Back to Flight Tracking
Our blog always highlights a single host of the month, but this month we are shining a spotlight on some of our standout ADS-B hosts and feeders. The ones at the top of the leaderboards. The ones with so much equipment we had to make sure our test lab hadn’t been robbed. The ones quietly pulling in thousands of flights a day despite not having touched their setup in years.
Nearest Airport: KVQQ - Cecil (Jacksonville, FL, US)
Receiver Setup: PiAware with Mode-S (1090 MHz) and UAT (978 MHz)
FlightAware Member For: 13 years
ADS-B Feeder Start: December 8, 2016
Longest Streak: 828 days
Fox is regularly in the top 5 sites on our leaderboards and tracks nearly 5,000 aircraft per day on average. They have a massive 130-foot (40 meter) tower with their ADS-B receiver mounted at the top.
Fox lives in a rural part of Florida and back in 2010 they needed this tower to receive internet from their WISP (Wireless Internet Service Provider). Because they had the tower, they decided they could do other interesting things with it, like track airplanes.
ADS-B reception depends on clear line of sight, so higher is almost always better. Fox lives at 140 feet (43 meters) above mean sea level, which is already one of the higher places in NE Florida, and adding the 130-foot tower gives them an incredible view of the sky. In fact, they’re tracking nearly as many positions in the 50-100-mile range as they are in the <50 range!
They’re easily picking up aircrafts from JAX, MCO, TPA, and even training flights coming from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach.
MLAT achieves position accuracy comparable to ADS-B. This allows FlightAware to track additional aircraft than would be possible with ADS-B alone, providing more comprehensive coverage of the airspace.
This is an older picture of their setup. The current setup is a Raspberry Pi 5, AirSpy Mini, Nooelec Lana LNA, FlightAware 1090 filter, and FlightAware 1090 and 978 antennas.
- Nearest Airport: KABY - Southwest Georgia Regional (Albany, GA, US)
- Receiver Setup: PiAware with Mode-S (1090 MHz) and UAT (978 MHz)
- FlightAware Member For: 5 years
- ADS-B Feeder Start: April 23, 2022
- Longest Streak: 686 days
You’ll notice a lot of similarities between Fox and Baker, but Baker’s site barely edges out Fox’s by tracking more than 5,000 aircraft per day. That performance consistently keeps the site in the top 3 on the leaderboard (#2 as I’m typing this), which is no small feat.
Like Fox, Baker’s equipment is mounted on a WISP tower, but this one reaches an impressive 330 feet (101 meters) above ground level (AGL). That kind of elevation creates a serious advantage. Combine that height with dual-band reception on both 1090 MHz and 978 MHz, and it’s easy to understand how this site gets a steady stream of messages in every direction.
What’s especially impressive is the reliability. Since the system was installed, the tower has only been climbed once, and that was due to lightning damage. For any setup, that says a lot about the stability of the hardware, but it’s especially impressive for one at that height.
- Nearest Airport: EHAM - Amsterdam Schiphol (Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands)
- Receiver Setup: You’ll have to read the details below…
- FlightAware Member For: 8 years
- ADS-B Feeder Start: March 22, 2018
- Longest Streak: 1189 days
Tom is regularly in the top three users which makes him an easy choice as a featured host, but you’ll notice I said top user rather than top site. Baker and Fox have individual sites pulling in massive numbers, but Tom is unique because he has 23 different sites.
Flight tracking is a major hobby for Tom. He actively participates in our forums and is constantly sharing his knowledge and assisting where he can. His dedication to the hobby means he collects ADS-B equipment like some people collect model airplanes (everyone here collects model airplanes,right?).
Tom’s 23 sites have an incredible range of antennas, dongles, and filters. Different styles, different brands, and different purposes. This collection of equipment allows him to test and play with various software settings and different hardware configurations which lets him dial in the perfect setup and to test out new equipment.
Tom is also a GA pilot, so it isn’t solely about the tracking equipment; he is always looking up to see what is flying around.
Interested in hosting a FlightFeeder or learning more about how ADS-B works and how you can contribute? Visit our FlightFeeder page to explore resources, requirements, and opportunities to participate in the ADS-B community.
We are currently looking for hosts in key areas in North America and South America.
Would you like to be featured as our host of the month?
If you have an ADS-B receiver setup that you think could be featured as our host of the month, you can share your photos and a short story with us by uploading them to our ADS-B Photo Upload Form for a chance to be featured next!
Visit our website to learn more about FlightAware's tracking capabilities and aviaiton data services.
Join the discussion...
Leave your comment below.