations and provide Virtual RADAR SERVER December 2020. ATOM GRID RADAR. The PilotAware ATOM Unit also provides a ground based RADAR system that can be used for Situational Awareness if allowed by your National Aviation Authority. It is currently an unapproved system in the UK and cannot be used for Air Traffic Control or Management.
Page 22: Configuring Virtual Radar Server
Building and installing a PilotAware ATOM Station to detect and re-transmit glider and Mode-S MLAT locations and provide Virtual RADAR SERVER December 2020. In addition, Mode-S aircraft that are being interrogated by Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR) will also be shown on the screen with the normal limitations of multilateration (MLAT).
Page 23: Addendum
Building and installing a PilotAware ATOM Station to detect and re-transmit glider and Mode-S MLAT locations and provide Virtual RADAR SERVER December 2020. Addendum Parts Required to build an ATOM-GRID uplink The parts below have been used successfully. Part Supplier Raspberry Pi 2B Provided free of Charge by PilotAware as long as stocks are available.
Page 24: Parts For The 3 Antenna Array Support
With these you can produce the 3 antenna array below this. (use the remainder of the 1 inch aluminium to produce the small vertical stub on the right hand side for the 1090 antenna). The PilotAware antenna is on the left and the Flarm antenna is in the centre.
Page 25: Other Useful Hardware
Building and installing a PilotAware ATOM Station to detect and re-transmit glider and Mode-S MLAT locations and provide Virtual RADAR SERVER December 2020. Other Useful Hardware https://www.toolstation.com/shop/Electrical/d190/TV+%26+Satellite/sd3084/TV+Aerial+% 26+SatelliteDish+Pole/p39913 https://www.toolstation.com/shop/p69098 https://www.wifi-antennas.co.uk/antenna-wall-mount-kit-with-z-bend-stand-off.html https://www.screwfix.com/p/labgear-29924lab-3m-aerial-mast/32094 If you need further information ogn@pilotaware.com End of Document...