I needed aircraft filtering, alerts, different charts, I needed to see military aircraft… lets face it, I needed PlanePlotter! Having played around with ADSBScope a freeware aircraft tracking program, it was obvious to me that I needed something a bit more adaptable, more feature rich. The most commonly heard phrase on forums regarding this device is “if it doesn’t work its only a tenner” (or words to that effect), but, it does work, and it has opened up areas of the radio spectrum that was the preserve of dedicated kit costing hundreds if not thousands 10 or more years ago. Imagine for a second though what the hobby would have been given the equipment available today.īut I digress, the RTL USB dongle has really kick started my hobby – initially just as a novelty item – a dirt cheap SDR. I wasn’t short on spotting opportunities what with four local USAF bases just an hour or so away and an active RAF airfield (Coltishall) on my doorstep.
That said, back then, this was probably enough. Those were the days! A 494 FS F-111F being pushed back into its HAS after one of its final training sorties in ’92 (no real relevance barring shameless nostalgia!)
#Planeplotter download full
You see, PlanePlotter (PP for short) has opened my eyes to what could have been – much in the same way that I wish I could be magically transported back to the 1980’s when the skies above were full of F-111’s, A-10’s, and the occasional SR-71 inbound Mildenhall.
Pricey items too, so I stayed clear, but over the past couple of months I have deeply regretted not investigating it further. I vaguely remember somewhere in between a company producing a “radar box”, but these were civvy orientated and my love was military, pure and simple. I was pretty much sorted – not much got past me at my local airfield.
#Planeplotter download plus
The 90’s saw the addition of my first scanner plus a spotting scope for good measure. As time went on I added a 35mm SLR (remember those?) and a collection of high powered lenses. Back in the 1980’s the only tools I had were a pair of binoculars, a copy of Ian Allan’s abc Military Aircraft Markings, a note book and pencil. PlanePlotter Version Reviewed: 6.4.1.0-6.4.1.2 (GS/MU rN)Īs an aviation enthusiast of many a decade I can tell you that this sort of hobby evolves over the years. Note also the KC-135R (QID81) and MC-130J (LEGIT41)
Here a USAF E-3C (SHUCK80H) is being successfully Mlated (manually by me – the blue lines are hyper curves used during the process). I’ve complied a sort of time lapse graphic here that illustrates colour changes as RYR96YE climbs to altitude (note nose colour cyan).Download PlanePlotter At the heart of the PlanePlotter system is Mlat. Initially the options seem bewildering, however its all quite straightforward, nevertheless I’d recommend changing a few things at a time and re-checking the display to see if its appropriate to your needs. To change these parameters we need to open up Chart Options (menu or easier via the spanner symbol). You may also catch an aircraft with blue concentric circles radiating from time to time – these aircraft are squawking ident usually as a result of a squawk change. Additional colours are also used – for example expiring aircraft are orange and Mlat white. The majority of the aircraft symbols seen will be yellow, but various colours can be assigned and labels expanded or reduced to individual preference. Now that everything is working (hopefully!), we can proceed to customising the display.
0 kommentar(er)
