Author Topic: Clarity of certain feeds. Distance to the airport?  (Read 7165 times)

Offline bluecrewfan08

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Clarity of certain feeds. Distance to the airport?
« on: May 08, 2008, 09:22:30 PM »
Why is Logan and JKF so clear, and LAX is so lousy? This is in no way a slam on the people who host these feeds, just curious on what is involved.Is it distance, equipment, atmosphere,antenna height?
 I live 1 mile northeast of LAX , 1/4  north of 24R. Would I be a good candidate ?

BlueCrew



Offline KSYR-pjr

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Re: Clarity of certain feeds. Distance to the airport?
« Reply #1 on: May 08, 2008, 09:37:37 PM »
Here in the forum the feeder had questioned why there was so much noise and I believe it was concluded that the LAX feed is picking up a lot of interference from either electrical or one of the billions of E&M waves traveling through the LA basin.

1/2 mile north of the airport would be absolutely excellent reception for a feed (I am about 10 miles from the airport I am feeding and reception is mostly good), assuming that you aren't going to be plagued by the same interference that is affecting the current LAX feed.  Coincidentally the feeder for LAX will be moving away from LA in June and the feed will be taken down permanently, so if you are serious about hosting the LAX feed there are many LAX addicts here who would appreciate you stepping forward.

Feel free to PM Dave or Jason here with your intent and one of them will get right on it to assist you in setting up the feed.

Offline Jason

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Re: Clarity of certain feeds. Distance to the airport?
« Reply #2 on: May 08, 2008, 09:58:38 PM »
Why is Logan and JKF so clear, and LAX is so lousy? This is in no way a slam on the people who host these feeds, just curious on what is involved.Is it distance, equipment, atmosphere,antenna height?
 I live 1 mile northeast of LAX , 1/4  north of 24R. Would I be a good candidate ?

BlueCrew

As Peter just mentioned, send us a message via the contact form and we'll get you set up.

Offline bluecrewfan08

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Re: Clarity of certain feeds. Distance to the airport?
« Reply #3 on: May 09, 2008, 01:06:43 AM »
email sent

Offline KSYR-pjr

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Re: Clarity of certain feeds. Distance to the airport?
« Reply #4 on: May 09, 2008, 08:01:22 AM »
email sent

You're awesome.  If this works out you will be getting a ton of fan mail.  Get your letter opener ready.  :)

Offline bluecrewfan08

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Re: Clarity of certain feeds. Distance to the airport?
« Reply #5 on: May 09, 2008, 04:54:48 PM »
I'd be happy to. I've always wanted to, just never had the know how. Somebody walk me through it, and I'll pop for all the gear. I hope they get the email.

Rob (bluecrewfan08)

Offline KSYR-pjr

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Re: Clarity of certain feeds. Distance to the airport?
« Reply #6 on: May 09, 2008, 05:30:35 PM »
Somebody walk me through it, and I'll pop for all the gear. I hope they get the email.

Until you get an official response, here's sort of a cook-book list of what you need:

1)  A scanner

2)  Computer with sound card (that allows audio/mike input) -

        Note about a computer: It is preferable to have a dedicated PC/laptop but this is not necessary - the nice thing about a dedicated computer that hosts the feed is that what work you do on your primary computer (games, heavy graphics or video rendering) does not affect the feed - you can reboot and reload software all day long and it won't affect the feed.  Another nice feature of having a laptop handle the feed is that there is a built-in battery that will keep the laptop up during nuisance power outages and significantly reduce the chance for a corrupted OS (due to the computer going off unexpectedly).  I use an old Dell Latitude C500 (500 Mhz, 512 Mb RAM) laptop from about the year 2000 or so to provide the SYR feed.

I mention this note only because it is a nice-to-have - you will find that LAX will be a very popular feed and that many will appreciate high uptime.  Again, though, if you don't have a second PC/laptop then it should not be a show-stopper.

3)  An always-on Internet connection - DSL, FiOS, Cable, etc. - Obviously the PC hosting the feed needs to be connected to the Internet.

4)  An audio cable that connects the scanner to the PC/laptop's sound card or mike input.

5)  Free software installed called OddATC that Dave will provide that is very easy to configure and set up to run.  This software takes the audio input from the scanner, converts it to a digital stream, then sends it up to the LiveATC servers.


-------  optional but significantly improves the feed -----------------

6) An outdoor j-pole or discone antenna.

7) a low-loss coax cable that connects the antenna to the scanner


------- really, really optional  ----------------------------------

8 ) A UPS into which the scanner, computer, and cable modem or DSL router are plugged to keep the feed running through nuisance power-outages.  This of course depends on the frequency of power outages in your area.  In mine there are at least four or five per year.


That's it.

Offline Squawk 7700

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Re: Clarity of certain feeds. Distance to the airport?
« Reply #7 on: May 10, 2008, 11:30:59 AM »
Nice summary of equipment!

Offline athaker

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Re: Clarity of certain feeds. Distance to the airport?
« Reply #8 on: May 10, 2008, 03:07:02 PM »
So I stumbled upon this post at the right time, because I just posted the close of KLAX next week, much sooner than previously anticipated!  My movers are showing up early.

bluecrewfan08, I can help you out with a good deal of the equipment, if you're interested in taking the reigns.

To answer your question about KLAX, I live in a true electromagnetic soup.  The Southbay is littered with electrical lines, industrial apparatus, cell phone towers, and a few very large AM radio antennas that have been plaguing me from the start.  Plus, I have line of sight to just half of the airport, while looking at the 24/25 ends of LAX my antenna is looking at a large house.

I'm 6 miles south of the airport, so if you're really that close and if you can establish any sort of line of sight, you can very well achieve a clear feed.

In terms of equipment, a few things I bought myself I'd have no problem loaning you:

- discone antenna
- 10 ft antenna mast
- Par VHF-FM Filter
- a 10 year old PC with 2 sound cards that I bought for less than 50 bucks and has worked like a champion for the last 8 months without crashing.

Im going to contact someone real quick, and with his permission, you'll also have:
-scanner
- about 50ft of coax cable.

In other words, we simply move everything from my place to yours.  I know there are a lot of LAX fans who'll be ecstatic, if you're still willing.

Sorry, long post, but let me know!

Offline KSYR-pjr

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Re: Clarity of certain feeds. Distance to the airport?
« Reply #9 on: May 10, 2008, 04:32:21 PM »
Im going to contact someone real quick, and with his permission, you'll also have:
-scanner
- about 50ft of coax cable.

Adarsh, most definitely a good idea - If Bluecrew can benefit from the cable and handheld scanner he most certainly is welcome to borrow it on a long term basis to provide the feed.   

Bluecrew - I was the donor who had sent Adarsh the scanner, cable, and antenna for the LAX feed originally but if you would like to borrow it for your version of the LAX feed, you are welcome to do so.  The only caveat is that if and when you ever need to take down the feed I would like this equipment back (and I will even pay shipping to central NY state). 

Also, I would recommend taking Adarsh up on his generous offer of the PC, as that means that the new LAX feed will truly be plug and play - simply plug in the scanner and you will be ready to go, complete with a pre-configured OddATC all ready to send the feed up to the LiveATC servers.


Offline Lezam

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Re: Clarity of certain feeds. Distance to the airport?
« Reply #10 on: May 10, 2008, 09:49:06 PM »
Why is Logan and JKF so clear, and LAX is so lousy?

I live 1 mile northeast of LAX , 1/4  north of 24R. Would I be a good candidate ?

The reason is because we are so close to the airport, I am within a mile of JFK. If you can install an outdoor antenna, you would be a great candidate for the feeds, and your feeds would probably be crystal clear.